designer Ruben Pater's Drone Survival guide has been likened to 21st century bird watching

A Dutch designer has penned the Drone Survival Guide, which like bird watching charts, shows the various shapes and sizes of flying objects by their silhouettes.

Ruben Pater’s guide, however, details the differing kinds of flying robots used at war, as well as survival tips of how to hide from them.

The majority of the drones selected for the chart are from NATO member countries, including the UK, France, Germany, U.S. and Canada.

This is because these countries have used drones in wars such as Afghanistan and are also more transparent than some other countries in disclosing information about the robots, such as their wingspan.

It uses a skull icon to show that a drone is used for attack and a little eye to denote a surveillance vehicle.

The chart, which Mr Pater describes as ‘21st century bird watching’ shows the vast array of flying war machines used today from the giant 130ft wingspan of the Global Hawk drone to the petite Parrot AC quadcopter, which measures just 23 inches.

He said: ‘Most drones are used today by military powers for remote-controlled surveillance and attack and their numbers are growing.

'The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) predicted in 2012 that within 20 years there could be as many as 30.000 drones flying over U.S. soil alone.

‘As robotic birds will become commonplace in the near future, we should be prepared to identify them. This survival guide is an attempt to familiarise ourselves and future generations, with a changing technological environment.’