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bird migration - any danger?

Reed

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In these days many cranes are seen in large bird migration lines. I would be nice to catch some videos up in the air - but is there danger either for the birds or the drone? Do the birds avoid the drone, or do they attack it?

Do somebody have experience with bird migration swarms ?
 
In these days many cranes are seen in large bird migration lines. I would be nice to catch some videos up in the air - but is there danger either for the birds or the drone? Do the birds avoid the drone, or do they attack it?

Do somebody have experience with bird migration swarms ?
Howdy Reed, do a search on "bird" or "birds" here, there have been many crashes and near misses.
 
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

aviation.jpg
 
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thank you lisadoc. I know the threads dealing with single birds, but I am more concerned about migration bird swarms. Especially, I do not know if a drone will cause them more stress and may endanger them not to reach their flight goal of the day.
If your friend had practiced flying for research purposes, did he remarked a disturbence of the swarm, or are all other impacts like weather, temperature and wind conditions more important for the swarm than a single drone?
 
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I guess Sully Sullenberger missed the foregoing wisdom on birds and their minimal effect on objects in flight.

He was flying his "drone" at roughly 185 knots (and the geese actually did take evasive action - just too late though). Call me when you get your Mavic up to those speeds. I'm not sure where that flight parameter is located in debug mode.
 
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Especially, I do not know if a drone will cause them more stress and may endanger them not to reach their flight goal of the day.
If your friend had practiced flying for research purposes, did he remarked a disturbence of the swarm, or are all other impacts like weather, temperature and wind conditions more important for the swarm than a single drone?

They won't care, especially if you're not attempting to "harass" them. I have flown with kettles of vultures, pelicans, and storks as well as large flocks of geese, ducks, and gulls. They hardly pay the drone any attention. I also have worked with folks trying to intentionally harass large flocks of migrating birds (for flight safety mitigation) and quadcopters are relatively worthless in that effort. The speed and maneuverability of the birds far exceeds the drone and they simply twist slightly and out of the way. The only things that have worked moderately well in those circumstances are gas-powered RC aircraft, as the noise and the speeds involved can alter their flightpaths. Even still, the type of RC is critical, as it must have an exceptionally small turn radius and must be able to follow them for extended periods at a time in one go. If it's only occasional harassment, they'll simply go on about their business.

Your biggest problem won't be dispersing or endangering the birds. It will be far more difficult to keep up with them and stay with the group. Birds are exceptional fliers and a Mavic can't compete. Even falcons dive-bombing through huge swarms of starlings do little to move them off course.

 
Thank you for your answer. It encourages me to send the drone up and take a video, letting the swarm just passing by.
I do not want to follow or harass them, just to take a photo of the formation from above before their background.
According to your information, this should not cause any problems for them.
 
During the spring on the East Coast, we have tons of juvenile raptors that will defiantly attack a drone, They have no clue, and adults WILL protect their eggs before that. I got into a flock of seagulls when they wanted to check out my drone also.

Haven't had the pleasure of a migration yet. It's all nerve racking.
 
Zombie thread, but it's a good one (beats another "Mavic 2" thread! :))!

I treat birds the same way I treat aircraft: Something to be avoided at all costs. I have some close calls that were not my "perception". Certain birds are very aggressive to anything that enters their airspace or territory.

I've had birds attack my helmet on a bike (as have many, many others: do a YouTube search of "birds attacking bike")... If they go after something as big and "foreign" as a human on a bike, they won't think twice about going after a small/midsize quad.

Safe flying is all about risk mitigation: I put avoiding mid-air collisions at the top of the risk-list so I steer well away from anything in the air. :cool:
 
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Purple Martins... not a fan of my Mavic. Trying to take images of a house, took me forever because I had to take a picture and come back to wait for the spawn of Satan birds to go away again.
 
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