{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,28]],"date-time":"2026-04-28T00:32:06Z","timestamp":1777336326442,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,19]],"date-time":"2022-01-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1642550400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Ducks Unlimited, Inc"},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100013824","name":"College of Arts and Sciences, University of North Dakota","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["State Critical Needs"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["State Critical Needs"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100013824","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100011069","name":"Department of Biology, University of North Dakota","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100011069","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100011069","name":"Department of Biology, University of North Dakota","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["Game Management Scholarship"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Game Management Scholarship"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100011069","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100018147","name":"North Dakota Department of Commerce","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["19-11-G-229"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["19-11-G-229"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100018147","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have become a popular wildlife survey tool. Most research has focused on detecting wildlife using UAVs with less known about behavioral responses. We compared the behavioral responses of breeding blue-winged teal (<jats:italic>Spatula discors<\/jats:italic>) (n = 151) and northern shovelers (<jats:italic>Spatula clypeata<\/jats:italic>) (n = 46) on wetlands flown over with a rotary DJI Matrice 200 quadcopter and control wetlands without flights. Using a GoPro camera affixed to a spotting scope, we conducted focal individual surveys and recorded duck behaviors for 30 minutes before, during, and 30 minutes after UAV flights to determine if ducks flushed or changed in specific activities. We also conducted scan surveys during flights to examine flushing and movement on the entire wetland. Between 24 April and 27 May 2020, we conducted 42 paired (control and flown) surveys. Both teal and shovelers increased proportion of time engaged in overhead vigilance on flown wetlands from pre-flight to during flight (0.008 to 0.020 and 0.006 to 0.032 of observation time, respectively). Both species left the wetland more frequently during flights than ducks on control wetlands. Despite similarities between species, we observed marked differences in time each species spent on active (e.g., feeding, courtship, swimming), resting, and vigilant behaviors during flights. Overall, teal became less active during flights (0.897 to 0.834 of time) while shovelers became more active during this period (0.724 to 0.906 of time). Based upon scan surveys, ducks flushed in 38.1% of surveys while control wetlands only had a single (2.4%) flush during the flight time. We found launch distance was the most important predictor of whether ducks swam for cover or away from the UAV which could result in inaccurate counts. Ducks appear aware of UAVs during flights, but minimal behavioral shifts suggest negative fitness consequences are unlikely.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0262393","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,19]],"date-time":"2022-01-19T18:33:16Z","timestamp":1642617196000},"page":"e0262393","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Behavioral responses of blue-winged teal and northern shoveler to unmanned aerial vehicle surveys"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Mason D.","family":"Ryckman","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1404-0690","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Kaylan","family":"Kemink","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7975-219X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Christopher J.","family":"Felege","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Brian","family":"Darby","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6658-086X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Gregory S.","family":"Vandeberg","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4534-0055","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Susan N.","family":"Ellis-Felege","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0262393.ref001","first-page":"1015","article-title":"Job-related mortality of wildlife workers in the United States, 1937\u20132000","author":"DB Sasse","year":"2003","journal-title":"Wildlife Society Bulletin"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0262393.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"750","DOI":"10.2193\/0091-7648(2006)34[750:AAOSUA]2.0.CO;2","article-title":"An Assessment of Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Wildlife Research","volume":"34","author":"Pearlstine LG George Pierce Jones","year":"2006","journal-title":"Wildlife Society Bulletin"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0262393.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"425","DOI":"10.1111\/jav.00619","article-title":"Low\u2010budget ready\u2010to\u2010fly unmanned aerial vehicles: An effective tool for evaluating the nesting status of canopy\u2010breeding bird species","volume":"46","author":"MH Weissensteiner","year":"2015","journal-title":"Journal of avian biology"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0262393.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"138","DOI":"10.1890\/120150","article-title":"Lightweight unmanned aerial vehicles will revolutionize spatial ecology","volume":"11","author":"K Anderson","year":"2013","journal-title":"Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment"},{"key":"pone.0262393.ref005","unstructured":"Jones GP. The feasibility of using small unmanned aerial vehicles for wildlife research [PhD Thesis]. University of Florida USA; 2003."},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0262393.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"239","DOI":"10.1111\/mam.12046","article-title":"Are unmanned aircraft systems (UAS s) the future of wildlife monitoring? A review of accomplishments and challenges","volume":"45","author":"J Linchant","year":"2015","journal-title":"Mammal Review"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0262393.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"241","DOI":"10.1002\/fee.1281","article-title":"Unmanned aircraft systems in wildlife research: current and future applications of a transformative technology","volume":"14","author":"KS Christie","year":"2016","journal-title":"Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0262393.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1328","DOI":"10.1002\/ece3.3731","article-title":"Evaluating behavioral responses of nesting lesser snow geese to unmanned aircraft surveys","volume":"8","author":"A Barnas","year":"2018","journal-title":"Ecology and evolution"},{"key":"pone.0262393.ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e1831","DOI":"10.7717\/peerj.1831","article-title":"Evaluation of unmanned aerial vehicle shape, flight path and camera type for waterfowl surveys: disturbance effects and species recognition","volume":"4","author":"JF McEvoy","year":"2016","journal-title":"PeerJ"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0262393.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"20140754","DOI":"10.1098\/rsbl.2014.0754","article-title":"Approaching birds with drones: first experiments and ethical guidelines","volume":"11","author":"E Vas","year":"2015","journal-title":"Biology letters"},{"issue":"6","key":"pone.0262393.ref011","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0178448","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0178448","article-title":"Unmanned aircraft systems as a new source of disturbance for wildlife: A systematic review","volume":"12","author":"M Mulero-P\u00e1zm\u00e1ny","year":"2017","journal-title":"PloS one"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0262393.ref012","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.5751\/ES-00404-060111","article-title":"Human-caused disturbance stimuli as a form of predation risk","volume":"6","author":"A Frid","year":"2002","journal-title":"Conservation Ecology"},{"issue":"17","key":"pone.0262393.ref013","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2278","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cub.2015.07.024","article-title":"Bears show a physiological but limited behavioral response to unmanned aerial vehicles","volume":"25","author":"MA Ditmer","year":"2015","journal-title":"Current Biology"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0262393.ref014","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"17884","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-017-18202-3","article-title":"Seabird species vary in behavioural response to drone census","volume":"7","author":"\u00c9 Brisson-Curadeau","year":"2017","journal-title":"Scientific reports"},{"issue":"03","key":"pone.0262393.ref015","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"201","DOI":"10.1017\/S1466046615000186","article-title":"Environmental reviews and case studies: applications of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) for waterbird surveys","volume":"17","author":"S Dulava","year":"2015","journal-title":"Environmental Practice"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0262393.ref016","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"409","DOI":"10.1111\/jofo.12346","article-title":"Applications of an unmanned aerial vehicle and thermal-imaging camera to study ducks nesting over water","volume":"91","author":"JD Bushaw","year":"2020","journal-title":"Journal of Field Ornithology"},{"issue":"6","key":"pone.0262393.ref017","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"74","DOI":"10.1007\/s10344-018-1238-2","article-title":"Estimating production in ducks: a comparison between ground surveys and unmanned aircraft surveys","volume":"64","author":"H P\u00f6ys\u00e4","year":"2018","journal-title":"European journal of wildlife research"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0262393.ref018","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"256","DOI":"10.1139\/juvs-2015-0019","article-title":"Evaluation of an unmanned rotorcraft to monitor wintering waterbirds and coastal habitats in British Columbia, Canada","volume":"3","author":"MC Drever","year":"2015","journal-title":"Journal of Unmanned Vehicle Systems"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0262393.ref019","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5","DOI":"10.3390\/drones5010005","article-title":"Quantifying Waterfowl Numbers: Comparison of Drone and Ground-Based Survey Methods for Surveying Waterfowl on Artificial Waterbodies","volume":"5","author":"SJ Dundas","year":"2021","journal-title":"Drones"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0262393.ref020","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"190","DOI":"10.1080\/00063657.2020.1808587","article-title":"Behavioural responses of non-breeding waterbirds to drone approach are associated with flock size and habitat","volume":"67","author":"D Jarrett","year":"2020","journal-title":"Bird Study"},{"issue":"3\u20134","key":"pone.0262393.ref021","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"227","DOI":"10.1163\/156853974X00534","article-title":"Observational study of behavior: sampling methods","volume":"49","author":"J. Altmann","year":"1974","journal-title":"Behaviour"},{"key":"pone.0262393.ref022","volume-title":"Classification of natural ponds and lakes in the glaciated prairie region","author":"RE Stewart","year":"1971"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0262393.ref023","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.2981\/wlb.00679","article-title":"Use of small unmanned aerial systems for sharp-tailed grouse lek surveys","volume":"2020","author":"AC Rischette","year":"2020","journal-title":"Wildlife Biology"},{"key":"pone.0262393.ref024","volume-title":"Model selection and multimodel inference","author":"KP Burnham","year":"2002","edition":"2"},{"issue":"7","key":"pone.0262393.ref025","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1329","DOI":"10.1007\/s00300-015-1838-1","article-title":"Measuring the influence of unmanned aerial vehicles on Ad\u00e9lie penguins","volume":"39","author":"M-C R\u00fcmmler","year":"2015","journal-title":"Polar Biology"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0262393.ref026","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"259","DOI":"10.1007\/s00300-017-2187-z","article-title":"Flights of drones over sub-Antarctic seabirds show species-and status-specific behavioural and physiological responses","volume":"41","author":"H Weimerskirch","year":"2018","journal-title":"Polar Biology"},{"key":"pone.0262393.ref027","article-title":"Testing a key assumption of using drones as frightening devices: Do birds perceive drones as risky?","author":"CC Egan","year":"2020","journal-title":"The Condor"},{"key":"pone.0262393.ref028","article-title":"Nesting common eiders (Somateria mollissima) show little behavioral response to fixed-wing drone surveys","author":"SN Ellis-Felege","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Unmanned Veh Sys"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0262393.ref029","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"36","DOI":"10.2307\/3808897","article-title":"Energetic Cost of Man-Induced Disturbance to Staging Snow Geese","volume":"54","author":"L B\u00e9langer","year":"1990","journal-title":"The Journal of Wildlife Management"},{"key":"pone.0262393.ref030","author":"J Duffy","year":"2020","journal-title":"Conservation Technology Series Issue 5: DRONES FOR CONSERVATION"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0262393.ref031","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"585","DOI":"10.1111\/2041-210X.13120","article-title":"Machine learning to classify animal species in camera trap images: Applications in ecology","volume":"10","author":"MA Tabak","year":"2019","journal-title":"Methods in Ecology and Evolution"},{"key":"pone.0262393.ref032","unstructured":"Helvey M. Application of Thermal and Ultraviolet Sensors in Remote Sensing of Upland Ducks. Theses [Internet]. 2020 Jul 28; Available from: https:\/\/scholarworks.rit.edu\/theses\/10536"}],"container-title":["PLOS ONE"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0262393","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,19]],"date-time":"2022-01-19T18:33:39Z","timestamp":1642617219000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0262393"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Floyd W.","family":"Weckerly","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"editor","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,19]]},"references-count":32,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,19]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0262393","relation":{},"ISSN":["1932-6203"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1932-6203","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2022,1,19]]}}}