Thanks, yes I did think of that idea, but it is a tiny robin and they weigh very little so not sure if the sensor switch would sense the birds weight and where it landed on the perch. The bird is also used to the perch, so if I change the surface that it lands on it may not want to land on it again, who knows? I am going to try the IR sensors first as they sound fun to play with and would be good to learn anyway for using in other projects and then if that doesn't work, I will try and design a super sensitive switch system 