AUTHORS: Gary Macy, John O'Connor, Joshua Stiller - NYSDEC, Division of Fish & Wildlife
ABSTRACT. As part of ongoing waterfowl breeding and productivity surveys in remote wetlands of the Adirondack Mountains, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) staff have adapted the protocol suggested by McEvoy et al (2016) for surveying waterfowl with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). We evaluated two aspects of this protocol, including the ability of UAVs to minimize disturbance to waterfowl during surveys and identify and count species. We placed observers in key positions to record waterfowl behavior during survey flights in an effort to detect disturbance caused by the UAV, as well as account for birds entering and exiting the survey area. We collected still images using a grid flight pattern that covered each survey location with approximately 60% overlap between images. Following each UAV survey we completed a flush count to determine the number of waterfowl present at each survey location. We reviewed all still images collected from the UAV and counted the number of waterfowl present at each site. We confirmed that the protocol was efficient for capturing images of waterfowl without disturbing them. Unfortunately, available sensors for our UAV were not of sufficient resolution for determining waterfowl species or gender. Poor resolution also hindered species detection in imagery; only 25% of waterfowl counted in flush counts were detected in reviewed images. Despite the shortcomings of the imagery we collected, this study demonstrated the utility and efficiency of using UAVs for conducting waterfowl surveys in remote wetland habitats. McEvoy, J. F., Hall, G. P., & McDonald, P. G. (2016). Evaluation of unmanned aerial vehicle shape, flight path and camera type for waterfowl surveys: disturbance effects and species recognition. PeerJ, 4, e1831. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1831
