Winged overlords of the sky

[DJMedzy]

I've been flying my drone only a few weeks now here in far north Australia and I've had some very close calls with various birds.. the latest of which an eagle.. trying to full on come at the thing. Thankfully I managed to land it without incident and stopped flying that day but I feel like I won't always be so lucky and now I'm even paranoid about gulls.

Is this a common problem or have I been unlucky? Also what do people do about it. Any methods anyone can suggest to deter these troublesome feathered beasts of the air? From something that emits noise to scary decals, I'd be willing to try anything at this point.





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[smiller]

Most of my encounters with birds have seemed to be only a result of curiosity, and they stayed clear. Eagles or other large birds of prey may be another matter though, not many of those in my neck of the woods.

 

[Bill S]

A seagull took out my P4 in Norther Calif coast. I have placed shiny quilted mylar on surfaces. Not sure if it helps as most seagulls fly away.

 

[smiller]

A seagull took out my P4 in Norther Calif coast. I have placed shiny quilted mylar on surfaces. Not sure if it helps as most seagulls fly away.

More likely an accidental collision than an attack, although admittedly the results are the same

 

[Eddyfisher]

Gulls have pretty much ignored my P3P, but hawks have been another matter. Had a couple of close calls.

 

[zeldon50]

Every time I have encountered birds, they have wither ignored me or flown away. I startled about 30 Canadian geese last week and they complained a lot, but moved off just the same. I would think mating season would be a game changer, tho. This is just my opinion, so feel free to disagree, but my plan is to switch to sports mode, ascend like crazy (ascending is the most difficult direction for a bird to accomplish). After, that, full stick forward until the bird loses interest (fingers crossed)! I have had my P4P up to 48 mph under ideal conditions. Maybe a hawk or an eagle can do that, but a seagull or a big fat Canadian goose... doubtful.
zeldon50


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[DJMedzy]

Your method Zeldon is more or less how I got away from the wedge tailed eagle but only barely and I saw her coming from a good distance away. She did not seem happy at all with sharing her sky with my bird

After this the eagle is my phantom's number one natural enemy. I wonder if camouflaging the drone in eagle-like camo would help.

I just read today that a mining company here has done this with their UAVs after having nine of them ambushed by wedge tailed eagle troublemakers. The quilted mylar is an interesting idea too.

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[Meta4]

I just read today that a mining company here has done this with their UAVs after having nine of them ambushed by wedge tailed eagle troublemakers.

It would be interesting to see how that works out and if it changes anything.
Different birds may attack for different reasons at different times and in different locations.
With the eagle, it could be that it is looking for prey or aggressively defending territory against intruders or just curious.
The Wedgetail has the equipment, speed and size that mean it's the boss in its territory.

If it really wants to tango sport mode might be the only option.
While you might be able to outclimb a bird, that just means you now have further to descend at the Phantom's slow (and vulnerable) descent rate.
Eagles are very acrobatic and capable of scorching power dives.
Here's a shot of a fighting pair that locked talons and fell spinning for hundreds of feet before disengaging.

If you are in an eagle's territory, whether it's curious, hungry or angry, the best strategy is probably to fly somewhere else.

 

[FunN4lo]

I have been circled by hawks a couple of times. I got the heck out of the area. Not my vid, but scary to say the least

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[DJMedzy]

Yeah if I see them anywhere in the area I'm just getting the hell out of there right away. Too risky. Not birds I want to mess with. I'm about to do a drone trip around the perimeter of Australia by car so I'm sure I'm going to run into my share. Hopefully the drone survives the voyage or I'll be posting back here with some crazy bird attack footage


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[wangrinProductions]

If too close or attack imminent, sport mode then climb hight vertically, hard for bird to go only vertically


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[Jlbourne]

Yeah if I see them anywhere in the area I'm just getting the hell out of there right away. Too risky. Not birds I want to mess with. I'm about to do a drone trip around the perimeter of Australia by car so I'm sure I'm going to run into my share. Hopefully the drone survives the voyage or I'll be posting back here with some crazy bird attack footage


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This sounds exciting. What would be the easiest way to take a look at what you film on your journey? I'm very interested in seeing what you capture

 

[DJMedzy]

This sounds exciting. What would be the easiest way to take a look at what you film on your journey? I'm very interested in seeing what you capture

You'll be able to see my stuff at YouTube here eventually:

DrLemur

I've just gone around America so it's just droneless videos of me being confused by the USA at the moment but that's the place

I'm no pro or anything though and I've only just started flying drones but hopefully I'll learn enough before I leave to get a handle on all the modes. This forum has been super helpful. Once I hit the outback and NT I'll have to make sure I keep my bird not too low to the ground or she'll be lunch for salt water crocodiles


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