After spending weeks at a time deep in the Amazon rainforest, ecologist Vitek Jirinec and his colleagues began to suspect that something was wrong with local bird populations. This suspicion arose from decades-long data collection that has provided researchers with useful insights on the specific suite of birds in a remote spot north of Manaus, Brazil. The area remains relatively free from development and other threats associated with human presence.
Jirinec slept in a hammock under a metal-roofed shack at his research station, and some days he and his team watched thousands of army ants sweep through mist netting. The station features a setup that resembles volleyball nets in order to capture birds, though the mesh is fine enough to avoid injuring them.
