--- title: Bird data simulator plugin description: Generates synthetic bird tracking telemetry with persistent birds, ranges, simulated movement, speed, heading, and body temperature. Exposes only simple volume controls. url: https://docs.influxdata.com/influxdb3/core/plugins/library/official/bird-data-simulator/ estimated_tokens: 1921 product: InfluxDB 3 Core version: core publisher: InfluxData canonical: https://docs.influxdata.com/influxdb3/core/plugins/library/official/bird-data-simulator/ date: '2026-09-08T22:38:35+00:00' lastmod: '2026-09-08T22:38:35+00:00' --- The Bird Tracking Simulator Plugin generates a stream of synthetic bird telemetry for demos, testing, and sample-data workflows. On its first run, it creates a persistent flock of named birds, assigns each bird a species, natural range, starting location, heading, and healthy body temperature, then stores that flock in the Processing Engine cache. Each scheduled call advances the flock with sinusoidal flight speed, gentle heading changes, latitude and longitude updates, and temperature jitter. The plugin intentionally exposes only volume controls. ## Configuration Plugin parameters may be specified as key-value pairs in the `--trigger-arguments` flag (CLI) or in the `trigger_arguments` field (API) when creating a trigger. The trigger interval plus the options below control how much data the plugin writes. ### Plugin metadata This plugin includes a JSON metadata schema in its docstring that defines supported trigger types and configuration parameters. This metadata enables the [InfluxDB 3 Explorer](https://docs.influxdata.com/influxdb3/explorer/) UI to display and configure the plugin. ### Optional parameters There are no required parameters. All configuration parameters control data volume only. | Parameter | Type |Default| Description | |-----------------|-------|-------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | `bird_count` |integer| `25` | Number of persistent simulated birds to track | |`points_per_bird`|integer| `1` |Number of movement points to emit for each bird on each scheduled call. When greater than `1`, timestamps are evenly spaced across the elapsed time since the previous call.| ### TOML configuration This plugin does not expose TOML configuration. Use the two inline volume options above and the trigger interval to control output volume. ## Requirements ### Data requirements This plugin does not require incoming writes or source measurements. It generates data directly from a scheduled trigger. The generated flock state is stored in the Processing Engine’s trigger-specific cache. Changing `bird_count` creates a new cached flock with the requested size. ### Schema requirements The plugin writes to the `bird_tracking` measurement. Tags: * `species`: common species name, such as `American Robin` * `name`: generated name for the individual bird Fields: * `body_temp`: body temperature in degrees Celsius * `longitude`: current longitude in decimal degrees * `latitude`: current latitude in decimal degrees * `speed`: current speed in miles per hour * `heading`: current heading in degrees, where `0` is north and `90` is east ### Species metadata The plugin embeds 20 United States bird species with simplified ranges, weight ranges, healthy body temperature ranges, and approximate top flight speeds directly in `bird_data_simulator.py`. The species catalog uses [Cornell Lab All About Birds](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/) species accounts and range maps as the primary reference for species presence, range, habitat, and measurements. General healthy body temperature ranges are based on published avian veterinary reference values such as the [Merck Veterinary Manual normal temperature table](https://www.merckvetmanual.com/reference-values-and-conversion-tables/reference-guides/normal-rectal-temperature-ranges). ### Software requirements * **InfluxDB 3 Core**: with the Processing Engine enabled. * **Python packages**: * `Faker` ## Installation steps 1. Start InfluxDB 3 Core with the Processing Engine enabled (`--plugin-dir /path/to/plugins`): ``` influxdb3 serve \ --node-id node0 \ --object-store file \ --data-dir ~/.influxdb3 \ --plugin-dir ~/.plugins ``` 2. Install `Faker` into the Processing Engine Python environment: ``` influxdb3 install package Faker ``` ## Trigger setup ### Basic scheduled trigger ```bash influxdb3 create trigger \ --database sample_data \ --path "gh:influxdata/bird_data_simulator/bird_data_simulator.py" \ --trigger-spec "every:1s" \ bird_tracking ``` ### Larger flock ```bash influxdb3 create trigger \ --database sample_data \ --path "gh:influxdata/bird_data_simulator/bird_data_simulator.py" \ --trigger-spec "every:1s" \ --trigger-arguments bird_count=100 \ bird_tracking_large ``` ### More points per bird ```bash influxdb3 create trigger \ --database sample_data \ --path "gh:influxdata/bird_data_simulator/bird_data_simulator.py" \ --trigger-spec "every:10s" \ --trigger-arguments bird_count=50,points_per_bird=10 \ bird_tracking_dense ``` ## Example usage ### Generate bird telemetry ```bash # Create a small flock that writes once per second. influxdb3 create trigger \ --database sample_data \ --path "gh:influxdata/bird_data_simulator/bird_data_simulator.py" \ --trigger-spec "every:1s" \ --trigger-arguments bird_count=10 \ bird_tracking_demo # Query generated points after the trigger runs. influxdb3 query \ --database sample_data \ "SELECT * FROM bird_tracking ORDER BY time DESC LIMIT 5" ``` ### Expected output ```text species | name | body_temp | longitude | latitude | speed | heading | time -----------------|-------|-----------|-------------|-----------|-------|---------|--------------------- American Robin | Willa | 41.822 | -83.182337 | 39.912884 | 21.4 | 83.2 | 2026-04-29T12:00:04Z Cactus Wren | Felix | 42.117 | -111.913552 | 33.382018 | 8.7 | 244.9 | 2026-04-29T12:00:04Z Florida Scrub-Jay| Pearl | 41.603 | -81.224901 | 28.399102 | 12.1 | 11.6 | 2026-04-29T12:00:04Z ``` ## Logging Logs are stored in the `_internal` database (or the database where the trigger is created) in the `system.processing_engine_logs` table. To view logs: ```bash influxdb3 query --database _internal "SELECT * FROM system.processing_engine_logs WHERE trigger_name = 'your_trigger_name'" ``` Log columns: * **event\_time**: Timestamp of the log event * **trigger\_name**: Name of the trigger that generated the log * **log\_level**: Severity level (INFO, WARN, ERROR) * **log\_text**: Message describing the action or error ## Report an issue For plugin issues, see the Plugins repository [issues page](https://github.com/influxdata/influxdb3_plugins/issues). ## Find support for InfluxDB 3 Core The [InfluxDB Discord server](https://discord.gg/9zaNCW2PRT) is the best place to find support for InfluxDB 3 Core and InfluxDB 3 Enterprise. For other InfluxDB versions, see the [Support and feedback](#bug-reports-and-feedback) options. #### Related * [Bird data simulator plugin on GitHub](https://github.com/influxdata/influxdb3_plugins/tree/main/influxdata/bird_data_simulator) [plugins](/influxdb3/core/tags/plugins/)[processing engine](/influxdb3/core/tags/processing-engine/)[python](/influxdb3/core/tags/python/)[official](/influxdb3/core/tags/official/) | Parameter | Type | Default | Description | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Parameter | Type | Default | Description | | bird_count | integer | 25 | Number of persistent simulated birds to track | | points_per_bird | integer | 1 | Number of movement points to emit for each bird on each scheduled call. When greater than 1 , timestamps are evenly spaced across the elapsed time since the previous call. |