Evaluating drones as bird deterrents in industrial environments: multirotor vs fixed-wing efficacy

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones have been proposed as deterrent tools to mitigate pest birds’ problems. Many studies have been conducted to evaluate the efficacy of drones, mainly to protect crops, fishponds and airports. Little information can be acquired on using drones in industrial areas. In this study, two types of drones, categorized as multirotor drones and fixed-wing drones, were used to evaluate their efficacy in reducing pest birds, Asian glossy starling (Aplonis panayensis) flocks in one of the semiconductor factories in Kulim Hi-tech Park, Kedah, Malaysia during dusk. Each drone was evaluated during its five minutes of operation time and five minutes after landing. Control data were also taken to compare drone treatment days with no drone treatment days. Our result shows a significant difference between multirotor drone treatment and control treatment but not between fixed-wing drone treatment and control treatment due to different altitudes applied, ambient light intensity and size of flight path covered. We suggest implementing biomimetic design into drones and applying other conventional ground deterrents to prolong the residual effect of post-treatment.