DJI Mavic, Air and Mini Drones
Friendly, Helpful & Knowledgeable Community
Join Us Now

Mavic Pro and Birds

Papa72

Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2018
Messages
18
Reactions
7
The last couple of weeks, I've noticed hawks flying in the area. At one point, it looked like one started to get closer. A hawk buddy joined the first. I got nervous and brought the Mavic Pro back by me until the hawks drifted away. A more notable incident happened a couple of days later. I took some pictures of a sunset, then was landing in front of my house. It was getting pretty dark. When I was 8-10 feet high, I saw a big bird swoop right next to my Mavic. As it flew off, I could see because of the street light that it was an owl. It had about a 5 ft. wingspan. It happened so quickly and silently that I didn't have time to react. I guess it decided something blinky and loudish wouldn't be very tasty and swerved off.

My question to the forum is are hawks a threat? I suppose owls aren't normally. I got to thinking of the times I got pretty far off. If a hawk had attacked my Mavic at that time, I doubt I would ever know what happened. Anyway, has anyone had hawks specifically attack their drone?
 
The last couple of weeks, I've noticed hawks flying in the area. At one point, it looked like one started to get closer. A hawk buddy joined the first. I got nervous and brought the Mavic Pro back by me until the hawks drifted away. A more notable incident happened a couple of days later. I took some pictures of a sunset, then was landing in front of my house. It was getting pretty dark. When I was 8-10 feet high, I saw a big bird swoop right next to my Mavic. As it flew off, I could see because of the street light that it was an owl. It had about a 5 ft. wingspan. It happened so quickly and silently that I didn't have time to react. I guess it decided something blinky and loudish wouldn't be very tasty and swerved off.

My question to the forum is are hawks a threat? I suppose owls aren't normally. I got to thinking of the times I got pretty far off. If a hawk had attacked my Mavic at that time, I doubt I would ever know what happened. Anyway, has anyone had hawks specifically attack their drone?

A search on this site will present lots of threads / posts concerning birds interfering with drones and evasive actions you can take to evade them.

Having said that, birds of prey will often consider a drone to be a decent snack.
Also, this is the beginning of the mating season in the northern hemisphere and any bird, large or small, might well consider a drone to be a threat to it's nest. Even a small bird, such as a starling or sparrow, can take out a prop and and ruin your day.

PS: If you edit your profile to include at least a hint of your location you'll likely get more appropriate answers to your queries. Eg., if you're in the southern hemisphere much of my answer won't be pertinent.
 
I know all too well of Bird Hazards. I lost a Mavic to a Red Tailed Hawk Upstate NY. Found Battery and landing gear pieces. Could not locate Mavic.
Recently, here on Long Island I have a Falcon that really wants a piece of my M2P. I have had to pull some evasive manuevers to avoid this guy.
 
The last couple of weeks, I've noticed hawks flying in the area. At one point, it looked like one started to get closer. A hawk buddy joined the first. I got nervous and brought the Mavic Pro back by me until the hawks drifted away. A more notable incident happened a couple of days later. I took some pictures of a sunset, then was landing in front of my house. It was getting pretty dark. When I was 8-10 feet high, I saw a big bird swoop right next to my Mavic. As it flew off, I could see because of the street light that it was an owl. It had about a 5 ft. wingspan. It happened so quickly and silently that I didn't have time to react. I guess it decided something blinky and loudish wouldn't be very tasty and swerved off.

My question to the forum is are hawks a threat? I suppose owls aren't normally. I got to thinking of the times I got pretty far off. If a hawk had attacked my Mavic at that time, I doubt I would ever know what happened. Anyway, has anyone had hawks specifically attack their drone?



I was ones flying my Mavic Pro at a huge soccer field near the beach and I almost had a close call with a Sea Hawk also know an Ospreys which are massive in size compared to an Owl. These ospreys can be anywhere from 0.9–2.1 kg (2.0–4.6 lb) in weight and 50–66 cm (20–26 in) in length with a 127–180 cm (50–71 in) wingspan. I was minded my own business until one of these big Ospreys started to swoop down and to try to grab my Mavic P but I guess it knew what was and fled back to his nest which was on top of a telephone pole over 100 yrds away!
It was a close call that's for sure! The good news here is these kinds of birds normally do not go after sUAS's.

1551018924334.png
 
Lycus Tech Mavic Air 3 Case

DJI Drone Deals

New Threads

Forum statistics

Threads
130,593
Messages
1,554,206
Members
159,598
Latest member
fast54