The Cupola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College

Title

The Feasibility of Using Drones to Count Songbirds

Authors

Andrew M. Wilson, Gettysburg CollegeFollow
Janine M. Barr, Gettysburg CollegeFollow
Megan E. Zagorski, Gettysburg CollegeFollow

Student Authors

Janine M. Barr '15, Gettysburg College

Megan E. Zagorski '16, Gettysburg College

Document Type

Conference Material

Publication Date

8-2016

Department 1

Environmental Studies

Abstract

Point and transect counts are the most common bird survey methods, but are subject to biases and accessibility issues. To eliminate some of these biases, we propose attaching a recorder to a consumer-grade quadcopter (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, or UAV) to estimate songbird populations from audio recordings. We conducted a blind experiment using broadcast recordings to estimate the detection radius of a compact recorder attached to a UAV, and found that the detection radius did not vary significantly when the UAV was flown at elevations of 20, 40 and 60m. We field tested our system by comparing UAV-based bird counts with standard point count surveys at 51 locations on State Game Lands 249, PA. Species richness was similar at standard and UAV point counts, but species composition differed. For most species, the number detections on UAV recordings were similar to standard counts, but UAV surveys under-sampled Mourning Doves Zenaida macroura, Gray Catbirds Dumetella carolinensis, and Willow Flycatchers Empidonax traillii. Birds with quiet or low frequency songs are likely to be under-detected by UAV-based methods, due to masking by the drone noise of the quadcopter. Recordings of bird songs from ground-based recorders show that bird song output was slightly reduced when the quadcopter was overhead. The development of quieter quadcopters would overcome the masking and the possible behavioral response issues that we highlighted. We demonstrate that low-cost UAVs provide a useful new method of surveying songbirds that is accessible to organizations and researchers with restricted budgets.

Comments

Presented at North American Ornithological Conference 2016, Washington DC, August 2016.

Copyright Note

This is the author's version of the work. This publication appears in Gettysburg College's institutional repository by permission of the copyright owner for personal use, not for redistribution.

Recommended Citation

Wilson, Andrew M., Janine M. Barr, and Megan E. Zagorski. "The Feasibility of Using Drones to Count Songbirds." North American Ornithological Conference 2016, Washington DC, August 2016.