Data from: Seabird species vary in behavioural response to drone census

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) provide an opportunity to rapidly census wildlife in remote areas while removing some of the hazards. However, wildlife may respond negatively to the UAVs, thereby skewing counts. We surveyed four species of Arctic cliff-nesting seabirds (glaucous gull Larus hyperboreus, Iceland gull Larus glaucoides, common murre Uria aalge and thick-billed murre Uria lomvia) using a UAV and compared censusing techniques to ground photography. An average of 8.5% of murres flew off in response to the UAV, but >99% of those birds were non-breeders. We were unable to detect any impact of the UAV on breeding success of murres, except at a site where aerial predators were abundant and several birds lost their eggs to predators following UAV flights. Furthermore, we found little evidence for habituation by murres to the UAV. Most gulls flew off in response to the UAV, but returned to the nest within five minutes. Counts of gull nests and adults were similar between UAV and ground photography, however the UAV detected up to 52.4% more chicks because chicks were camouflaged and invisible to ground observers. UAVs provide a less hazardous and potentially more accurate method for surveying wildlife. We provide some simple recommendations for their use.无人机（Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, UAVs）为快速普查偏远地区野生动物提供了可行路径，同时可有效规避部分野外作业风险。然而，野生动物可能对无人机产生负面应激反应，进而导致统计计数出现偏差。 本研究采用无人机对四种北极崖巢海鸟开展普查，并将其普查结果与地面摄影法进行对比，涉及物种包括灰鸥（*Larus hyperboreus*）、冰岛鸥（*Larus glaucoides*）、普通海鸠（*Uria aalge*）及厚嘴海鸠（*Uria lomvia*）。 研究结果显示，平均有8.5%的海鸠会因无人机靠近而飞离巢穴，但其中超过99%均为非繁殖个体。我们未检测到无人机对海鸠的繁殖成功率产生任何显著影响，仅在一处空中捕食者种群密集的观测点，出现了多枚鸟蛋在无人机飞行后被捕食者窃食的情况。此外，几乎未发现海鸠对无人机产生习惯化效应的证据。 多数鸥类会在感知到无人机靠近时飞离巢穴，但均能在五分钟内返回巢区。无人机与地面摄影统计的鸥类巢穴及成鸟数量基本一致，但无人机多检测出最高达52.4%的幼鸟个体——这是由于幼鸟具备保护色，地面观测者无法直接发现它们。 综上，无人机是一种危险性更低、且潜在精度更高的野生动物普查手段。最后，我们针对无人机的野外应用提出了若干简易实用的建议。