BIRD REPELLENT FOR DRONES

[MrMavic]

I was told by a reputable source that this Bird Scare Tape scares the heck out of birds and they avoid the area you place it in. It works by attacking the bird's senses causing the bird to be frightened away. My thoughts are if we place a piece of this on the sides and top of the Mavic it would scare the birds away.
I ordered a roll on Amazon and I'm going to place 3 pieces on my Mavic.
Another added benefit is it would make the Mavic far more visible being it is moving in the sky. I know this is highly visible because it looks like a CD surface and you can see those things in a ditch driving down the freeway at 80 MPH.

Order it Here.
Amazon.com: Bird Blinder - The Original Bird Repellent Scare Tape (Diamond) - 147 feet x 2 inch Deterrent: Patio, Lawn & Garden

 

[mephisto]

This seems to be an interessting Idea. Birdstrikes on Drones are not so uncommon.

The only possible Problem I see: If it contains metal it will probably interfere with the Compass. So would probably not be a good Idea to wrap you Mavic into this

 

[quick_dry]

I'll be interested to see the results, or if this is as effective as the Monster Repeller I got from eBay - some say it's a ping pong ball on a necklace, but with zero attacks so far, I'm calling it 100% effective

 

[MrMavic]

You have a good point, and I posted a question on Amazon and hopefully will get an answer from the manufacturer. I had some flickers drilling holes in my new cabin exterior walls. I could never catch them because when I opened the door they would take off. I put this on the cabin under the eves and no more problems. I haven't even seen or heard one since.

 

[Birdman5280]

I've had 2 close calls so I'd be interested. Reviews say it's not a sticky tape, so it may be a challenge applying it to the MP w/o using some kind of adhesive.

 

[newnan3]

Interesting idea. But youre gonna have to find a way to attach it to your quad. Its the streaming sort of tape that doesnt have an adhesive side.

 

[AlanTheBeast]

This seems to be an interessting Idea. Birdstrikes on Drones are not so uncommon.

The only possible Problem I see: If it contains metal it will probably interfere with the Compass. So would probably not be a good Idea to wrap you Mavic into this

It would have to have iron in it to really mess up the compass - or be placed very close to the sensors.

You would want to avoid masking the GPS with it.

So I'd say to liberally skin the rear arms and perhaps the batteries with this stuff.

Perhaps the outer front arms.

Of course this will be hard to test.

I flew near some seagulls the other day and they did the opposite of attack - they fled.

 

[Kestrel]

I have yet to have a bird strike my drone, I've had Hawks and seaguls fly circles around it though.

 

[AlanTheBeast]

No adhesive here, I think... but shouldn't be too hard to do it. Thing is "how much"?

 

[TrayBoz]

Please report back and let us know how and exactly where you applied this tape, and more importantly if notice it having any impact on birds. I'd be interested if it's proven to be effective. Maybe post a picture of your mavic after you've applied it, so we can see how it looks and where you put it?

 

[AlanTheBeast]

...and more importantly if notice it having any impact on birds.

It's to avoid impact on birds!

 

[MrMavic]

I worry every time I fly because we have a lot of Golden Eagles and Bald Eagles, not to mention hundred of other species of smaller birds. I had a bald eagle dive at my Phantom 3 one time and I escaped it by climbing quickly. When I moved back to my home point to land the eagle continued the assault for a few minutes. Had I not had eye contact to see where the eagle was, he would have grabbed my drone.
I will continue my research on the tape type stuff with a sticky back. I know it's out there because my aunt used to buy it to make her crafts with. I think they have the non-metal type in some hobby and craft stores.

 

[sonof40]

I can see this working on crops and gardens but I'm skeptical about any effect on birds of prey protecting their territory.
Would be very cool if it did work though. Nice project.

 

[Lubelaczek]

I worry every time I fly because we have a lot of Golden Eagles and Bald Eagles, not to mention hundred of other species of smaller birds. I had a bald eagle dive at my Phantom 3 one time and I escaped it by climbing quickly. When I moved back to my home point to land the eagle continued the assault for a few minutes. Had I not had eye contact to see where the eagle was, he would have grabbed my drone.
I will continue my research on the tape type stuff with a sticky back. I know it's out there because my aunt used to buy it to make her crafts with. I think they have the non-metal type in some hobby and craft stores.

I had very close encounter yesterday. They were just circling, not attacking yet... Evaded by diving back to my yard. Your action was my second thought. Birds will not climb as quickly as our drones and will not attack from underneath. However, scared by vision of falling from higher altitude if they will continue and eventually attack, decided to avoid any more confrontation and land.
As far as tape with no adhesive backing, I would use double sided tape. 3M or any other widely available in office supplies. It will not add more weight for sure.

 

[Insideout]

Since I got knocked out of the sky by a stupid bird, here is my temporary solution. So far so good, but sadly no way to really scientifically test. I just used orange printer labels and black sharpie for the eyes. We shall see.

 

[Lubelaczek]

Since I got knocked out of the sky by a stupid bird, here is my temporary solution. So far so good, but sadly no way to really scientifically test. I just used orange printer labels and black sharpie for the eyes. We shall see. View attachment 10824 View attachment 10825

That is worth a try. Before reading about tapes I had similar idea. Still thinking about using some bullseye stickers found in my drawer...
Unfortunately, there are some birds that will attack much bigger opponent so no stickers, no tapes and possibly nothing will scare them. I have some pictures taken few years ago. This little one successfully scared away the hawk. Literally dived on him and bounced off... Hawk ignored this for a moment then annoyed enough just went away...

 

[cplmac]

I've had a couple close calls in my short time as a drone pilot, once I didn't even realize it until the obstacle avoidance system started beeping like crazy that there was a something in the way less than four feet away, and this was at 150' AGL. I looked up and saw a small bird circling my MP, dropped altitude fast and brought it home before the little **** could take down my MP. I'm thinking about putting eyes and a beak on it to deter smaller birds but they often go after bigger birds so that's probably not gonna be a good idea.

 

[westonmavicpilot]

Bird strike is the main reason I wrapped my MP...making it less grey and bird coloured - also easier to find if it goes down in a field / tree etc. I went with red (natures warning sign?) with some comedy eyes and a big toothy grin! Well at least if I can't scare the birds off I can scare small children instead [emoji41]

 

[Red_Raven]

Man your mavic is going ugly! [emoji23] lol

 

[Insideout]

I went with this skin. I've had it for about a month and haven't seen a bird come anywhere near the drone. They are still around, but have not buzzed it like before.