Abstract
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.
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Acknowledgements
This study was performed under the auspices of University of Idaho IACUC protocol #2017-23. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. A large thank you to Jeff Sloan and Josip Adams of U.S. Geological Survey for providing the drones and outstanding training and support. We thank Rob Reed and Mark Lupher of Deer Flat NWR for assisting in boat operations at Lake Lowell as well as Diane Evans Mack and Betsy Wagner of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game for assisting in grebe surveys at Cascade Reservoir. We also thank Drs. Eva Strand and Jason Karl for contributing their expertise to this project.
Funding
Funding was provided by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Grant #661951.
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Lachman, D., Conway, C., Vierling, K. et al. Drones provide a better method to find nests and estimate nest survival for colonial waterbirds: a demonstration with Western Grebes. Wetlands Ecol Manage 28, 837–845 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-020-09743-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-020-09743-y