A new US Navy autonomous drone will seek out and locate birds’ nests near airfields, armed with a device to prevent their eggs from hatching.
Bird strikes are a serious risk to aircraft, and the US Pentagon spends around $50 million a year managing birds around airfields.
Oiling is a process that involves When carried out correctly, it is considered to be a humane way to prevent embryos from developing by the Human Society of the United States, and doesn’t drive parent birds to start a new nest or lay more eggs. The method can selectively reduce populations of ground-nesting birds while protecting threatened and endangered species.
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Drones have previously been used to locate birds’ nests that could then be treated by human operators, but many of these nests are in inaccessible places including cliff faces, towers or other infrastructure.
in Lexington, Kentucky, is , in collaboration with the University of South Carolina. IREOS is a commercial quadcopter equipped with real-time nest detection based on deep learning, a form of machine learning inspired by the brain, and an egg-oiling device.
IREOS autonomously manoeuvres around obstacles, such as power lines and antennas, while finding nests and eggs. Once a nest is located, a human operator then confirms whether to go ahead with oiling. IREOS should be able to tackle multiple nests in a 20-to-30-minute session on one battery charge.
The IREOS prototype is currently carrying out flight tests in a controlled environment. Later field testing may require permits from the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
Graham White at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in the UK questions the drone’s impact on birds and whether it could effectively oil an egg, including its underside.
“Egg oiling can cause welfare issues for the adult birds and, in addition, the oiling needs to be done carefully,” says White.
He also says that some species like gulls will protect their nests. “Adult gulls would very likely attack the drone, risking themselves and the drone.”
Tests will be complete in June next year, after which IREOS could be rolled out for use in the US Navy. A commercial version could follow for airport operators and others who require bird management.
