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Publication Details

Title:
Antipredator response data for captive, male red-wing blackbirds toward drones used as frightening devices
Author(s):
Egan, Conor C.; Blackwell, Bradley F.; Fernández-Juricic, Esteban; Klug, Page E.
Publication Year:
2020
How to Cite:
These data were collected using funding from the U.S. Government and can be used without additional permissions or fees. If you use these data in a publication, presentation, or other research product please use the following citation:
Egan, Conor C.; Blackwell, Bradley F.; Fernández-Juricic, Esteban; Klug, Page E. 2020. Antipredator response data for captive, male red-wing blackbirds toward drones used as frightening devices. Research Dataset Series. USDA, APHIS, WS National Wildlife Research Center. Ft. Collins, Colorado. https://doi.org/10.2737/NWRC-RDS-2020-001
Abstract:
We evaluated the behavioral responses of individual Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) to 3 drone platforms: a predator model, a fixed-wing resembling an airplane, and a multirotor, approaching either head-on or overhead. This experiment was conducted in the late summer of 2017 at the Casselton Seed Farm in Caselton at North Dakota State University with male birds collected from Colorado. We used video cameras to record behavior of blackbirds in response to drone approaches and quantified the antipredator responses of blackbirds using video footage. This data publication contains the data and analysis code for Egan et al. (2020).

Keywords:
biota; Ecology, Ecosystems, & Environment; Wildlife (or Fauna); Birds; frightening devices; hazing; human-wildlife conflict; UAS; UAV; visual deterrent; Agelaius phoeniceus; North Dakota; United States
Related publications:
  • Egan, Conor C.; Blackwell, Bradley F.; Fernández-Juricic, Esteban; Klug, Page E. 2020. Testing a key assumption of using drones as frightening devices: do birds perceive drones as risky?. The Condor: Ornithological Applications. 122:1–15. https://doi.org/10.1093/condor/duaa014
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