Population census of a large Common tern colony with a small unmanned aircraft

Abstract: Small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) may be useful for conducting high-precision, low-disturbance waterbird surveys, but limited data exist on their effectiveness. We evaluated the capacity of a small UAS to census a large (>6,000 nests) coastal Common tern (Sterna hirundo) colony of which ground surveys are particularly disruptive and time-consuming. We compared aerial photographic tern counts to ground nest counts in 45 plots (5-m radius) throughout the colony at three intervals over a nine-day period in order to identify sources of variation and establish a coefficient to estimate nest numbers from UAS surveys. We also compared a full colony ground count to full counts from two UAS surveys conducted the following day. Finally, we compared colony disturbance levels over the course of UAS flights to matched control periods. Linear regressions between aerial and ground counts in plots had very strong correlations in all three comparison periods (R2 = 0.972-0.989, P About the data: Raw aerial photos were captured in JPEG format by a Canon Powershot S90 10-megapixel camera mounted on an Aerial Insight AI-Multi electric fixed-wing UAS. The highest quality overlapping photos of each of the two islands comprising the tern colony were then mosaicked using the PTGui panoramic stitching software. Photomosaics were then imported into ArcGIS and georeferenced with ground control points collected with a Trimble Pathfinder GPS at a series of yellow or orange plastic cones (visible in the imagery) marking the centre of plots in which ground nest counts were compared to aerial tern counts. Overall disturbance levels on each of the two islands were scored on a scale of 0–2 from a distance by an observer at 30-second intervals throughout UAS flights as well as "matched" control periods starting 10 minutes following landing. For more information about this research or the data, please contact: [e-mail]