Insights on the effect of aircraft traffic on avian vocal activity

Abstract

Aircraft noise is pervasive across the USA, including in national parks, but its effects on wildlife remain unresolved. As with other noise sources, aircraft noise may affect species physiology and behaviour by being perceived as a threat, distracting individuals, or degrading the sensory environment. This study aimed to understand the effect of aircraft traffic and associated noise on the richness of bird vocalization activity in a remote national park in the USA. We used a continent‐wide acoustic dataset encompassing over 30:00 h of annotated recordings to identify two geographically similar sites with high rates of bird vocalizations and both high and low rates of aircraft noise. We selected sites in Denali National Park, both of which experience little human presence, and quantified the richness of bird vocalizations before, during and after aircraft events. We present evidence of a community‐level behavioural response to aircraft noise, with increased bird vocalization richness after aircraft events at a site with relatively lower aircraft noise. At the site with low rates of aircraft noise, we found bird vocalization richness did not significantly change during an aircraft event but did increase after an aircraft event. At the site with high rates of aircraft noise, bird vocalization richness did not significantly change during or after an aircraft event. This study provides new insights into wildlife responses to aircraft traffic and associated noise and highlights the importance of noise research in the management of relatively quiet and undisturbed landscapes.