Species-Specific Responses of Bird Song Output in the Presence of Drones

Drones are now widely used to study wildlife, but their application in the study of bioacoustics is limited. Drones can be used to collect data on bird vocalizations, but an ongoing concern is that noise from drones could change bird vocalization behavior. To test for behavioral impact, we conducted an experiment using 30 sound localization arrays to track the song output of 7 songbird species before, during, and after a 3 min flight of a small quadcopter drone hovering 48 m above ground level. We analyzed 8303 song bouts, of which 2285, from 184 individual birds were within 50 m of the array centers. We used linear mixed effect models to assess whether patterns in bird song output could be attributed to the drone’s presence. We found no evidence of any effect of the drone on five species: American Robin Turdus migratorius, Common Yellowthroat Geothlypis trichas, Field Sparrow Spizella pusilla, Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia, and Indigo Bunting Passerina cyanea. However, we found a substantial decrease in Yellow Warbler Setophaga petechia song detections during the 3 min drone hover; there was an 81% drop in detections in the third minute (Wald test, p < 0.001) compared with before the drone’s introduction. By contrast, the number of singing Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis increased when the drone was overhead and remained almost five-fold higher for 4 min after the drone departed (p < 0.001). Further, we found an increase in cardinal contact/alarm calls when the drone was overhead, with the elevated calling rate lasting for 2 min after the drone departed (p < 0.001). Our study suggests that the responses of songbirds to drones may be species-specific, an important consideration when proposing the use of drones in avian studies. We note that recent advances in drone technology have resulted in much quieter drones, which makes us hopeful that the impact that we detected could be greatly reduced.

Nevada Bird Records Committee Report for 2019–2020

In 2019 and 2020, the Nevada Bird Records Committee reviewed 79 reports from the period 4 November 1955 to 23 October 2020. Seventy of them were endorsed. It added three species to the state checklist, the Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla), Mexican Duck (Anas diazi), and Pine Warbler (Setophaga pinus). Two of those (the Field Sparrow and Pine Warbler) were added to the review list. The Mexican Duck was elevated from subspecies to species status, and it, along with six other species, were removed from the review list. We also continued reviewing records that precede the committee’s establishment in 1994.

3-rd FORM STUDENTS’ KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS: A CASE OF INDEPENDENT WORK BY ONLINE DISTANCE LEARNING

In the spring of 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic having started, and quarantine being introduced in the country, a transition was made to distance teaching/learning. Using online distance learning, a possibility naturally emerged for the primary school students to develop independence. And this is a very important competence part of learning how to learn. One of the most important independence criteria is - thoroughly completed work. Research focus – 3-rd form students’ knowledge and skills working independently. Aim – after analysing task activity worksheets, to assess students’ knowledge and skills, and to discuss students’ ability to work independently. It was suggested for the students that they watch a film in You Tube about a common sparrow and a field sparrow. An activity worksheet was prepared, which was sent to the students by e-mail. For the preparation of the task, a day was allotted. Nineteen 3-rd form students took part in the research. It was ascertained that some of the students lacked attentiveness searching for the similarities and differences of the analysed animals, patience carrying out the other tasks. Watching a film about a common sparrow and a field sparrow, the students acquired new knowledge about their biological peculiarities, living environment, behaviour. Answering the questions, the students already used new concepts. At the same time, they developed work with information recourses, research skills, improved comparing and confronting abilities. Nevertheless, almost half of the students lacked thoroughness, showing their independence. It was still difficult for the students to formulate full answers, therefore they could not fully demonstrate their knowledge and understanding. Girls, carrying out the tasks, were more observant and attentive than boys. Performing the tasks, students demonstrated reproductive and productive independence. Of course, you should not limit yourself in this, and in future you should more orient yourself to the development of creative independence. Keywords: activity worksheet, distance teaching, independent work, primary school students.

Species-Specific Responses of Bird Song Output in the Presence of Drones

Drones are now widely used to study wildlife, but applications for studying bioacoustics have been limited. Drones can be used to collect data on bird vocalizations, but an ongoing concern is that noise from the drones could change bird vocalization behavior. To test this behavioral impact we conducted an experiment using 30 sound localization arrays to track the song output of seven songbird species before, during, and after a 3-minute flight of a small quadcopter drone hovering at 50 m above ground level. We analyzed 8,303 song bouts, of which 2,285 song bouts of 184 individual birds were within 50 meters of the array centers. We used linear mixed effect models to assess patterns in song output showed patterns that could be attributed to the drone’s presence. We found no evidence of any effect of the drone for five species: American Robin Turdus migratorius, Common Yellowthroat Geothlypis trichas, Field Sparrow Spizella pusilla, Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia, and Indigo Bunting Passerina cyanea. However, we found a substantial decrease in Yellow Warbler Setophaga petechia song detections during the 3-minute drone hover, such that there was an 81% drop in detections in the 3rd minute (Wald-test, p<0.001), compared with before the drone’s introduction. In contrast, the number of singing Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis increased after the drone was introduced, and remained almost five-fold higher for 4-minutes after the drone departed (P<0.001). Further, we found an increase in cardinal contact/alarm calls when the drone was overhead, with the elevated calling-rate sustaining for 2 minutes after the drone had departed (P<0.001). Our study suggests that responses of songbirds to drones may be species-specific, an important consideration when proposing the use of drones in avian studies. We note that recent advances in drone technology have resulted in much quieter drones, which makes us hopeful that the impacts that we detected could be greatly reduced.