NEW YORK — A fleet of drones patrolling New York City’s beaches for signs of sharks and struggling swimmers is drawing backlash from an aggressive group of seaside residents: local shorebirds.
Since the drones began flying in May, flocks of birds have repeatedly swarmed the devices, forcing the police department and other city agencies to adjust their flight plans. While the attacks have slowed, they have not stopped completely, fueling concern from wildlife experts about the impact on threatened species nesting along the coast.
Veronica Welsh, a wildlife coordinator at the Parks Department, said the birds were “very annoyed by the drones” from the moment they arrived on the beach.
“They will fly at it, they’ll swoop at it, they’ll be vocalizing,” Welsh said. “They think they’re defending their chicks from a predator.”
No birds have been harmed, but officials say there have been several close calls. The drones, which come equipped with inflatable life rafts that can be dropped on distressed swimmers, have yet to conduct any rescues. They spotted their first shark on Thursday, resulting in a closure of most of the beach.
City officials said the “swarming incidents” have been primarily carried out by American oystercatchers. The shorebird, known for its striking orange bill, lays its eggs this time of year in the sand on Rockaway Beach. While its population has improved in recent decades, federal authorities consider the species a “high conservation concern.”
The birds eventually may grow habituated to the devices, which can stretch over 3 feet long and emit a loud hum as they take flight, said David Bird, a professor of wildlife biology at McGill University.
But he was quick to raise a far more dire possibility: that the drones could prompt a stress response in some birds that causes them to flee the beach and abandon their eggs, as several thousand elegant terns did following a recent drone crash in San Diego.
“We don’t know a lot about what sort of distance is required to protect the birds,” he said. “But we do know there are birds on this beach that are highly endangered. If they abandon their nests because of the drones, that would be a disaster.”
On Rockaway Beach, a popular summertime destination for New Yorkers, American oystercatchers share their habitat with multiple tern species of waterbirds, as well as piping plovers, a small, sand-colored bird that is the city’s only federally designated endangered species. Local officials closely monitor the plovers each summer, barring beachgoers — and drones — from the stretches of sand where they primarily nest.
The city’s Emergency Management Department, which also flies drones over the beach, flagged the coastal conflict last month to other drone operators in the police and fire department, who agreed to launch the devices farther from oystercatcher nesting areas.
