HOW TO: Avoid seagulls with your drone.

[MavicKhan]

I've gained a lot of valuable information from these forums, but recently I realized I haven’t contributed much myself.

This is partly due to limited time, but also, to be honest, because I often find others here to be far more knowledgeable than I am.

That said, I do have a tip I’d like to share.

I live in a coastal town with a small fishing port.

Naturally, the area is filled with seagulls, as are many other coastal locations I enjoy photographing in—most recently in Sardinia, Italy.

Initially, I used to get quite stressed whenever I flew my drone, as seagulls would immediately start circling it in a loud, menacing way whenever they detected it.

However, I eventually realized that by making a series of quick ascents (...which are incredibly fast in the latest DJI models...) I could scare the seagulls off.

It seems their "evolutionary common sense" doesn’t expect a "bird" to behave like that, with such capabilities.

Without fail, after a few of these rapid ascents, the seagulls still circle the drone, but at a much greater distance, which makes things much safer, as you’d expect.

I hope this tip can be helpful to some of you.

MK

 

[davidarmenb]

Indeed! That is also the best way to get away from a bird trying to attack your drone. Most videos show the pilot descending out of panic once they realize their drone is under attack, making them easy prey because birds can dive insanely fast.
However, no bird can ascend as quickly as drones can. Your drone will pretty much disappear from their POV and they would need to expel a lot of time and energy to gain the same elevation that took your drone two seconds to achieve.

 

[Kiwicbrthou]

Very handy to know, I’ll have to try it out on the kamikaze magpies we have over here!

 

[msinger]

Thank you for sharing @MavicKhan!

More people might find your threads if you rename the title to something like "HOW TO: Avoid seagulls with your drone".

 

[GregS]

As I started my MP v1 I noticed buzzards circling above...a lot of them. Finally just went straight up through the circle. They could care less. After my flight they were still circling, so I decended right into them. No problem. Counted 43 of them.

 

[MavicKhan]

Thank you for sharing @MavicKhan!

More people might find your threads if you rename the title to something like "HOW TO: Avoid seagulls with your drone".

Done!

MK

 

[Meta4]

However, I eventually realized that by making a series of quick ascents (...which are incredibly fast in the latest DJI models...) I could scare the seagulls off.

Unfortunately many birds don't think that way.
If you run into them, climbing only means your drone is going to take longer to get home safely.

 

[MavicKhan]

That does not seem to be a seagull.

I was refering to seagulls, specifically.

Each species has its own behaviour. If you're unfortunate enough to find a bird of prey, you might very well get your drone destroyed, no matter what you do.

MK

 

[Meta4]

That does not seem to be a seagull.
I was refering to seagulls, specifically.

Yes .. those birds aren't gulls.
But I've also been attacked by determined large gulls that wouldn't give up too.
I just haven't got photos of them.

 

[Skater]

Seagulls can be brutal. I live (and fly) in a coastal town in Northern California and cannot fly near the coast from May through October due to the nesting season. Seagulls are very territorial during that time period. They took my Phantom down several years ago. Just one of the challenges of sharing the skies.

 

[GFields]

Thanks for sharing! Good information!