Captive birds, laboratory and technical equipment
The IAR is well-equipped to keep captive birds for experiments and has an on-site laboratory in which food composition, metabolic and physiological parameters and DNA can be analysed. In addition, there is a taxidermy, as well as an electronics, wood and metal workshop.
The IAR also owns extensive telemetry equipment, an automatised registration system that records the presence of transponder-marked birds and their body mass, as well as radar equipment, infrared cameras, a remote video system and two special acoustic devices that can be used to record night-time migration.
The latest addition to the IARs equipment is an 'EchoMRI whole body composition analyser'. This machine uses only 0.5 to 3.2 minutes to measure fat mass, lean mass, free water and total water in live birds without requiring any sedation.