The feasibility of counting songbirds using unmanned aerial vehicles

Wilson, AM; Barr, Janine M.; Zagorski, Megan E.

doi:10.1642/auk-16-216.1

Cited by 46 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…Also, deployment to inaccessible areas with unmanned aerial vehicles is feasible (Wilson et al. ), and installation on cars can also be envisaged (Jeliazkov et al. ).…”

Section: Practicalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, Prevost (2016) showed that sound recorders were amenable to installation on hot air balloons, due to their low size and weight. Also, deployment to inaccessible areas with unmanned aerial vehicles is feasible (Wilson et al 2017), and installation on cars can also be envisaged (Jeliazkov et al 2016). In the future, large geographical scales could also be sampled using autonomous wireless recorder networks that collect and transmit data wirelessly (Collins et al 2006).…”

Section: Practicalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Autonomous sound recording outperforms human observation for sampling birds: a systematic map and user guide

Darras

Batáry

Furnas

et al. 2019

Ecological Applications

135

105

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Autonomous sound recording techniques have gained considerable traction in the last decade, but the question remains whether they can replace human observation surveys to sample sonant animals. For birds in particular, survey methods have been tested extensively using point counts and sound recording surveys. Here, we review the latest evidence for this taxon within the frame of a systematic map. We compare sampling effectiveness of these two survey methods, the output variables they produce, and their practicality. When assessed against the standard of point counts, autonomous sound recording proves to be a powerful tool that samples at least as many species. This technology can monitor birds in an exhaustive, standardized, and verifiable way. Moreover, sound recorders give access to entire soundscapes from which new data types can be derived (vocal activity, acoustic indices). Variables such as abundance, density, occupancy, or species richness can be obtained to yield data sets that are comparable to and compatible with point counts. Finally, autonomous sound recorders allow investigations at high temporal and spatial resolution and coverage, which are more cost effective and cannot be achieved by human observations alone, even though small‐scale studies might be more cost effective when carried out with point counts. Sound recorders can be deployed in many places, they are more scalable and reliable, making them the better choice for bird surveys in an increasingly data‐driven time. We provide an overview of currently available recorders and discuss their specifications to guide future study designs.

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“…Also, deployment to inaccessible areas with unmanned aerial vehicles is feasible (Wilson et al. ), and installation on cars can also be envisaged (Jeliazkov et al. ).…”

Section: Practicalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Practicalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Autonomous sound recording outperforms human observation for sampling birds: a systematic map and user guide

Darras

Batáry

Furnas

et al. 2019

Ecological Applications

135

105

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In addition, combustion engines present risks associated with engine ignition. Multiple studies considered electric UASs to be an excellent tool for approaching and surveying birds because of their low noise [57][58][59][60][61]. Table 1 shows a comparison of spaceborne, manned aerial, and UAS surveys of animals, including the platforms used, sensors, image resolution, data cost, coverage, availability, surveyed species, animal detection methods, pixel number of surveyed species in the imagery, and detection accuracy.…”

Section: Sensorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Surveying Wild Animals from Satellites, Manned Aircraft and Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs): A Review

2019

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This article reviews studies regarding wild animal surveys based on multiple platforms, including satellites, manned aircraft, and unmanned aircraft systems (UASs), and focuses on the data used, animal detection methods, and their accuracies. We also discuss the advantages and limitations of each type of remote sensing data and highlight some new research opportunities and challenges. Submeter very-high-resolution (VHR) spaceborne imagery has potential in modeling the population dynamics of large (>0.6 m) wild animals at large spatial and temporal scales, but has difficulty discerning small (<0.6 m) animals at the species level, although high-resolution commercial satellites, such as WorldView-3 and -4, have been able to collect images with a ground resolution of up to 0.31 m in panchromatic mode. This situation will not change unless the satellite image resolution is greatly improved in the future. Manned aerial surveys have long been employed to capture the centimeter-scale images required for animal censuses over large areas. However, such aerial surveys are costly to implement in small areas and can cause significant disturbances to wild animals because of their noise. In contrast, UAS surveys are seen as a safe, convenient and less expensive alternative to ground-based and conventional manned aerial surveys, but most UASs can cover only small areas. The proposed use of UAS imagery in combination with VHR satellite imagery would produce critical population data for large wild animal species and colonies over large areas. The development of software systems for automatically producing image mosaics and recognizing wild animals will further improve survey efficiency.

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“…Many bird species are highly suited to RPA‐facilitated population monitoring. RPA have been used to assess the breeding status of the canopy‐breeding hooded crow Corvus cornix (Weissensteiner, Poelstra, & Wolf, ) and to take a census of multispecies assemblages of songbirds (Wilson, Barr, & Zagorski, ). They have also been a useful tool in collecting valuable datasets of species which congregate and/or those that frequent known sites to breed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drones count wildlife more accurately and precisely than humans

et al. 2018

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Knowing how many individuals are in a wildlife population allows informed management decisions to be made. Ecologists are increasingly using technologies, such as remotely piloted aircraft (RPA; commonly known as “drones,” unmanned aerial systems or unmanned aerial vehicles), for wildlife monitoring applications. Although RPA are widely touted as a cost‐effective way to collect high‐quality wildlife population data, the validity of these claims is unclear. Using life‐sized, replica seabird colonies containing a known number of fake birds, we assessed the accuracy of RPA‐facilitated wildlife population monitoring compared to the traditional ground‐based counting method. The task for both approaches was to count the number of fake birds in each of 10 replica seabird colonies. We show that RPA‐derived data are, on average, between 43% and 96% more accurate than the traditional ground‐based data collection method. We also demonstrate that counts from this remotely sensed imagery can be semi‐automated with a high degree of accuracy. The increased accuracy and increased precision of RPA‐derived wildlife monitoring data provides greater statistical power to detect fine‐scale population fluctuations allowing for more informed and proactive ecological management.

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The feasibility of counting songbirds using unmanned aerial vehicles

Cited by 46 publications

References 50 publications

Autonomous sound recording outperforms human observation for sampling birds: a systematic map and user guide

Autonomous sound recording outperforms human observation for sampling birds: a systematic map and user guide

Surveying Wild Animals from Satellites, Manned Aircraft and Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs): A Review

Drones count wildlife more accurately and precisely than humans

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