Do not fly drones near birds of prey

August 15, 2015 11:12 AM

Angry eagle attacks UAV: How do drones affect wildlife? "This is the last thing a small bird sees when a Wedge-Tailed Eagle decides that you are dinner"
posted by Michele in California (31 comments total)

I'm really surprised that this "do drones stress wildlife?" question is so compelling to folks this week. It's mostly driven by drone fascination, right? Because I will tell you right now, there is almost nothing that we care about less than what causes stress to wildlife. We don't even care very much when species go extinct - why would we suddenly care so much about their stress levels, but only with respect to drones? Why not roads, cars, hunting, gunshots, airplanes, construction noise, oil and gas drilling - any number of other human activities that almost certainly cause both acute and chronic stress to wild animals?
posted by dialetheia at 11:19 AM on August 15, 2015 [32 favorites]

I'm a little sad that the eagle was apparently not successful in eating the drone and gaining its strength.
posted by ostro at 11:19 AM on August 15, 2015 [10 favorites]

Not to mention the other kind of arial vehicle, you know, the big ones that smack right into birds and kill them.
posted by ssg at 11:22 AM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

Is it just my imagination, or did the eagle intentionally pick an angle of attack such that its outline would be lost in the horizon line? If it had come from a lower or higher angle it would be easier to see it coming, but when it blends into the tree line on the horizon...
posted by idiopath at 11:31 AM on August 15, 2015 [6 favorites]

We have seen the first volleys of a new phase in a very old war between Nature and Technology.
posted by Apocryphon at 11:33 AM on August 15, 2015 [3 favorites]

I feel stressed out by the constant plane noise and road noise and so on that I deal with in my environment, so why would an animal not have the same issues? At least I know what the noises are and that they probably won't kill me. An animal just gets the stress with no explanation for it.
posted by downtohisturtles at 11:59 AM on August 15, 2015

Drone-flying idiots are causing lots of problems in commercial airspaces and for planes trying to put out fires, too. And it's impossible to catch them, so far. Upsetting wildlife is just one more problem they cause.

But on the other hand, they're so seductive, aren't they? Getting amazing views of things you would never otherwise see (like the ones flying around the fireworks we went to this 4th of July). My company uses them for aerial shots of giant projects, and it's great, so much cheaper then sending up a photographer in a helicopter. It impresses our clients. They're toys and we love our toys. They're cheap and everywhere.

I'm not sure what we can do about the nuisances they cause. How could you safely get rid of a drone in a commercial airspace? How could you figure out who was controlling a rogue one, or, in this case, harassing wildlife with it?
posted by emjaybee at 12:02 PM on August 15, 2015

I have read that some folks would like to require operator's licenses. That might cut down on some of the less responsible behavior.
posted by Michele in California at 12:11 PM on August 15, 2015

But on the other hand, they're so seductive, aren't they?

I've posted at least two different drone videos of Los Angeles, more as love letters to the city than to the technology. There's a brand new video out there that I thought about posting, but I've decided that I've contributed enough to the problem. Or even "problem." Not that I would ever flag it if someone else posted it, and I wouldn't regret people getting to see more of this awesome city. I've watched it more than once. I'm conflicted, selfishly.
posted by Room 641-A at 12:21 PM on August 15, 2015

“This is the last thing a small bird sees when a Wedge-Tailed Eagle decides that you are dinner,"

I wouldn't go that far. I would say there are times when the Wedge-Tailed Eagle decides a bird is dinner, grasps it in his talons, flies to some perch close by and proceeds to eat it alive. In which case the dinner might be in some position to, while very much alive, observe its breast, thigh or wing being torn apart and swallowed.

Category: ways in which modern human life is better than a bird's life.
posted by uraniumwilly at 12:23 PM on August 15, 2015 [4 favorites]

Speaking of LA, having drones fly around public places would be a good way to watch the watchmen, if you know what I mean.
posted by Apocryphon at 12:24 PM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

I would say there are times when the Wedge-Tailed Eagle decides a bird is dinner, grasps it in his talons, flies to some perch close by and proceeds to eat it alive. In which case the dinner might be in some position to, while very much alive, observe its breast, thigh or wing being torn apart and swallowed.

oh, jeez, debbie!
posted by pyramid termite at 12:27 PM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

How could you figure out who was controlling a rogue one, or, in this case, harassing wildlife with it?

My impression here at Grand Canyon is that operators either don't know the rules, or are willing to brazenly ignore them in popular areas. So far no one is dressing up in ghillie suits and terrorizing wildlife on the sly.

I heard a story recently about a guy flying his drone over the canyon when he was asked by a bird-watcher to please land the thing. The operator was supposedly a jerk about it, bringing the drone in as if to land it, and then — sike! — flying it right back out. The bird-watcher swatted at the controls, and the drone crashed in the canyon.

So it is probably a good idea to behave like a nice person when flying your delicate expensive toy over a titanic abyss.
posted by compartment at 12:32 PM on August 15, 2015 [3 favorites]

My impression here at Grand Canyon is that operators either don't know the rules, or are willing to brazenly ignore them in popular areas. So far no one is dressing up in ghillie suits and terrorizing wildlife on the sly.

Seeing as drones have been banned from all National Parks, I'd say that operators don't know the rules.
posted by one_bean at 12:43 PM on August 15, 2015

Not to mention the other kind of arial vehicle, you know, the big ones that smack right into birds and kill them.

Man, you really are the courier of bad news.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 12:44 PM on August 15, 2015 [5 favorites]

I mean, those poor birds... just flying along and Zapf! Hit right in the wing-dings!
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 12:44 PM on August 15, 2015 [5 favorites]

It is quite the Impact.
posted by tigrrrlily at 12:58 PM on August 15, 2015 [5 favorites]

Also, don't fly drones near bears.

Drones used to monitor bears send their heart rates through the roof.
posted by eye of newt at 1:49 PM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

I wouldn't go that far. I would say there are times when the Wedge-Tailed Eagle decides a bird is dinner, grasps it in his talons, flies to some perch close by and proceeds to eat it alive. In which case the dinner might be in some position to, while very much alive, observe its breast, thigh or wing being torn apart and swallowed.

Category: ways in which modern human life is better than a bird's life.

Actually this is downright merciful compared to the modern human way of dying.
posted by save alive nothing that breatheth at 2:12 PM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

I'm all for people enjoying their toys but unless there is a well-designed performance envelope limit (and some serious training for the big ones - there's a reason you get a LOT of training to fly a Predator) a pilot is going to die, or a pilot and passengers are going to die when some knucklehead tries to formation-fly with a general aviation airplane and either collides or startles the pilot badly during a critical phase of flight.

A couple of pilot friends of mine have already had near-collisions with these things. Maybe we could get those other arses with the green lasers to start lighting up drones...
posted by Thistledown at 3:03 PM on August 15, 2015

"Drones can be extremely noisy, and can impact the natural soundscape,” the National Park Service said in a warning banning the use of UAVs in parks.

Well, the sound of the drone in the video really upset my cat, who was so annoyed by it he forgave the eagle its birdness when it took out the drone. From here on, drones are banned in my apartment. By law of cat!
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:04 PM on August 15, 2015 [2 favorites]

I hope the eagle didn't get hurt by the spinning blades.
posted by double block and bleed at 3:47 PM on August 15, 2015 [7 favorites]

I was buzzed by a drone not long ago while biking on a hilltop in a State Park. I was huffing it up a steep climb in a field and the thing came out of nowhere, close and surprisingly loud. It stopped and hovered nearby, seemingly watching. Distracted, I fell off the bike; it continued to hover as I nursed a bloody knee. I lost it by hustling into dense woods, but could hear it make passes over the canopy above. The whole incident felt surreal, like I'd stumbled into an old episode of "The Prisoner", and though I had no reason to feel threatened, its unexplained, intrusive presence seriously freaked me out. I can't imagine what it's like for wildlife.
posted by kinnakeet at 4:28 PM on August 15, 2015 [15 favorites]

It is quite the Impact

You guys are a font of wisdom today.
posted by kinnakeet at 4:31 PM on August 15, 2015 [2 favorites]

Why not roads, cars, hunting, gunshots, airplanes, construction noise, oil and gas drilling - any number of other human activities that almost certainly cause both acute and chronic stress to wild animals?

There was drone photography recently where I was working, and the thing was surprisingly loud. Not necessarily louder than a highway or a shooting range, but it is a new source of noise, and comes from a direction (overhead) that is usually fairly quiet. So I agree that this is mostly drone fascination, but with somewhat of a real issue also. It's also possible to use a drone to pursue and harass wildlife in a way that most other sources of noise don't do -- animals have the option of moving away from highways, but that doesn't work when a jackass is using his drone to look at the animals.
posted by Dip Flash at 4:49 PM on August 15, 2015 [4 favorites]

idiopath: "Is it just my imagination, or did the eagle intentionally pick an angle of attack such that its outline would be lost in the horizon line?"

According to a mate who has studied them a bit the stereotypical 'attack from above' only happens ~50% of the time, when they're out boundary-riding their range or specifically hunting - the rest of the time they'll opportunistically attack from their perch into an open area by coming in straight & just under the horizon (so they're lost in the shape of the tree / treeline behind them, and not silhouetted against the sky).

She reckons this one was either defending a nest or an making an opportunistic hunt from a nest/perch.
posted by Pinback at 6:44 PM on August 15, 2015 [3 favorites]

> Not to mention the other kind of aerial vehicle, you know, the big ones that smack right into birds and kill them.

And vice versa.
posted by Sunburnt at 10:47 PM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

Where was that hawk when an annoying kid was swooping me and my family with his drone at our local beach? I'd pay money for the bird to bypass the aircraft and go straight for the operator.
posted by Jubey at 4:29 AM on August 16, 2015 [2 favorites]

Seeing as drones have been banned from all National Parks, I'd say that operators don't know the rules.

I think that's giving many drone operators a bit more credit than is due. In reading threads on other sites regarding drones and/or the operation of drones where they aren't welcome (the recent to-do about drones preventing aerial fire fighters from attacking a wild fire, for instance) I've come to the opinion that a sizable number of drone pilots seem to be of the mindset that the sky is their playground, and any attempts to corral or restrict them is Luddite thinking and to be ignored.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:28 AM on August 16, 2015 [4 favorites]

My company uses them for aerial shots of giant projects, and it's great, so much cheaper then sending up a photographer in a helicopter. It impresses our clients. They're toys and we love our toys.

I am ambivalent about a lot of drone use, but I feel like this really should give credit to the not insignificant savings in carbon output. Even a small helicopter will consume more than 15 gallons of fuel in an hour. Replacing survey operations with drones is a huge payoff from an environmental standpoint even before you consider how drone battery power can be completely produced via solar, something that is not at all an option for a chopper.

If you really want a villain in the drone world look no further than the FAA which has completely dropped the ball on regulatory issues. They've half-assed their regulation process in a way that has delayed putting anything in place and they have ignored the law in doing so, opening up regulations to legal challenge. Along the way they've stifled news gathering endeavors as well.
posted by phearlez at 12:13 PM on August 17, 2015

This is EXACTLY my partner's area of study: hassling raptors with drones. Audubon wrote about his research last year.
It seems drones annoy humans way more than they annoy birds. Compared to other methods of studying raptors, namely climbing up to their nests or using bucket trucks, UAVs are fairly non-invasive. Some species will scream at them a bit, but after several dozen flights right up to actual nests with babies he only had one really aggressive encounter, and the osprey had the upper hand by a mile.
We have a fantastic video a drone crashing right inside a nest. The camera kept running as the biologists figured out their extraction strategy, and you can see both parent ospreys kind of poke at the UAV with their beaks, trying to dislodge it, then giving up and putting sticks on it like "Welp, that thing's part of the nest now!"
posted by Freyja at 8:54 AM on August 18, 2015 [2 favorites]