Magadan City Hall has taken the fight against gulls to a new level. According to the city's press service, twice a week, specialists from the Department of Housing and Communal Services and the Department of Civil Defense and Emergency Situations launch quadcopters to patrol the roofs of residential and administrative buildings. A high-resolution camera allows them to detect nests on roofs of any geometry – where an employee previously had to climb, a drone now "looks." If a clutch is found, the management company is obliged to remove the nesting material within three days.
Previously, light deterrents and effigies of birds of prey were used, but gulls quickly adapted to them. The drone provides mobility and surprise, preventing the birds from settling on one object. Ornithologists warn: intervention is only possible before eggs appear, otherwise the bird will remember the place and return next season. Therefore, the peak of work falls precisely in May, when nesting is just beginning.
Residents were asked to remain calm when seeing drones – this is a planned inspection. Roof cleaning work will continue until June 15.
The drone models are not officially disclosed, but judging by the tasks, standard serial quadcopters with high-resolution cameras are used. This is the first precedent in Russia where a municipality systematically uses UAVs to monitor ornithofauna in an urban environment.
