Birds

[mavicmavsfan]

Do they tend to stay away from drones? I saw one go right in front of me on my last flight. Also, are bats pretty good at avoiding them?

 

[Starz]

I’ve been chased by bees more than birds. Lots of bats in my area and not had an issue. Only one time did I have a hawk of some kind go after one of the mavic’s. He actually was diving right towards it, but stopped short by about ten feet. Probably lucky for both of us.

 

[msinger]

Hawks are the only birds I've even seen come after my drones. And it has happened on more than one occasion. When I see them gunning for it, I usually land and call it a day.

 

[old man mavic]

birds were here before drones and they will defend their territory from what to them are an intruder ever tried to walk up to a swan or goose with young then you will know how aggressive they can be i imagine it would be the same if you flew your UAV to close as well

 

[FoxhallGH]

I was flying my Mavic low along my local river when I noticed a Swan jump in and start flapping toward it. I hit the vertical ascent and got out of there as quick as I could. Those guys are agressive!

 

[Dan-Petter]

Here in Sweden I’ve noticed that birds tend to shy away, but when I was in Brazil all birds, swallows and even sparrows “dive-bombed” my Air!

 

[Napolyon1]

First time I took my drone out it was pestered by two seagulls attacking it. I had to stop flying it.

 

[old man mavic]

good old nature something we have no control over like i said they were here first

 

[MichiganMavic]

I’ve had a big crow take down my Q500 drone, and that’s a pretty big one. Not sure of exact species, but these travel usually in pairs or three, and their wingspan averages 4-5’.
Stay away from those [emoji35]

 

[zocalo]

Many birds can get aggressive towards a drone, especially when they are nesting and protecting young, not just the larger raptors. Always a good idea to try and avoid flying in nesting sites during the spring.

The best thing you can do if you get mobbed by a bird is do a quick vertical ascent. At the very least this will buy you some space to manouver as they will not be able to climb as fast, but it's also a sign of aggression that may might deter some birds right there and then. If they keep coming, climb and run repeatedly until you clear the area or they give up.

 

[macoman]

I use in my Mavic Pro platinum one of these flashing lights on top of it when flying. It is very powerful, color is green which make the birds go away when they see it.

 

[old man mavic]

Many birds can get aggressive towards a drone, especially when they are nesting and protecting young, not just the larger raptors. Always a good idea to try and avoid flying in nesting sites during the spring.

The best thing you can do if you get mobbed by a bird is do a quick vertical ascent. At the very least this will buy you some space to manouver as they will not be able to climb as fast, but it's also a sign of aggression that may might deter some birds right there and then. If they keep coming, climb and run repeatedly until you clear the area or they give up.

i like your use of the word raptors we tend to forget that birds are direct decendents of dinos and a lot of there behaviour is as a result of having to survive in hostile enviroments i guess we will just have to get used to these attacks and try to share the airspace with them the best we can

 

[FoxhallGH]

Many birds can get aggressive towards a drone, especially when they are nesting and protecting young, not just the larger raptors. Always a good idea to try and avoid flying in nesting sites during the spring.

The best thing you can do if you get mobbed by a bird is do a quick vertical ascent. At the very least this will buy you some space to manouver as they will not be able to climb as fast, but it's also a sign of aggression that may might deter some birds right there and then. If they keep coming, climb and run repeatedly until you clear the area or they give up.

Agree with the 'climb' recommendation, because a bird will 'know' that the Mavic is 'stronger' and more agile than it is, if the Mavic can out-climb it ... Generally, any sort of predatory bird doesn't take risks, because it knows that if it hurts itself, it can't feed. So a show of strength should be enough to get by ... Conversely, if you dive the Mavic, you'll look like lunch!

 

[Dan Kirksey]

Seagulls are the worst! They get very territorial. On many occasionas 1 seagull will see the drone, start sqauking and call his friends, before you know it you have hundreads of them swarming the area. When your hovering the dummies will dive down at the drone and turn away at the last second. I've been hit by seagull **** a couple of times. Best thing to do is fly up and away, once they don't see the drone they quickly disburse. I think it's a small brain issue. Whenever hawks see the drone, they'll usually circle for a couple of minutes and then decide it's not prey and move on (obviouly bigger brain and smarter).

 

[AnotherMavicPilot]

Seagulls are the worst! They get very territorial. On many occasionas 1 seagull will see the drone, start sqauking and call his friends, before you know it you have hundreads of them swarming the area. When your hovering the dummies will dive down at the drone and turn away at the last second. I've been hit by seagull **** a couple of times. Best thing to do is fly up and away, once they don't see the drone they quickly disburse. I think it's a small brain issue. Whenever hawks see the drone, they'll usually circle for a couple of minutes and then decide it's not prey and move on (obviouly bigger brain and smarter).

100% agreed, just posted a similar comment to your's on another thread!

 

[Tbredhed]

Seagulls are the worst! They get very territorial. On many occasionas 1 seagull will see the drone, start sqauking and call his friends, before you know it you have hundreads of them swarming the area. When your hovering the dummies will dive down at the drone and turn away at the last second. I've been hit by seagull **** a couple of times. Best thing to do is fly up and away, once they don't see the drone they quickly disburse. I think it's a small brain issue. Whenever hawks see the drone, they'll usually circle for a couple of minutes and then decide it's not prey and move on (obviouly bigger brain and smarter).

This is exactly what happened to me when I was on vacation in Portugal. I was trying to fly near the coastal cliffs and caves near Lagos and the seagulls seemed to come from nowhere and surrounded my MPP, sport mode and straight back. Tried a second time same result, I gave up after that.

 

[Prismatic]

A trick I used with success, in a swarm of swallows, was to stop horizontal motion and shoot straight up at full throttle. That seemed to spook them, and they stopped flying anywhere near the drone.

My drone Bertie sports sparkly reflective striping and big, stick-on googly-eyes from the craft store. These passive anti-bird measures may or may not help, but Bertie has a look, that's for sure. And she hasn't had a bird strike yet! [knocks on wood]

 

[Lon Denard]

Every time I launched these birds harassed my drone and I had to land.

 

[theDRONEranger]

Many birds can get aggressive towards a drone, especially when they are nesting and protecting young, not just the larger raptors. Always a good idea to try and avoid flying in nesting sites during the spring.

The best thing you can do if you get mobbed by a bird is do a quick vertical ascent. At the very least this will buy you some space to manouver as they will not be able to climb as fast, but it's also a sign of aggression that may might deter some birds right there and then. If they keep coming, climb and run repeatedly until you clear the area or they give up.

Immediate ascent is the correct action, but it should be followed by an almost immediate landing if possible. Then get the hell outta there cause sooner or later you have to land and protect your bird anyhoo. Some of those Tweety Pies are large enough not to give a **** and take your bird home to their babies!

 

[Level]

A good point has thus far been missed. An effective skin is my first line of defence and my quad never took the air before it was installed. The direct result is that I've had plenty of interest among hawks and eagles but as soon as they get close enough they realize it's nothing to be concerned about and continue on their way. No aggressive behaviour has thus far been displayed.

I was flying today in the Andes and had a large Peregrine Falcon take a high speed pass directly overhead as I was coming in to land. This is the recurring response. Bottom line? Skin your bird with a pattern/colour which does not resemble prey.