What color/pattern works best to discourage bird attacks?

Dave A · Jun 17, 2019

Every now and then there is a post where someone's drone was attacked by a bird in a foul mood.
Some believe certain bright colors will discourage bird interest while others believe a wacky pattern will do it.
I went with a pattern that no self respecting bird would adorn and certainly does not look like anything alive.
So far so good. I've had large Ravins, Gulls, and birds of prey take a quick look then fly off so seems to be working......until it doesn't I guess.

Here's my Mavic. Do you have an anti-bird skin on your drone?

Casper52 · Jun 17, 2019

Interesting Pattern. Maybe a picture of a Cat??

Dave A · Jun 17, 2019

Casper52 said:
Interesting Pattern. Maybe a picture of a Cat??

True...maybe like this.

monzarottie · Jun 17, 2019

Nice! I'm in Bend, OR a lot and wondered how my Mavic 2 would hold up to the hawks and bald eagles.

Hauptmann · Jun 17, 2019

Dave A said:
Every now and then there is a post where someone's drone was attacked by a bird in a foul mood.
Some believe certain bright colors will discourage bird interest while others believe a wacky pattern will do it.
I went with a pattern that no self respecting bird would adorn and certainly does not look like anything alive.
So far so good. I've had large Ravins, Gulls, and birds of prey take a quick look then fly off so seems to be working......until it doesn't I guess.

Here's my Mavic. Do you have an anti-bird skin on your drone?

View attachment 75757

View attachment 75758

It looks very similar to the dreaded Pirhana Bird, known for devouring small airplanes. No wonder birds avoid it!

zocalo · Jun 18, 2019

Casper52 said:
Interesting Pattern. Maybe a picture of a Cat??

Maybe an actual cat (old, but gold):

pmshop · Jun 18, 2019

LOL

Sadly, the birds want to know what is in THEIR airspace

krodgerson · Jun 18, 2019

I have stick on googly eyes on mine.

BigAl07 · Jun 18, 2019

monzarottie said:
Nice! I'm in Bend, OR a lot and wondered how my Mavic 2 would hold up to the hawks and bald eagles.

The props are fairly fragile on the Mavic series so it wouldn't take much to damage one or cause it to fail. I'd imagine even a much smaller bird impact could potentially take one out fairly easily.

krodgerson said:
I have stick on googly eyes on mine.

Many people have reported this works. Only way to know for sure would be the do a controlled test in a known area of bird interest. Do some test w/o wobble eyes and tests with then document the difference.

MavBoka · Jun 18, 2019

I have a Mavic 2 and while never attacked birds would check it out on occasion... then when studying for my part 107 I bought a anti-collision light since it would be required to fly during any twilight missions, and I have left it on during daylight flying and it works well if overcast but birds don’t even come near while the light is on but if I leave it off them come to check me out so I just turn them on every flight

Heijst · Jun 18, 2019

MavBoka said:
I have a Mavic 2 and while never attacked birds would check it out on occasion... then when studying for my part 107 I bought a anti-collision light since it would be required to fly during any twilight missions, and I have left it on during daylight flying and it works well if overcast but birds don’t even come near while the light is on but if I leave it off them come to check me out so I just turn them on every flight

Good suggestion. I'll try that for sure!

Goin Up · Jun 18, 2019

I live in a semi-rural area, and hawks are a common appearance most days. Using a "gardener's trick" (whereby they put old CD' and DVD's in trees surrounding their crops, and after a couple of days, no birds) idea, I put strips of multi-colored reflective tape on the tops of my drones, which seems to confuse them when they come close to "look", and they fly away.

Aquaswat · Jun 22, 2019

Goin Up said:
I live in a semi-rural area, and hawks are a common appearance most days. Using a "gardener's trick" (whereby they put old CD' and DVD's in trees surrounding their crops, and after a couple of days, no birds) idea, I put strips of multi-colored reflective tape on the tops of my drones, which seems to confuse them when they come close to "look", and they fly away.View attachment 75814

I totally though you were referring to the yellow strip till I looked closer and saw it covering your phone # ??

Drone Chrish · Jun 22, 2019

Dave A said:
Every now and then there is a post where someone's drone was attacked by a bird in a foul mood.
Some believe certain bright colors will discourage bird interest while others believe a wacky pattern will do it.
I went with a pattern that no self respecting bird would adorn and certainly does not look like anything alive.
So far so good. I've had large Ravins, Gulls, and birds of prey take a quick look then fly off so seems to be working......until it doesn't I guess.

Here's my Mavic. Do you have an anti-bird skin on your drone?

View attachment 75757

View attachment 75758

Would fitting STROBE Lights frighten Birds away ?

dronerdave · Jun 22, 2019

Drone Chrish said:
Would fitting STROBE Lights frighten Birds away ?

Maybe some birds, but I run 4 strobes on my MP and larger raptors still approach it while in flight. I've yet to see them actually attack though. After they get a close look most seem to leave my quad alone. Starlings swarm even with the strobes on. In one spot where I fly frequently, this hawk has seemed to be curious about our Mavics. It always lands on a fence post 30' from where we launch at. The strobes don't bother it at all. I know farmers put Mylar strips that flash in the sun to keep certain birds out of their fruit orchards so maybe they do affect some birds.

un1tb4ck · Jun 22, 2019

dronerdave said:
Maybe some birds, but I run 4 strobes on my MP and larger raptors still approach it while in flight. I've yet to see them actually attack though. After they get a close look most seem to leave my quad alone. Starlings swarm even with the strobes on. In one spot where I fly frequently, this hawk has seemed to be curious about our Mavics. It always lands on a fence post 30' from where we launch at. The strobes don't bother it at all. I know farmers put Mylar strips that flash in the sun to keep certain birds out of their fruit orchards so maybe they do affect some birds.

do you have a sample photo and a purchase link?

dronerdave · Jun 22, 2019

un1tb4ck said:
do you have a sample photo and a purchase link?

Of the strobes? I'm using the firehouse arc II strobes, 2 white 1 red and 1 green. You can get them on Amazon or directly from Firehouse.

Tas47 · Jun 22, 2019

Many commercial bird scarers use eye patterns (as do some insects eg moths and butterflies).

RCdancer · Jun 22, 2019

FlyingGary · Aug 8, 2019

I have a falcon nesting across the street and it attacks my MP2P every time it goes up. I'm going to try some of that reflective tape and maybe some googly eyes...