Bugs and Birds Attack?

[Bateman233]

Has anyone else experienced having their Phantom swarmed by bugs or birds? Several times I have had birds in large numbers swooping by the Phantom...I assume they think it's a predator. And today I noticed on my phone screen (Phantom was about 150 feet up) that there were numerous large bugs swarming all around it. Sure enough, when I brought it down there were bug guts on it.

Kinda nervous one of these could bring my Phantom down.

 

[thedjiguy]

I have only heard of birds taking down a Phantom one time. That being said, i'm still very careful.

 

[Gizmo3000]

I was flying near some bee hives, and noticed a few flew up high and approached my quads, maybe they think it's a big mother -bee or something.

 

[skyhighdiver]

Has anyone else experienced having their Phantom swarmed by bugs or birds? Several times I have had birds in large numbers swooping by the Phantom...I assume they think it's a predator. And today I noticed on my phone screen (Phantom was about 150 feet up) that there were numerous large bugs swarming all around it. Sure enough, when I brought it down there were bug guts on it.

Kinda nervous one of these could bring my Phantom down.

I have had falcons, ravens and even swallows diving on me until I was so scared I left the area I was in
I also have many near miss shots of birds diving away from me as I approach them in full flight while in fast forward flight
also notice a lot of bug guts when I fly at the lake .Im only doing like 10 -15mph you would think they would move

 

[PhilAnderson]

I was flying near some bee hives, and noticed a few flew up high and approached my quads, maybe they think it's a big mother -bee or something.

Got this little guy while flying over the Okanogan river in Okanogan, Washington.

 

[skyhighdiver]

I was flying near some bee hives, and noticed a few flew up high and approached my quads, maybe they think it's a big mother -bee or something.

Got this little guy while flying over the Okanogan river in Okanogan, Washington.

that's not a bee its a light aircraft :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Henry Kangas]

Is it possible that a bug gets in the phantoms software and brings it down?

 

[sdtag]

I had a hawk or something big like a hawk circling my quad today. I was hovering shooting video.
I dropped altitude and scooted away.

 

[Marlin009]

I've had turkey vultures show an interest. Normally they just glide around. When I saw one **** his wings back and start coming in I hauled ***. No match for a Phantom.

 

[xfreedommasterx]

I was out filming some covered bridges when I came across a lot of swallows. They didnt appreciate me being there. I added their interactions at the end of my video as a bonus. Jump to 2:00 to see the birds. I'll also add that my phantom is covered in quite a bit of bug blood and guts.

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[BlackHawk388]

I'm very new to this P2V+. I had read stories of birds and bees gathering near these drones and expected it. Just wasn't ready for the reality of it! LOL!

This past Saturday, I noticed a good many bug guts on my mine. I was doing more flying out over an adjoining field than I had before and noticed how many yellow jackets were flying around with it. While at 200', the Hawks took notice and started curiously gathering in the area, checking out the drone.

I then dropped to 125' and was doing some wind speed testing when one of the Hawks in particular became more agitated than curious. As it tightened it's circle above my drone, keeping its eyes locked on it, I saw the behavior I've come to anticipate as being a diving, high speed flyby or attack run that I've experienced with my fixed-wing R/C craft. So I immediately turned so I could take advantage of a tailwind and sped up while climbing as fast as I could, did a hard turn back towards the bird and dropped as quickly as I could in it's general direction and now, 50' or so below me. The Hawk took off for less "buzzing" skies.

Where I live, we have a LOT of Red-Tailed Hawks and this one was likely female since it had a wingspan of about 4'. I learned this "go high, turn and dive" routine from a guy who has been flying R/C powered gliders around here for 20 years and it almost always works unless near one of their nests. I'm glad it worked this time because that big Hawk was intimidating!

 

[MapMaker53]

I hope everyone realizes that once a bird makes contact with a drone it is doomed to die. The spinning blades will severely lacerate the bird or chop off it's thin legs as soon as it makes contact. Unfortunately, birds will often view a drone as a threat to it's nesting area and territory. The drone usually recovers stability after such a hit if at a high enough altitude, but the bird will fly off to die, which means any fledglings back in the nest it was protecting will also die with no further food coming. So for the sake of the birds, try to avoid any type of confrontations, and certainly avoid flying in the vicinity of known nesting areas.

 

[BlackHawk388]

I hope everyone realizes that once a bird makes contact with a drone it is doomed to die. The spinning blades will severely lacerate the bird or chop off it's thin legs as soon as it makes contact. Unfortunately, birds will often view a drone as a threat to it's nesting area and territory. The drone usually recovers stability after such a hit if at a high enough altitude, but the bird will fly off to die, which means any fledglings back in the nest it was protecting will also die with no further food coming. So for the sake of the birds, try to avoid any type of confrontations, and certainly avoid flying in the vicinity of known nesting areas.

While I agree that doing what we can to prevent a bird strike is simply common sense, you make it sound as if any collision with a bird attacking a drone is going to result in the bird dying and then, its offspring dying.

Obviously, a worst case scenario and not something I'd say is typical. Especially if you ascend and turn like I mentioned above, you will most likely scare the bird off. It's when people try to descend and run away that encourages an attacking bird to strike again. Well, at least with the Hawks we have in this area. I know that Red-tailed Hawks mate and produce offspring from April to May. 6-8 weeks of maturing sees the offspring leaving the nest. So that places protective Hawks as being much more aggressive from April until late July. So I personally ensure I fly far away from trees during that time and if there are any obvious nests, I'll either find somewhere else to fly or keep a good couple hundred meters distance. Sometimes, it's just a Hawk that is observing a slow flying "thing" and it attempts to catch the easy prey. Once you start moving authoritatively, it scares them off or, when you do your climb, turn and dive, it messes up their attack posture and you have time to bring the drone to your immediate area and most birds aren't going to get that close to a human in my experience.

 

[MapMaker53]

Hey, I commend you for taking evasive maneuvers. My point is any contact (I should have written physical contact) with those spinning props WILL kill the bird, either immediately or eventually. Birds like hawks look large, but they are quite delicate creatures. Damage a wing and it can't fly. I doubt if a bird in flight that attacks and makes contact with a Phantom can avoid impacting the spinning blades, especially since birds generally attack from above or from directly behind. Personally, I have to very carefully grab the landing strut on mine when hand catching, which is the only safe place to try to grab onto it while hovering. It's basically a flying Veg-A-Matic when in the sky.

 

[BlackHawk388]

Hey, I commend you for taking evasive maneuvers. My point is any contact (I should have written physical contact) with those spinning props WILL kill the bird, either immediately or eventually. Birds like hawks look large, but they are quite delicate creatures. Damage a wing and it can't fly. I doubt if a bird in flight that attacks and makes contact with a Phantom can avoid impacting the spinning blades, especially since birds generally attack from above or from directly behind. Personally, I have to very carefully grab the landing strut on mine when hand catching, which is the only safe place to try to grab onto it while hovering. It's basically a flying Veg-A-Matic when in the sky.

Oh, I agree with you for the most part. A strong impact with a bird is most likely going to do way more damage than any of us who love wildlife would care to see. I just know that these birds are much more resilient than one would think based on their weight vs size.

Losing a talon or leg may not mean death because Red-Tailed Hawks are extremely resistant to disease and injury. Not all birds are that strong though. However, the one BAD attack by a Hawk onto an R/C heli this guy was flying saw the C/F blades not only chop off both legs, but birds of prey also tend to quickly stab their prey with their beaks while initially griping with their talons. This particular Hawk lost his head when he went to follow through the talon grab with a beak strike. Inertia meant that bird was going to be badly injured regardless. Which is why I dart and move high immediately.

I then took that older, supposedly more "mature" man off to the side and pointed out the two nests about 50' up in the pine trees he was buzzing. I stressed to him that situational awareness doesn't only apply to his position relative to the aircraft and trees, but what might be nesting in those trees, the time of year and awareness of the wildlife. His flippancy angered me greatly. However, I got my point across rather succinctly after his dismissive comment about "just a bird, I lost my heli".

 

[MapMaker53]

I scouted out this local park last year for flying. Fortunately, the park sign stated no model airplane flying - otherwise I would have flown there. I say "fortunately" in this case because as I walked through the park just looking around, I heard a ton of squawking coming from every small tree. Had to be a hundred baby hawks in those trees. I thought it was strange until I looked up at the light poles around the baseball field. Every one of the light pole catwalks were STUFFED to the brim with nesting material and the same loud squawking noises coming from them. The fledglings perched in the lower trees must have descended from those nests. Couldn't believe how many there were. I'm glad a didn't accidentally fly there, which was a good lesson to scout out an area as best as possible before one flies.

 

[BlackHawk388]

Every one of the light pole catwalks were STUFFED to the brim with nesting material and the same loud squawking noises coming from them. The fledglings perched in the lower trees must have descended from those nests. Couldn't believe how many there were. I'm glad a didn't accidentally fly there, which was a good lesson to scout out an area as best as possible before one flies.

Scouting a perspective flying field is extremely important. As you noticed here. However, just that single scouting isn't the only time one should do so. As the season evolves, MANY different animals can utilize a given area.

Migratory birds are just one concern. Another would be protected species within a given area that certainly isn't always protected through a National designation. Since we are flying, I tend to lean mostly towards avian creatures that may be disrupted by my activity. This can be very specific to a single month out of the year or a couple of weeks. While I won't go out of my way to stop flying in a given area due to my favorite Red-Tailed Hawk population, I will do my best to observe and avoid their nested areas. That may mean my moving a hundred meters to one side of a field. But Hawks are extremely populous and adaptable. Not all avian creatures are. I could go on and on about the exhaustive, to those who don't really care about animals, efforts I go to so I can ensure I'm not impacting the environment too much. After all, I surely wouldn't care for a new neighbor who works at night to party their asses off during the night on their day off while I'm trying to sleep. Hypocrisy among people vs animals is rife. I'll stop there cause I feel my soap box nearby.

 

[rbhamilton]

Small birds group together to chase away larger birds from nests. Ever see a big menacing hawk running for it's life from 2 or 3 small birds? That's normal behavior all around. If your drone looks like a predator to a bird, it's going to be a target. I've had my drone chased by starlings.

 

[StevenQX]

It's a really bad period to fly here for me. I'm fighting with seagulls and after a flight my bird is always dirty because of crazy bugs and bee

 

[BlackHawk388]

It's a really bad period to fly here for me. I'm fighting with seagulls and after a flight my bird is always dirty because of crazy bugs and bee

Man, I'll be quite honest here. I know how to intimidate seagulls so they leave my aircraft alone. They are plentiful and EVERY WHERE near the ocean as that is their "property". They are the buzzards of the seas. Opportunistic animals. I would NEVER intentionally hurt one! However, like the ground bound rat, they're NO danger of becoming extinct. So I take a very aggressive tact with them.

Once I get a grouping of them, like thugs, they hardly ever attack an intimidating adversary on their own and they almost always want a decisively superior amount of "friends" to help them out. I go on the offensive. I will suddenly ascend with all the power of my aircraft while turning sharply towards them in a gain arc. 50' of altitude above them and a rigorous turn and descent towards them makes them feel inferior. On my powered gliders, I put "owl eye" stickers on the plane. As I will do with this drone. It's a simple matter of having a JPEG file on a thumb drive and taking it to a local photo center. They can place these on a sticker background you can use to apply to your aircraft or drone. I had a friend with the required things for putting these on my fixed wing aircraft although he is no longer doing them. I really need to find a local print shop that will do such for my newest ParkZone Radian and the new fuselage for my now discontinued, but much loved, Firebird Stratos.

On the DJI, I will put them on the vents for the ESC's on the forward facing arms and use an exacto knife to cut out the vented areas to allow airflow into the airframe. The "nose" part will occupy the area just below the arms that has the word "PHANTOM" embossed on it. If I need to, I will line cut the opening for the USB port cover. Just as I did with the red stickers so I could remove the top of the Phantom without messing up the stickers.

This has worked very well for my fixed wing aircraft. I have no doubt it will be just as effective on this drone. Once I get it done, I'll have to post a video or series of pictures showing the application. So many things to do!

Edit: Found my JPEG file for Owl Eye stickers.