Howdy Reed, do a search on "bird" or "birds" here, there have been many crashes and near misses.
Sorry, but there's been a lot of freaking out with messages on this forum and very little evidence. The board is replete with stories of "pigeons attacked my drone" or "vultures went after me and I had to escape". I giggle most every time I read them because generally it's the perception of the person flying the drone, not the reality.
Does that mean a bird can't attack a drone? No, of course not. But by in large, the majority of birds will avoid it at all costs or minimally ignore it. The threat from birds going after your drone is way overblown.
There are two types of birds to possibly be concerned with (and frankly I wouldn't panic with them either but simply be cautious):
1) predatory raptors (like hawks, eagles, falcons, etc) - basically birds that could see your Mavic as food, a threat, or potential rival. They
may go after your Mavic if they see it as one of those mentioned. The bigger the bird, the more likely that they would see you in that manner. A peregrine falcon is less likely to see your equally-sized drone as something worth going after than would a large golden eagle eyeing your puny little drone.
2) extremely territorial birds (like mockingbirds, magpies, catbirds, jays, some crows and gulls). These birds typically will go after an intruder in their territory or close to their nest, irrespective of their size. Big intruders are not a concern for them and many will attack a human if they venture too close to their nest. But there are two principle reasons why this shouldn't overly concern someone flying their drone.
First, the behavior is typically a "swooping" attack, generally from behind and often not even contacting the "intruder". Small pecks are rare and the object is to harass the intruder, not attack or kill it. They're not stupid, as a head-on full-blown attack against a much bigger foe is not an evolutionarily advantageous behavior, as it doesn't pay to get eaten or killed by something you're trying to shoo away.
Second, much of this behavior is demonstrated close to the nest, not far off in the air hundreds of meters away from their offspring. Flying high above the trees or away from a nest location is not likely to result in an attack. The birds don't go out of their way to attack something that won't likely be a threat to their offspring.
With all other birds, they will actively avoid or at least ignore your Mavic. Turning flocks of pigeons or huge swarms of starlings aren't "going after" your Mavic. They're
turning and the likelihood of a collision is low, as they're pretty adept at avoiding another object in the air. (see this video just posted today:
Object avoidance saves Mavic Pro!) There could be an accidental impact, especially with larger and tighter flocks of birds, but that is simply a matter of bad luck, not intentional behavior.
Flying with and among soaring birds is completely possible, like with your aforementioned cranes. There is a remote possibility of a collision if there is a particular bird that isn't paying much attention or doesn't have ample space to employ an avoidance maneuver. But the odds of it are pretty minimal. I have a colleague/friend that has spent his career soaring with migratory birds. In the 40 years he's been doing it, not once did a bird strike his glider.
The Man Who Flies with Birds
