The use of automated systems to record the identity of individual penguins and their movements in and out of a colony can provide an effective means of studying penguin biology remotely. In 2002 an automatic gateway was installed at the only access point to the Macaroni Penguin (Eudyptes chrysolophus) colony at Fairy Point, Bird Island. Taking advantage of the colony''s geography, which ensured that the birds have only one route between the colony and the sea, the gateway initially recorded bird identities from implanted radio frequency identification transponders (RFID tags). In 2009 a weighbridge was installed which records the weight of each bird and the direction of travel and from 2011 onwards the two systems, RFID antenna and weighbridge, were built into the same unit meaning it was now possible to confidently match the crossing data with bird identities.