One is a distinctive shorebird, slightly smaller than an average sea gull, with a bright orange bill that pries open clams, oysters and other shellfish. The other is a remote-controlled gadget with rotating blades.
In the skies above Rockaway Beach in Queens, bird and drone are not, it seems, coexisting in harmony.
Just as New Yorkers flock to the beach to escape the sweltering summer heat, American Oystercatchers have taken to attacking a fleet of drones deployed by city officials to scan for sharks and swimmers in distress.
The aerial conflict between animal and machine is raising concerns about the safety of the shorebirds, as they aggressively pursue the buzzing drones in defense of their nests, city officials and bird experts said.
“They fly toward the drone, they’ll vocalize, and they might even try to swoop at it,” said Katrina Toal, deputy director of the wildlife unit at the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. “The danger is to the birds, of course. They could strike the drone, injuring themselves.”
Rockaway Beach has long been a summer haven for overheated New Yorkers, a place where anyone can unwind on the sand and take a dip in the ocean. But the beach is also an important nesting area for many types of vulnerable birds, including Piping Plovers, Black Skimmers and Common and Least Terns.
The American Oystercatcher, however, seems to be the most zealous in pursuit of the drones, officials said.
When an Oystercatcher spots a drone, it will typically fly alongside the machine and emit a loud, shrill call or try to strike the drone with its feet, said Shiloh Schulte, an ornithologist and coordinator of the American Oystercatcher Recovery Program at Manomet, a bird conservation organization.
Such encounters raise the possibility that the drone’s blades could injure the bird, a problem reported by The Associated Press.
“Oystercatchers, in particular, are very defensive of their young, and they see drones as real predators for themselves or their chicks,” Dr. Schulte said. “They think the drones are some form of raptor, so that’s why they’re attacking them. They see them as some sort of threat.”
All along the East Coast, he said, the use of drones on beaches is “becoming an increasing problem for shorebirds.”
Every time a shorebird leaves its nest to pursue a drone, he said, the bird is not feeding its young and is leaving its nest vulnerable to actual predators like cats, dogs and crabs.
Dr. Schulte said that drones should either be flown at higher altitudes or be replaced by lifeguards or people in boats scanning for sharks and struggling swimmers.
Ms. Toal said that the city’s emergency management agency, which operates the drones at Rockaway Beach, contacted the Parks Department last month after repeated close encounters between aggressive Oystercatchers and drones.
She said that the Parks Department had explained that the birds were merely trying to protect their young, and had recommended moving the launch site for the drones farther west, away from the Oystercatchers’ nesting area.
Ms. Toal said the goal was to operate the drones “for human safety and for bird safety, too.”
Mayor Eric Adams, a self-described “tech geek,” has been a strong supporter of the use of drones on city beaches. He has said that the drones can be equipped with powerful speakers that can alert lifeguards to a swimmer struggling in the water.
“Now you have eyes in the sky telling you, ‘The person is straight ahead,’ ‘The person is off to your right,’ ‘The person went under in front of you,’” Mr. Adams said at a news conference in February.
On Thursday, the Police Department said that one of the drones had spotted a shark at Rockaway Beach, prompting officials to close part of it. The department did not respond to a request for comment about birds attacking the drones.
Jessica Wilson, executive director of NYC Bird Alliance, said that the use of drones on beaches “brings new possibilities and challenges for people and wildlife.”
Ms. Wilson praised the city for trying to understand and protect shorebirds, but she emphasized that most drones are privately operated, underscoring the need for all drone operators to avoid coming into contact with wildlife.
“Even one mishandled drone could devastate sensitive shorebird colonies,” she said.
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