Transcript
Birds of prey are at the top of the food chain, so they’re very susceptible to chemical pesticides, habitat degradation and loss.
We’re trying to do our best to keep them from disappearing.
I’m David Bird, an emeritus professor of wildlife biology at McGill University.
More than a decade ago, I discovered the world of drones, and how they can be used to study wildlife.
To get a count of eggs or young in the nest, one would either have to fly or climb the nest, which is certainly not very safe.
The idea of a drone is that you can launch the drone from even as far away as quarter of a mile, fly it over the nest and take your pictures, get counts of eggs or young and then leave.
You can do that within the space of about three minutes. So, a lot less stress to the birds themselves and a lot less stress to the biologist, and of course a lot safer and cheaper too.
Health and safety of the wildlife comes first. This is not something that one should do alone.
It’s important to make sure that you’ve got a spotter or two, have a good method for communicating, as well as have in place a plan or an exit strategy to make sure that if the bird does something unexpected, attacks the drone, for example, that you can get the drone safely to the ground and out of harm’s way for the bird.
It’s important for the public to understand that regulations are in place to use drones properly and in certain places like national and provincial parks, because they can also be potentially disturbing, even harmful physically, to wildlife of various kinds.
So, people using drones should be cognizant of the proper safety protocols and regulations to ensure their safe use.
I studied birds of prey for all my research life but I never dreamed that I would discover a new technology whereby I am a pioneer among some of the top wildlife biologists in the world.
I’m very, very proud of what I’ve accomplished so far in the world of drones and I have no intention whatsoever of stopping.
I have many, many more ideas in my mind of things I would like to pursue.
If drones are used properly and safely then they can become an amazing tool to study wildlife.