Visual playback is a relatively new experimental approach that is growing in popularity due to recent technological advances in both video and computer animation techniques. Due to the type of equipment needed, video playbacks are usually conducted under laboratory conditions. The benefits to such a setup are obvious: environmental, technical and experimental conditions can all be controlled. However, carrying out playbacks in the field can have advantages - the subjects are more likely to give typical responses if they are tested under natural conditions, which will aid the interpretation of results. Despite this advantage, video playbacks are rarely attempted in the field due to the practical difficulties, such as lighting conditions, intrusion of apparatus, weather and performance of portable equipment.

We conducted a field study in Algarve, southern Portugal, using visual playbacks, to investigate the waving display of the European fiddler crab (Uca tangeri). Life-size playback stimuli (waving male, wandering female, male threatening and an empty mudflat) were presented to visually isolated male subjects. This poster discusses which of the many potential problems inherent in fieldwork need most careful consideration, how these critical problems were identified and several ways in which they could be overcome. We found that the problems of using video playbacks in the field are not insurmountable.