Seagulls Killed my Mavic Pro :(

[Taylor1430]

I have noticed that birds show little interest until I reach treet top level or above. Then they seem to come out in numbers. Never had one actually attack the Mavick, but they do get menacingly close. I pack up and leave. Not worth the risk.

Same with me. No birds of prey sight until I get about 100ft up... then I’ll see them off in distance checking it out. We have some pretty big hawks around here and they’ll start for a high altitude. Then more show up. So far, none to close but interesting how they’ll start appearing.

 

[neggy]

Awesome. Very interested in what you find out. I’m in SWFlorida and there’s a lot of birds here. Have had a few close calls but nothing dramatic; fingers crossed.

I am in North Fort Myers, about 2 miles north of Pine Shadows, my back property line is the county line... I am always worried that a big azz hawk or an Eagle is going to make a run at my Mavic.... I have some pretty big birds close by as the Zemel Rd landfill is not far away line of sight.

 

[ChrisW81]

I am in North Fort Myers, about 2 miles north of Pine Shadows, my back property line is the county line... I am always worried that a big azz hawk or an Eagle is going to make a run at my Mavic.... I have some pretty big birds close by as the Zemel Rd landfill is not far away line of sight.

Haven't been out that way. From the look of you aerial pic I should be haha. Nice view and nothing in the way.

 

[radmanzulu]

This is normal behavior for birds. Small birds regularly mob bigger birds so you might see finches mobbing crows or crows mobbing eagles. Mostly it is about chasing off predators. I have noticed large Redtailed Hawks getting a little too interested in my Mavic Pro, this is hunting behavior IMHO.

 

[sam10538]

So I was taking pictures on the edge of a salt water river and a seagull attacked the drone and eventually brought it down to the water. Never thought they were stone cold killers.

What I do is I go on sports, take it back to my location and land it they ignore it when it's landed I had an entire wasps nest coming at mine if you still have control then you have the upper hand

 

[mryeje]

Incase anyone is interested, here is a 360 pano I took at the Mavic Pro's last coordinates. Google Maps as you can see its not the best spot to lose one.

 

[Wolfeel]

Birdstrikes have become a big worry during springtime here in SWE. Smaller birds seems to follow my MA around, once over the tree line, seems like they are trying to chase it off their teritory. Smaller birds dont seem to follow through on their attacks. A switch to sport mode at least gives me the feeling of being in control. But I had a buzzard following my MA all the way back to home landing point a while back, that was more nerve wrecking as they hoover over the MA at higher alltitude and are much quicker, should they actually go for an attack. Either way filming/photo session is over.

DJI_0098r

• Wolfeel
• Jun 5, 2018

Spring2018_Kungsbacka

 

[Lake_Flyer]

I fly over the Caribbean Sea on a regular basis & have had lots of bird encounters.
Seagulls & birds of prey seem to be the worst.
I suggest flying straight up if you see a bird swooping in.
This scares them off.
If you go down, the sense that you are afraid of them & their instinct is to attack.
I've practiced this a lot & it's worked for me every time.
They may come back for a second look after you fly up the first time. I just repeat & fly straight up again. That usually does the trick.
Just my 2 cents.

You're 100% correct. Birds don't like to lose energy without any kinetic advantage. They don't like to be forced to climb. Being higher means having more potential kinetic energy and that's usually enough to get the opponent in trouble or have it fleeing the area. A bit like dogfighting WW1-2 fighter pilots.