Bird Strike

[Derek H]

Hmmm. Sorry to hear one got you, but max props (no pun intended etc) to the craft for continuing OK after being carried (if that's what happened) ! I have wondered if our little guys are less domineering to larger birds than their bigger cousins.

I have some reflective red tape, but haven't applied any yet other than for navigation / LOS reasons. Are diagonal stripes still thought to be the best pattern for those does anyone know ? Several times I have got to a launch location and decided not to fly because of circling raptors and whatnot, but of course that can't save us if we don't see 'em coming !

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You're lucky it didn't shut down after doing a flip and RTH.

Most DJI drones fail when inverted.

Fly safe.

.

It seemed to do a 360 degree turn so not sure why it didn't.

 

[Derek H]

Was it a Buteo (soaring hawk) or a Accipiter (killer) or didn't you see it? We have both here is WNY. I don't worry about the bigger soaring hawks, Buteo's, they are slow. But the Accipiter, Cooper's and Sharp shinned, are so fast you might not see them before the strike. I've seen them take birds out of the air and you only see the puff of feathers and then the hawk go to the ground, they are killers. Just wondering if I should worry about the bigger, slower soaring hawks too?

I was flying in the UK, so nothing as big or frightening

 

[Derek H]

Welcome to the bird strike club. Glad to see your drone kept going. They are fairly robust.

Thanks...
It wasn't a club I joined with much enthusiasm. However I seemed to have had a lucky escape.
I have put red reflective tape on it.... So far so good

 

[Filmarik]

"Animals generally don't have any interest at all in something unless they can eat it or breed with it or, ..."

Some birds are very teritorial and will attack anything invading their space, drones including. In my neck of the woods it would be mostly cockatoos and magpies. In part it is alaso a nest protecting instinct making them to attack, especially during breeding season.

 

[MS Coast]

Some birds are very teritorial and will attack anything invading their space, drones including. In my neck of the woods it would be mostly cockatoos and magpies. In part it is alaso a nest protecting instinct making them to attack, especially during breeding season.

I agree. The full text in the earlier post:

Animals generally don't have any interest at all in something unless they can eat it or breed with it or they feel threatened or that their territory is being infringed upon.

 

[Dronecation]

"Animals generally don't have any interest at all in something unless they can eat it or breed with it or, ..."

Up north, one has to worry about cougars in both senses of the term...

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[Meta4]

It seemed to do a 360 degree turn so not sure why it didn't.

Maybe it did and maybe it didn't.
You'd have to see the flight data to tell whether the drone was inverted during the incident.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

I was flying in the UK, so nothing as big or frightening

Just geese, oyster catchers, seagulls, buzzards, golden eagles, white tailed sea eagle, several species of falcon, magpies, rooks/ravens/crows, ducks, pigeons ........

Just curious, will you be posting the flight log ?

 

[meierjn]

We've recently had some merlins move in to our neighborhood. The good news is that we no longer have any crows or magpies hanging around. I haven't had my drone up since they've been around to see how they react to it. Hopefully they can all be friends!

 

[Bornos]

Hello Friends - Has anyone heard if changing the standard grey colored props with bright colored ones would help deter birds? I've got the mini 4 Pro and not sure if adding reflective tape would add enough weight to exceed the 250gm [below registration] limit.

I've seen it once where two birds circulated around my drone for a second or two then decided to fly away. Not sure if it was the drone's props sound/noise or what that deterred them, but I was lucky without an incidence.

 

[MS Coast]

Hello Friends - Has anyone heard if changing the standard grey colored props with bright colored ones would help deter birds?

No.

Bright colors don't keep birds away from red apples or orange Asian persimmons in orchards.

Bird strikes and shark attacks are things that we people seem to like to worry about, but they're both very rare. We're far more likely to fly into a power line or be in a car wreck on the way to the beach.

 

[AeroJ]

No.

Bright colors don't keep birds away from red apples or orange Asian persimmons in orchards.

Bird strikes and shark attacks are things that we people seem to like to worry about, but they're both very rare. We're far more likely to fly into a power line or be in a car wreck on the way to the beach.

Yeah, a lot of time it's easy to forget that birds can be only 'interested' in us rather than hostile. I would say that is the majority of time actually, but it's difficult to know what is an 'interested' approach pattern and what is an 'attack' pattern, especially with the smaller fluttery type ones. It no more obvious with hawks either - as what they do to check you out is wide circles above you, and all they have to do to change that to attack is narrow the circle a bit., and dive, which is why you should possibly fly up to meet them (or at least past them vertically) when they arrive !

It's anyone's guess if coloured or even illuminated props make any difference to birds but they certainly help with VLOS !

 

[ip_droning]

During nesting season I had plovers doing attack runs at my drone, me, my dogs. I use bright white strobes attached to the drone arms, under the theory, that the bird wants to see where it is flying, so if the strobe is bright and annoying/blinding, it'll turn away...

 

[ProPhotog]

I did an afternoon internet search one rainy day last winter and could find no real evidence that reflective tape or eyes frightened birds or deterred their interest. Anyone else find anything other than anecdotes?

I can only say that after a close call I put reflective red & white tape and 3 high intensity strobes (yes, in daylight) and since then the birds check out the drone but don't come close.

 

[MS Coast]

I can only say that after a close call I put reflective red & white tape and 3 high intensity strobes (yes, in daylight) and since then the birds check out the drone but don't come close.

And, I can report that I've never had red and white reflective tape on any of my drones, and I use strobes only after sunset, and birds have never come close. No conclusions to be drawn here.