Emlen funnel


An Emlen funnel is a bird cage shaped like an inverted cone, used to study bird behaviour, in particular birds' migratory instincts. It is named after S T and J T Emlen who introduced the technique in 1966. An ink pad is placed on the bottom, so when the bird hops or flutters onto the sloping walls it leaves a track before slipping back down again. The bird's view through the top of the cage can be manipulated to show how it responds to different apparent "star patterns".