Data for the analysis of antipredator responses of blackbird flocks toward different drone platforms used as hazing tools in sunflower fields

Metadata:
Identification_Information:
Citation:
Citation_Information:
Originator: Egan, Conor C.
Originator: Blackwell, Bradley F.
Originator: Fernández-Juricic, Esteban
Originator: Klug, Page E.
Publication_Date: 2023
Title:
Data for the analysis of antipredator responses of blackbird flocks toward different drone platforms used as hazing tools in sunflower fields
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: tabular digital data
Series_Information:
Series_Name: Research Dataset Series
Publication_Information:
Publication_Place: Fort Collins, CO
Publisher: USDA, APHIS, WS National Wildlife Research Center
Online_Linkage: https://doi.org/10.2737/NWRC-RDS-2023-001
Description:
Abstract:
We evaluated the behavioral responses of mixed blackbird flocks, dominated by red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus), to the initial approach and 2-minutes of hazing by three drone platforms: a predator model, a fixed-wing model resembling an airplane, and a multirotor. We conducted this experiment in commercial sunflower fields in North Dakota, USA from September to October 2017. We approached each blackbird flock with one platform, including one direct flight approach and a second approach followed by a 120 second hazing period. This data publication includes the results of all 60 trials. Data include measurements such as wind and temperature at time of trial, ambient light intensity, size of sunflower field, size of blackbird flock, distance between the drone and blackbird flock when 50% of flock took flight, whether or not the entire flock left the field due to drone hazing, etc. We also included the R code used to analyze these data.
Purpose:
The study was designed to establish the ability of different drone platforms to elicit flight behavior and field abandonment of blackbird flocks to inform the importance of drone shape for hazing to protect agricultural resources.
Supplemental_Information:
For more information about this study and these data, see Egan et al. (2023).

These data were published on 06/23/2023. On 03/01/2024, the metadata was updated to include more details for the recently published article.
Time_Period_of_Content:
Time_Period_Information:
Range_of_Dates/Times:
Beginning_Date: 20170916
Ending_Date: 20171025
Currentness_Reference:
Ground condition
Status:
Progress: Complete
Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: None planned
Spatial_Domain:
Description_of_Geographic_Extent:
The field study was conducted in commercial sunflower fields covering six counties (Emmons, Burleigh, Kidder, Stutsman, McIntosh, and Dickey) in North Dakota, USA.
Bounding_Coordinates:
West_Bounding_Coordinate: -100.56000
East_Bounding_Coordinate: -98.62000
North_Bounding_Coordinate: 46.94000
South_Bounding_Coordinate: 46.05000
Keywords:
Theme:
Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: ISO 19115 Topic Category
Theme_Keyword: biota
Theme:
Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: National Research & Development Taxonomy
Theme_Keyword: Ecology, Ecosystems, & Environment
Theme_Keyword: Wildlife (or Fauna)
Theme_Keyword: Birds
Theme:
Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: None
Theme_Keyword: agroecosytem
Theme_Keyword: crop damage
Theme_Keyword: frightening devices
Theme_Keyword: hazing
Theme_Keyword: human-wildlife conflict
Theme_Keyword: UAS
Theme_Keyword: UAV
Theme_Keyword: visual deterrent
Place:
Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: None
Place_Keyword: North Dakota
Taxonomy:
Keywords/Taxon:
Taxonomic_Keyword_Thesaurus:
None
Taxonomic_Keywords: vertebrates
Taxonomic_System:
Classification_System/Authority:
Classification_System_Citation:
Citation_Information:
Originator: ITIS
Publication_Date: 2023
Title:
Integrated Taxonomic Information System
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: on-line database
Other_Citation_Details:
Retrieved [June, 15, 2023]; CC0
Online_Linkage: https://www.itis.gov
Online_Linkage: https://doi.org/10.5066/F7KH0KBK
Taxonomic_Procedures:
Taxonomic_Classification:
Taxon_Rank_Name: Kingdom
Taxon_Rank_Value: Animalia
Applicable_Common_Name: Animal
Applicable_Common_Name: animaux
Applicable_Common_Name: animals
Taxonomic_Classification:
Taxon_Rank_Name: Subkingdom
Taxon_Rank_Value: Bilateria
Taxonomic_Classification:
Taxon_Rank_Name: Infrakingdom
Taxon_Rank_Value: Deuterostomia
Taxonomic_Classification:
Taxon_Rank_Name: Phylum
Taxon_Rank_Value: Chordata
Applicable_Common_Name: cordés
Applicable_Common_Name: cordado
Applicable_Common_Name: chordates
Taxonomic_Classification:
Taxon_Rank_Name: Subphylum
Taxon_Rank_Value: Vertebrata
Applicable_Common_Name: vertebrado
Applicable_Common_Name: vertébrés
Applicable_Common_Name: vertebrates
Taxonomic_Classification:
Taxon_Rank_Name: Infraphylum
Taxon_Rank_Value: Gnathostomata
Taxonomic_Classification:
Taxon_Rank_Name: Superclass
Taxon_Rank_Value: Tetrapoda
Taxonomic_Classification:
Taxon_Rank_Name: Class
Taxon_Rank_Value: Aves
Applicable_Common_Name: Birds
Applicable_Common_Name: oiseaux
Taxonomic_Classification:
Taxon_Rank_Name: Order
Taxon_Rank_Value: Passeriformes
Applicable_Common_Name: Perching Birds
Applicable_Common_Name: passereaux
Taxonomic_Classification:
Taxon_Rank_Name: Family
Taxon_Rank_Value: Icteridae
Applicable_Common_Name: American Blackbirds
Applicable_Common_Name: Orioles
Applicable_Common_Name: New World Blackbirds
Taxonomic_Classification:
Taxon_Rank_Name: Genus
Taxon_Rank_Value: Agelaius
Applicable_Common_Name: Red-winged Blackbirds
Taxonomic_Classification:
Taxon_Rank_Name: Species
Taxon_Rank_Value: Agelaius phoeniceus
Applicable_Common_Name: Red-winged Blackbird
Applicable_Common_Name: carouge à épaulettes
Applicable_Common_Name: Tordo sargento
Access_Constraints: None
Use_Constraints:
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. 2023. Data for the analysis of antipredator responses of blackbird flocks toward different drone platforms used as hazing tools in sunflower fields. Research Dataset Series. USDA, APHIS, WS National Wildlife Research Center. Ft. Collins, Colorado. https://doi.org/10.2737/NWRC-RDS-2023-001
Point_of_Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Organization_Primary:
Contact_Organization: USDA, APHIS, Wildlife Service, National Wildlife Research Center
Contact_Person: Page Klug
Contact_Position: Supervisory Research Wildlife Biologist
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing and physical
Address: North Dakota State University, Department of Biological Sciences
Address: 1340 Bolley Drive
City: Fargo
State_or_Province: ND
Postal_Code: 58102
Country: USA
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 701-630-3776
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: page.e.klug@usda.gov
Data_Set_Credit:
This project was funded by the United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center (NWRC; via cooperative agreement, #7438-0020-CA, between North Dakota State University and NWRC; QA-2731) and the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA; via Interagency Agreement, DTFACT-14-X-00007, between WS and the FAA).


Author Information:

Conor C. Egan
USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Fort Myers, FL
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0630-9952

Bradley F. Blackwell
USDA, APHIS, Wildlife Service, National Wildlife Research Center, Sandusky, OH
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4664-8227

Esteban Fernández-Juricic
Purdue University, Department of Biological Sciences, West Lafayette, IN

Page E. Klug
USDA, APHIS, Wildlife Service, National Wildlife Research Center, Fargo, ND
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0836-3901
Cross_Reference:
Citation_Information:
Originator: Egan, Conor C.
Originator: Blackwell, Bradley F.
Originator: Fernández-Juricic, Esteban
Originator: Klug, Page E.
Publication_Date: 2023
Title:
Dispersal of blackbird flocks from sunflower fields: Efficacy influenced by flock and field size but not drone platform
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: journal article
Series_Information:
Series_Name: Wildlife Society Bulletin
Issue_Identification: 47(3): e1478
Online_Linkage: https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.1478
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Data_Quality_Information:
Attribute_Accuracy:
Attribute_Accuracy_Report:
Although red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) were the dominate species, quantifying species composition was difficult due to the distance between the observers and the flocks and the constant movement of large foraging blackbird flocks (≤6,000). Common grackles (Quiscalus quiscula) yellow-headed blackbirds (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus), or other blackbird species may have been minor components of the flocks. Variable flock sizes, uneven terrain, complex land cover, and birds positioned below the crop canopy made estimating the edge, center, and diameter of the flock challenging. Each treatment was subject to similar inaccuracies in flock location. Thus, we used FID measurements as an index of escape behavior in response to drone platforms and not as an accurate estimate of FID given the difficulty in identifying flock location. The same inaccuracies could have been evident in estimating starting distance (i.e., distance between pilot and flock at launch). We used the polygon ruler tool and top-down view in Google Earth at the same scale for every field to measure field size (ha). Windspeed, ambient light, and temperature are accurate relative to the accuracy of our equipment. Although visual estimates of large bird flocks by human observers are often inaccurate, our estimates were consistent relative to other flocks observed by a single observer (C.C.E.) throughout the season. Therefore, the effect of flock size reflects a true biological effect.
Logical_Consistency_Report:
The data are logically consistent. The consistency was verified as part of the quality assurance that occurred during data analysis.
Completeness_Report:
When analyzing flight initiation distance, there were trials where the flock location seemed inaccurate after viewing in Google Earth and when the drone flight path was not directly at the flock (n = 2). When analyzing probability of field abandonment, there were trials where we were unsure if the birds left the field, the flock was too far away to haze, or the hazing attempt was not direct at the flock (n = 7). In all of these cases, values of "NA" (not available) were recorded in the CSV file. We are missing wind origin, wind speed, ambient light, and temperature for one of the 58 trials used for analyzing FID. We are missing wind origin, wind speed, ambient light, and temperature for one of the 53 trials and missing starting distance for one of the 53 trials used for analyzing field abandonment.
Lineage:
Methodology:
Methodology_Type: Field
Methodology_Description:
We directly approached free-ranging blackbird flocks foraging in 32 commercial sunflower fields from August to October 2017 with three drone platforms (i.e., predator model, fixed-wing model resembling an airplane, and a multirotor) at 5-10 meters (m) above ground level (AGL) at an average speed of 14 meters per second (m s⁻¹) until the flock initiated a flight response. After the flocks took flight on the first approach, we stopped the drone and returned to the launch site and waited until the flock resumed normal foraging behavior in the commercial sunflower field. We approached a flock a second time and hazed the flocks for 120 seconds at variable altitudes and speeds to encourage abandonment of the sunflower field. We recorded platform as a fixed effect along with estimates of flock size and species composition, field location, field size (hectares), day, time, starting distance between launch site and flock (m), ambient air temperature (°Celsius), ambient light intensity (micromoles per square meter per second), and average wind speed (kilometers per hour) and wind direction as covariates for each trial. We recorded the following response variables: flight initiation distance (i.e., distance between drone and leading edge of flock when 50% of the flock had taken flight) and field abandonment (i.e., 100% of the flock leaving the sunflower field). We conducted our study in the North Dakota where large blackbird populations aggregate after breeding and during migration and damage commercial agriculture. See Egan et al. (2023) for details.
Methodology_Citation:
Citation_Information:
Originator: Egan, Conor C.
Originator: Blackwell, Bradley F.
Originator: Fernández-Juricic, Esteban
Originator: Klug, Page E.
Publication_Date: 2023
Title:
Dispersal of blackbird flocks from sunflower fields: Efficacy influenced by flock and field size but not drone platform
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: journal article
Series_Information:
Series_Name: Wildlife Society Bulletin
Issue_Identification: 47(3): e1478
Online_Linkage: https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.1478
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Entity_and_Attribute_Information:
Overview_Description:
Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:
Below you will find a list and description of the files included in this data publication.


VARIABLE DESCRIPTION FILE (1)

1. \Data\_variable_descriptions.csv: Comma-separated values (CSV) file containing a list and description of variables found in the CSV file. (A description of these variables is also provided in the metadata below.)

Columns include:

Filename = name of data file
Variable = name of variable
Units = units (if applicable)
Precision = precision (if applicable)
Description = description of variable


DATA FILE (1)

1. \Data\Egan_etal_2023_WSB_Field_Data.csv: CSV file containing blackbird flock response and field condition data collected during this project. This CSV file can be used with R-Code to analyze the results. (NA = not available)

Variables include:

Trial = number used to uniquely identify each drone trial

Field# = number used to uniquely identify each sunflower field

ZONE = UTM Zone and T is a division of the zone above 40 degrees latitude in the northern hemisphere (14T)

UTM E = Universal Transverse Mercator, East

UTM N = Universal Transverse Mercator, North

DATE = date of trial (MM/DD/YYYY where MM = month, DD = day, YYYY = year)

Day = day of trial with first day of trials beginning at 1; trials conducted on 21 days

Rep = number of times a unique sunflower field was visited

FSHectare = size of sunflower field (hectares)

TIME = time of day the trial was initiated (HH:MM:SS, AM or PM where HH = hour, MM = minutes, SS = seconds)

Wind Origin = direction wind originated from (where W = west, E = east, N = north, S = south)

Windspeed = windspeed (kilometers per hour)

Light = ambient light intensity (micromoles per square meter per second [µmol m⁻² s⁻¹])

Temperature = ambient temperature (degrees Celsius)

FlockSize = size of blackbird flock (estimated by Conor C. Egan)

Platform = drone type that each blackbird flock was exposed to during trials (Eagle = predator, Plane = fixed-wing, Quadcopter = multirotor)

StartDistance = distance between drone launch site and blackbird flock (meters)

FID = flight initiation distance (meters); distance between drone and blackbird flock when 50% of the flock had taken flight

LEAVE = Did the entire blackbird flock leave the sunflower field in response to drone hazing? (YES, NO)

Success = Did the entire blackbird flock leave the sunflower field in response to drone hazing? (1 = Yes, 0 = No)


SUPPLEMENTAL FILE (1)

1. \Supplements\Egan_etal_2023_WSB_10Mar23.R: Text file containing R code that can be used with provided CSV file to replicate analysis results step by step, as they appear in Egan et al. (2023).
Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:
Egan, Conor C.; Blackwell, Bradley F.; Fernández-Juricic, Esteban; Klug, Page E. 2023. Dispersal of blackbird flocks from sunflower fields: Efficacy influenced by flock and field size but not drone platform. Wildlife Society Bulletin. 47(3): e1478. https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.1478
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Distribution_Information:
Distributor:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Organization_Primary:
Contact_Organization: USDA Forest Service, Research and Development
Contact_Position: Research Data Archivist
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing and physical
Address: 240 West Prospect Road
City: Fort Collins
State_or_Province: CO
Postal_Code: 80526
Country: USA
Contact_Voice_Telephone: see Contact Instructions
Contact Instructions: This contact information was current as of March 2024. For current information see Contact Us page on: https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS.
Resource_Description: NWRC-RDS-2023-001
Distribution_Liability:
Metadata documents have been reviewed for accuracy and completeness. Unless otherwise stated, all data and related materials are considered to satisfy the quality standards relative to the purpose for which the data were collected. However, neither the author, the Archive, nor any part of the federal government can assure the reliability or suitability of these data for a particular purpose. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed for a user's application of these data or related materials.

The metadata, data, or related materials may be updated without notification. If a user believes errors are present in the metadata, data or related materials, please use the information in (1) Identification Information: Point of Contact, (2) Metadata Reference: Metadata Contact, or (3) Distribution Information: Distributor to notify the author or the Archive of the issues.
Standard_Order_Process:
Digital_Form:
Digital_Transfer_Information:
Format_Name: CSV
Format_Version_Number: see Format Specification
Format_Specification:
Comma-separated values file
Digital_Transfer_Option:
Online_Option:
Computer_Contact_Information:
Network_Address:
Network_Resource_Name: https://doi.org/10.2737/NWRC-RDS-2023-001
Digital_Form:
Digital_Transfer_Information:
Format_Name: TEXT
Format_Version_Number: see Format Specification
Format_Specification:
Text file (*.R) containing R code
Digital_Transfer_Option:
Online_Option:
Computer_Contact_Information:
Network_Address:
Network_Resource_Name: https://doi.org/10.2737/NWRC-RDS-2023-001
Fees: None
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Metadata_Reference_Information:
Metadata_Date: 20230301
Metadata_Contact:
Contact_Information:
Contact_Organization_Primary:
Contact_Organization: USDA, APHIS, Wildlife Service, National Wildlife Research Center
Contact_Person: Page Klug
Contact_Position: Supervisory Research Wildlife Biologist
Contact_Address:
Address_Type: mailing and physical
Address: North Dakota State University, Department of Biological Sciences
Address: 1340 Bolley Drive
City: Fargo
State_or_Province: ND
Postal_Code: 58102
Country: USA
Contact_Voice_Telephone: 701-630-3776
Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: page.e.klug@usda.gov
Metadata_Standard_Name: FGDC Biological Data Profile of the Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata
Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001.1-1999
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