A comparison of techniques for classifying behaviour from accelerometers for two species of seabird

The behavior of many wild animals remains a mystery, as it is difficult to quantify behaviour of species that cannot be easily followed throughout their daily or seasonal movements. Accelerometers can solve some of these mysteries, as they collect activity data at a high temporal resolution (< 1 sec), can be relatively small (< 1 g) so they minimally disrupt behavior, and are increasingly capable of recording data for long periods. Nonetheless, there is a need for increased validation of methods to classify animal behaviour from accelerometers to promote widespread adoption of this technology in ecology. We assessed the accuracy of six different behavioral assignment methods for two species of seabird, thick-billed murres (Uria lomvia) and black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla). We identified three behaviors using tri-axial accelerometers: standing, swimming and flying, after classifying diving using a pressure sensor for murres. We evaluated six classification methods relativ...