Drone use in wildlife biology has greatly increased as they become cheaper and easier to deploy in the field. In this paper we describe a less invasive method of using drones and exploring their limitations for studying colonial nesting waterbirds. Western Grebes, like most colonial nesting waterbirds, can be very sensitive to human interaction. Using a 3DR Solo quad copter equipped with a high-resolution digital camera we were able to effectively map and monitor a Western Grebe breeding colony throughout the nesting period with a series of 6 flights. We were able to use drone collected aerial imagery to model nest survival while minimizing disturbance to the birds. However, we were not able to deploy the drone at all of our study sites. Our ability to effectively deploy the drone was hindered by the environmental and vegetation characteristics of a site. Drone technology can be a useful tool, especially when studying a species sensitive to human interaction. However, there researchers should carefully consider their species and study site to evaluate if a drone is the proper tool to meet their objectives.

随着无人机变得更便宜，更易于在野外部署，其在野生生物生物学中的使用已大大增加。在本文中，我们描述了一种使用无人机的侵入性较小的方法，并探索了其在研究殖民地筑巢水鸟方面的局限性。像大多数殖民地筑巢的水鸟一样，西部格里布斯对人类的互动非常敏感。使用配备了高分辨率数码相机的3DR Solo四轴飞行器，我们可以在一系列筑巢过程中，通过一系列6次飞行，有效地绘制地图并监控西部格里布犬的繁殖地。我们能够使用无人机收集的航拍图像来模拟巢的生存，同时最大程度地减少对鸟类的干扰。但是，我们无法在所有研究地点都部署无人机。站点的环境和植被特征阻碍了我们有效部署无人机的能力。无人机技术可能是有用的工具，尤其是在研究对人类相互作用敏感的物种时。但是，那里的研究人员应仔细考虑其物种和研究地点，以评估无人机是否是实现其目标的适当工具。