Routine and Safe Operation of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems in Areas with High Densities of Flying Birds

Abstract

Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPASs), or drones, have had a rapid uptake for scientific applications and are proving particularly valuable for data collection in the natural world. The potential for bird strikes presents a real hazard in these settings. While animal welfare is a primary consideration when planning and executing RPAS operations, the safe operation and return of RPASs is the key to successful flight missions. Here, we asked if RPASs can be routinely and safely implemented to meet data collection requirements in airspaces with high densities of flying birds. We flew quadcopter RPASs over breeding seabird colonies in tropical island settings. A dedicated spotter adjacent to the pilot recorded all interactions between flying seabirds and the RPAS unit while aerial population surveys were being undertaken. Over 600 interactions were recorded for nine species of seabirds. We flew over 100 flights totaling 2104 min in airspace routinely occupied by dense aggregations of seabirds without a single collision. We demonstrate a high capacity to undertake safe and successful RPAS operations in airspaces that contain high densities of flying seabirds. While bird collisions remain possible, such outcomes are clearly rare and should be placed in context with routine disturbances by ground surveys to meet the same objectives. RPASs routinely offer the least invasive method for collecting ecological data compared to traditional field methods and can be undertaken with relatively low risk to the successful completion of the operation.