Birds

[Dan'sUavTech]

On the slopes they love to compete with you and the faster you flew the more it got their attention and they would do the same. It was fantastic. Thermal flying as well Awesome fun.

Sound awesome!

 

[BossBob]

Here’s from information from a site online.

Visual and auditory deterrents can be an effective way to keep birds away from your drone. Here are some innovative solutions:

Reflective Materials: Attach reflective materials, such as aluminum foil or reflective tape, to your drone’s body. The reflective surfaces can create a flashing effect, startling birds and keeping them at bay.

• Colorful Decals: Apply bright, contrasting decals to your drone’s body. Birds are less likely to approach a drone with striking colors, as they perceive it as a potential threat.
• Noise-Making Devices: Install noise-making devices, such as loudspeakers or sirens, on your drone. The sudden, loud noise can scare birds away.

Drone design and modifications can also play a crucial role in deterring birds. Here are some ideas:

• Streamlined Design: Opt for a streamlined drone design with minimal protrusions, making it less appealing to birds.
• Bird-Repellent Coatings: Apply bird-repellent coatings or paints to your drone’s body. These coatings often contain capsaicin, the active ingredient in chili peppers, which deters birds.
• Modified Propellers: Use propellers with serrated edges or irregular shapes, making them less appealing to birds.

I think I’d be too nervous to try aluminum foil.

What a load of tosh!

 

[MS Coast]

Here’s from information from a site online.

Visual and auditory deterrents can be an effective way to keep birds away from your drone. Here are some innovative solutions:

Reflective Materials: Attach reflective materials, such as aluminum foil or reflective tape, to your drone’s body. The reflective surfaces can create a flashing effect, startling birds and keeping them at bay.

• Colorful Decals: Apply bright, contrasting decals to your drone’s body. Birds are less likely to approach a drone with striking colors, as they perceive it as a potential threat.
• Noise-Making Devices: Install noise-making devices, such as loudspeakers or sirens, on your drone. The sudden, loud noise can scare birds away.

Drone design and modifications can also play a crucial role in deterring birds. Here are some ideas:

• Streamlined Design: Opt for a streamlined drone design with minimal protrusions, making it less appealing to birds.
• Bird-Repellent Coatings: Apply bird-repellent coatings or paints to your drone’s body. These coatings often contain capsaicin, the active ingredient in chili peppers, which deters birds.
• Modified Propellers: Use propellers with serrated edges or irregular shapes, making them less appealing to birds.

I think I’d be too nervous to try aluminum foil.

This just may be the worst AI-generated text I've seen. I'd steer well clear of whatever website delivered this.

• Install loudspeakers or sirens on a drone?
• Repel birds with the active ingredient in pepper spray? (Wear gloves and a respirator when handling your drone.)
• Irregular shaped propellers with saw teeth?
• Protrusions on drones are appealing to birds? Enlarge the shell to shroud the four motors and props?
• Magic bird-repellent coatings? (Ask for a spray can at the hardware store and see what happens.)
• Bright colors scare birds? (So strawberries and apples are bird proof?)

 

[Rchawks]

Sound awesome!

It was. No slopes here.

 

[Dan'sUavTech]

This just may be the worst AI-generated text I've seen. I'd steer well clear of whatever website delivered this.

• Install loudspeakers or sirens on a drone?
• Repel birds with the active ingredient in pepper spray? (Wear gloves and a respirator when handling your drone.)
• Irregular shaped propellers with saw teeth?
• Protrusions on drones are appealing to birds? Enlarge the shell to shroud the four motors and props?
• Magic bird-repellent coatings? (Ask for a spray can at the hardware store and see what happens.)
• Bright colors scare birds? (So strawberries and apples are bird proof?)

Man, that is absolute RUBBISH! AI has got a long way to go.

 

[Rchawks]

Sorry to inform you guys it wasn’t A.I. at all. Well let me rethink that maybe they used A.I. on their website, I don’t know I didn’t look it up using AI. I could post the source. I simply looked up Methods to deter birds for drones. That’s it.
Actually I found it. Here’s the link Wings of Conflict: How to Keep Birds Away from Drones - NextTools

 

[BossBob]

Sorry to inform you guys it wasn’t A.I. at all. Well let me rethink that maybe they used A.I. on their website, I don’t know I didn’t look it up using AI. I could post the source.

Don’t bother, it will just get them more page hits and encourage them to post more rubbish!

 

[Rchawks]

I was just trying to help BossBob. I updated the source. Recheck post #46

 

[Rchawks]

Well we now know what doesn’t Work .

 

[Droning on and on...]

In the past, I've posted photos of birds perched on highway signs with highly reflective surfaces and other shiny things. I just did a brief search for examples and ran across several references to the fact that some birds (crows, ravens, magpies, jays, and others) are attracted to shiny objects.

Forty or so years ago, I remember people hanging aluminum foil pie pans in fruit trees, believing that birds would be repelled. It seems that it's now understood that it doesn't work. I haven't seen any examples in quite a while.

View attachment 187636

The confounding example is that little spinning reflective pyramid on the roof corners of buildings almost everywhere these days, which are actually very effective at repelling birds from landing on the roof edges (and fouling the gutters and sides of the building with bird droppings).

This was discovered/invented by some guy in Australia, who's gotta be filthy rich by now.

Different situation than a drone aloft and flying around, so I can see how birds would react differently.

 

[Droning on and on...]

Irregular shaped propellers with saw teeth?

Do you think MAS carries these?

 

[GeorgiaPI]

On Kestrels. For years I did wildlife inventory as required for properties to qualify for Habitat For Wildlife Counsel.
I had a nest box tower staked out and after getting shots I came out of hiding to the pillar to note the droppings to see their diet.
I heard a protest from above and natural reflex had me swing up the 300mm lens and got this. The bird was a lot further away than the crop looks. I took the frames before coming to my senses and circled the pillar.

 

[Rchawks]

WOW! Great Shots!

 

[Cafguy]

Repel birds with the active ingredient in pepper spray?

Agreed...Spraying stuff into the air with your Drone would be of keen interest to the E.P.A. and spraying Pepper spray downwind from somebody might be a problem. It just may be considered weaponizing your Drone I wouldnt touch that!!

 

[GadgetGuy]

You don't need a long telephoto for bird photography, if you just fly backwards along the beach, and see what decides to chase you! LOL!

 

[Rchawks]

Make sure you stay well above the rising waves below (just sayin, ).
Great Picture!!

 

[JoeShmoe]

reflective tape to discourage birds?

A reflective tape would only work against birds with head-mounted headlights.

 

[Cafguy]

Bird deterrent is a heck of a scam business!! Somebody even sold Southwest Airlines on the Idea that if you make the engines look like eyes Birds wont get sucked into them..(you know like normal).


Reminds me of the old gypsies that used to come to town and spray roofs with "repellent" that was actually just water.

 

[MS Coast]

Bird deterrent is a heck of a scam business!! Somebody even sold Southwest Airlines on the Idea that if you make the engines look like eyes Birds wont get sucked into them..(you know like normal).
View attachment 187660

Reminds me of the old gypsies that used to come to town and spray roofs with "repellent" that was actually just water.

I understood that those markings on the front of the turbine shaft were to make it more visually obvious to ground crews that the engine was in operation.

In flight, it's unlikely that the addition of that relatively tiny decoration would make the relatively enormous aircraft more visible to a bird.

 

[skycam509]

I've flown around birds a lot with and without red reflective tape. I also heard a theory that red propellors are easier for them to see, and conceivably aids in deterring them, possibly since they see the spinning hazard, or it helps them realize it's not another animal. These are just others' theories and observations.

In my experience, since adding the tape and red MAS props, the birds are less of a problem. Mostly, they now come in for one close pass and then seem to lose interest, which supports the theory I shared above.

There are exceptions. I was flying a stockpile report mapping mission recently and there were 20+ pigeons perched on top of a big silo. They must have had a nest there, because anytime the drone got anywhere near that area, they all took flight in formation and made continuous diving passes in front of the drone. They were visible in several of the photos. I think the only reason they gave up was because they were flying so long and aggressively, they got tired.

I am a believer in the tape and red props, based on my own experience. Maybe it's just coincidence and a false sense of security, but what can it hurt? As someone else mentioned, it could also help with finding the drone after an unplanned landing.