Mini 2 There I am flying my drone, and this happens...

[spamgnome]

No harm. No foul.

no harm, no FOWL!

 

[123taff]

Probably a wise decision to not alter your altitude in panic. The flock of birds would have adjusted their flight path to avoid the strange "bird" hovering in front of them and a sudden change of altitude on your part might have caused them confusion and instigated a collision.

 

[Reginald E Johnson]

Out flying the drone earlier and this happens !! I was aware of them incoming but thought I was much higher, obviously not.

 

[Reginald E Johnson]

You were Blessed that they didn’t knock you down!

 

[MS Coast]

Probably a wise decision to not alter your altitude in panic. The flock of birds would have adjusted their flight path to avoid the strange "bird" hovering in front of them and a sudden change of altitude on your part might have caused them confusion and instigated a collision.

I've seen only one instance of an avian in-flight collision. Something startled a huge flock of hundreds of migrating robins on the ground and one flew into a tree limb. Flocking birds are absolutely expert flyers.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Me too although I genuinely thought this was gonna be drone ending for me lol. I wa already in the air when I seen them incoming. I was around 60m up and at that point I guessed they were around the same height so I went up another 40m thinking that would give plenty of free space but I called it wrong.

Welcome to the Inside Bird Club, many might have paniced, but you stayed the course, . so your in an elite group.

Me creeping back ot the car. Learned a lot this day , not all birds are warriors, when there focused, nothing can stop them. lol

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain or Land on the Water.

 

[Coconut Island Drones]

Probably a wise decision to not alter your altitude in panic. The flock of birds would have adjusted their flight path to avoid the strange "bird" hovering in front of them and a sudden change of altitude on your part might have caused them confusion and instigated a collision.

Having looked at the clip again I think they might have gained altitude to 'have a look'. My natural instict was to go up but somehow managed to fight it and see it out.

 

[Coconut Island Drones]

Welcome to the Inside Bird Club, many might have paniced, but you stayed the course, . so your in an elite group.

Me creeping back ot the car. Learned a lot this day , not all birds are warriors, when there focused, nothing can stop them. lol

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain or Land on the Water.

How on earth did you managed to hold it together through that !!!

 

[Dronecation]

Reminds me of this incredible footage:

 

[scro]

wow you were nearly flocked

Could have been goosed if you ducked!

 

[3rdof5]

Wow! I keep waiting for that exact scenario. Will happen one day..... great video!

 

[Coconut Island Drones]

Wow! I keep waiting for that exact scenario. Will happen one day..... great video!

And here's me always hoped that scenario would never happen lol.

 

[Droffarc]

Out flying the drone earlier and this happens !! I was aware of them incoming but thought I was much higher, obviously not.

Made for great footage!

 

[slup]

Wow! I keep waiting for that exact scenario...

Make it happen

And here for a couple seconds...

And here one more fly by...

 

[Coconut Island Drones]

Made for great footage!

It did but also made for a change of underwear as well.

 

[MS Coast]

Make it happen

And here for a couple seconds...

And here one more fly by...

That third video is particularly good. What a beautiful place to fly.

Birds might collide with a drone for four reasons.

• The bird sees the drone as a threat to its reproductive success.
• The bird sees the drone as prey.
• The bird makes a flight error and inadvertently collides with the drone.
• The drone pilot flies the drone into the bird.

Does anyone believe they can pursue and contact a bird with their drone? I've had limited success even getting close enough to photograph slow moving soaring birds.

Birds are highly evolved and extremely skillful fliers. They very seldom make errors that result in accidental collisions.

Predatory species that take prey on the wing have remarkable eyesight and are unlikely to see a drone as a prey species. No wing motion, unusual profile, unnatural flight characteristics, unnatural sounds.

There are a few documented cases of predatory species of birds attacking drones that are probably motivated by territoriality, nest or chick defense, or breeding competition. Very few. The threat seems highly overstated. We see reports of far more collisions with buildings than with birds.

 

[Coconut Island Drones]

That third video is particularly good. What a beautiful place to fly.

Birds might collide with a drone for four reasons.

• The bird sees the drone as a threat to its reproductive success.
• The bird sees the drone as prey.
• The bird makes a flight error and inadvertently collides with the drone.
• The drone pilot flies the drone into the bird.

Does anyone believe they can pursue and contact a bird with their drone? I've had limited success even getting close enough to photograph slow moving soaring birds.

Birds are highly evolved and extremely skillful fliers. They very seldom make errors that result in accidental collisions.

Predatory species that take prey on the wing have remarkable eyesight and are unlikely to see a drone as a prey species. No wing motion, unusual profile, unnatural flight characteristics, unnatural sounds.

There are a few documented cases of predatory species of birds attacking drones that are probably motivated by territoriality, nest or chick defense, or breeding competition. Very few. The threat seems highly overstated. We see reports of far more collisions with buildings than with birds.

I agree. That's the first time birds have come anywhere near my drone and that was my fault, not theirs. I've had birds such as swallows show an interest but they've never come close enough to pose any kind of threat.

 

[MS Coast]

I agree. That's the first time birds have come anywhere near my drone and that was my fault, not theirs. I've had birds such as swallows show an interest but they've never come close enough to pose any kind of threat.

I've had the same experience with swallows and Purple Martins several times. They gather around the drone but stay 30 feet or so away, never approaching it. I supposed it's curiosity. (Or the sound leads them to believe they've found a giant mosquito.)

 

[slup]

...The threat seems highly overstated. We see reports of far more collisions with buildings than with birds.

Bird strikes is often used to explain some unknown reason for a drone incident... used in a similar way as "Fly away". But few mentioned can actually be proven.

Bird spices that form flocks & are easily spooked should be approached with great care though, the flock might surprise you when all birds take off in panic at the same time just beneath your drone... & when a birds ascends they usually aren't that good to navigate with the same precision as later in the flight, this can cause accidental collisions.

I've been surprised in more than one flight by a flock of birds flying up from below spooked by my quad approaching, both pigeons & jackdaws are typical for doing this when I pass over treetops or roofs. Geese is another bird that can surprise with being somewhat hard to spot when they are feeding on ground but when approaching they all rise to the sky (& it's usually more of them then you first think...) in a really clumsy take off.

Predatory birds can of course cause incidents, but as usual in the animal kingdom they have to think about getting hurt them self's & chose wisely between just scaring & going in for a take down. With a faster quad I've successfully managed to turn everything around, joined in into the scare chase game by rolling & tumbling around them... that usually makes them, not go away but keeping their distance & just observing.

 

[MS Coast]

Bird strikes is often used to explain some unknown reason for a drone incident... used in a similar way as "Fly away". But few mentioned can actually be proven.

Bird spices that form flocks & are easily spooked should be approached with great care though, the flock might surprise you when all birds take off in panic at the same time just beneath your drone... & when a birds ascends they usually aren't that good to navigate with the same precision as later in the flight, this can cause accidental collisions.

I've been surprised in more than one flight by a flock of birds flying up from below spooked by my quad approaching, both pigeons & jackdaws are typical for doing this when I pass over treetops or roofs. Geese is another bird that can surprise with being somewhat hard to spot when they are feeding on ground but when approaching they all rise to the sky (& it's usually more of them then you first think...) in a really clumsy take off.

Predatory birds can of course cause incidents, but as usual in the animal kingdom they have to think about getting hurt them self's & chose wisely between just scaring & going in for a take down. With a faster quad I've successfully managed to turn everything around, joined in into the scare chase game by rolling & tumbling around them... that usually makes them, not go away but keeping their distance & just observing.

Yes, flocks are easily spooked, whether by drones, hawks, falcons, airplanes, dogs, or whatever. But even when they're in a dense flock and badly spooked, there seem to be few collisions. I've never seen one personally, just a video of one bird in a flock of spooked robins striking a limb.

I definitely agree that it's best to give birds plenty of room, for several reasons. And I agree that "bird strike" and "fly away" are catchall terms often applied without reasonable evidence.