Using drones to reduce human disturbance while monitoring breeding status of an endangered raptor

• Published in: Remote sensing in ecology and conservation 2021-09, Vol.7 (3), p.550-561
• Main Authors: Gallego, Diego, Sarasola, José H., Pettorelli, Nathalie, Abdi, Abdulhakim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aircraft; Birds; Birds of prey; Breeding status; Breeding success; Cameras; Drone aircraft; Drone vehicles; Drones; Endangered & extinct species; Monitoring; Monitoring methods; nest disturbance; nest monitoring; Nesting; Nests; Occupancy; Offspring; raptors; Reproduction; Reproductive behavior; Semi arid environments; Semiarid environments; Trees; UAV; Unmanned aerial vehicles; Wildlife conservation
• ISSN: 2056-3485; 2056-3485
• DOI: 10.1002/rse2.206

In birds, obtaining information related to nest occupancy, offspring status or breeding success is essential for population monitoring, particularly for species of conservation concern. Traditionally, nest monitoring demands a lot of time and effort in order to gather accurate information and avoiding nest disturbance. Instead, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs, hereafter drones) present an alternative to traditional methods, but few studies have been done measuring their influence on birds’ behavior and reproductive success. We addressed the utility of drones equipped with an on‐board camera in examining nesting status of the endangered Chaco Eagle Buteogallus coronatus in semiarid environments of central Argentina, as well as the degree of disturbance of drone flights to individuals. We performed 76 drone flights at 41 Chaco Eagle nests registering flight duration, tree height, nest relative height and pilot proximity to nest. Of those, 38 flights were done over occupied nests where we recorded adult behavior. Before drone took off, most adult eagles remained in the nests or in the surroundings (