Apparently, the weight of a bird is an important measure of its health. Sounds simple enough, right? Just pop the little fella on a scale and done. Well, not quite. Birds are dramatic creatures. The mere act of weighing them can cause stress, injuries, and sometimes even fatalities.
Thankfully, a student team led by Prof. Choi Jong-woo (Ryan) from Hanyang University’s Department of Industrial Design (ERICA Campus [KR], to be precise) came up with a clever solution called PerchCare—a perch-style weighing scale designed specifically for birds.
Instead of grabbing and restraining a squawking ball of feathers, PerchCare turns the weighing process into a chill, everyday activity. It looks and feels like a normal perch, but hidden inside is a smart weighing system that automatically collects data whenever a bird hops on. The system sends real-time updates to a connected chart app and even has an integrated light display for quick checks.
PerchCare can be used with various bird species and comes in different perch sizes. It also has a suction-based mount for easy setup in cages. With this design, caretakers can finally monitor rescued birds’ health without a daily battle of wings and claws.
As of now, PerchCare remains a research project, but when it takes off, it could make bird care truly light work. Sorry for the lousy pun. I simply cannot resist.
Images: Hanyang University.
