Drones Could Play a Role in Waterfowl Surveys

Drones could be a new tool for capturing imagery of waterfowl - if the technology passes the test. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists will test out the effectiveness of drones as a tool to detect and capture imagery of waterfowl this November and/or December. The plan is to fly a drone over Game Reserve wetland habitat where hunting is permitted in Grant County.

"This will be the first time we've used them for this purpose so we do want to test the accuracy and how it works," said Staci Lehman, communications manager. "But if everything works well, drones would help us cut down resources and safety risks."

In the past, waterfowl surveys were conducted via plane so drones are much more cost efficient and less safety risk for the pilot.

"We can use a drone pilot who can do that and we can take a really good look at the video. We can zoom in with really high-definition cameras and count what's on the water," said Lehman. "So that helps us in the resource area. As far as safety, we're not putting somebody up in a plane which you just never know, there's less potential for any kind of incident."

If the drone practice flights are successful, they will be used to estimate abundance and species presence in dense vegetation.