Video recording and analysis of avian movements and behaviour: insights from courtship case studies.

Video recordings are useful tools for advancing our understanding of animal movements and behaviour. Over the past decades, a burgeoning area of behavioural research has put forward innovative methods to investigate animal movement using video analysis, which include motion capture and machine learning algorithms. These tools are particularly valuable for the study of elaborate and complex motor behaviours, but can be challenging to use. We focus in particular on elaborate courtship displays, which commonly involve rapid and/or subtle motor patterns. Here, we review currently available tools and provide hands-on guidelines for implementing these techniques in the study of avian model species. In the first part of this paper, we suggest a set of possible strategies and solutions for video acquisition based on different model systems, environmental conditions, and time or financial budget. The second section helps navigate the available options for video analysis and illustrates how different analytical tools can be chosen to draw inference about animal motor performance. Finally, the third section describes in more detail how these guidelines have been implemented to study courtship behaviour in golden-collared manakins (Manacus vitellinus).