This is scientific Americans 60 second science.

I'm Karen Hopkins.

Ecologists crouching quietly amidst vegetation,

using binoculars to tally birds in a roost may soon be a charming relic of the past.

Because a new study shows that when it comes to getting an accurate avian head count,

aerial drones can do better.

In recent years, scientists who study wild populations are increasingly turning to remotely

piloted aircraft, otherwise known as drones, to monitor their animal of interest.

For example, drones are being used to track pods of whales,

or to keep an eye on African elephant herds,

and watch for signs of poaching.

Such remote surveys are generally considered highly cost effective, but it wasn't clear

whether they're as accurate as old-fashioned feet-on-the-ground expert evaluations.

To find out, researchers in Australia set up a test and so what we did was make some

replica seabird colonies where we knew the true number of individuals in each

colony. Jared Hodgson of the

research research of Adelaide led the study.

Using decoy-sized rubber ducks,

the researchers laid out 10 colonies,

ranging in size from about 500 to more than a thousand individuals.

We then had experienced ground counters make independent counts of those birds from nearby,

from the optimum vantage point, and at the same time we flew a drone

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