Bald Eagle Attacks Drone

[3putts]

Cannot tell the age of this story, hope not a duplicate.

Eagle vs. EGLE

Bald eagle attacks $950 drone, sends it to bottom of Lake Michigan

 

[SelfBiased]

appears the Eagle was "launched " also judging from the leg tongs

 

[3putts]

appears the Eagle was "launched " also judging from the leg tongs

I doubt if the photo is the actual bird that attacked the drone. Something from their archives, no doubt.

 

[pdqdl]

I wonder where they are buying their cheap drones?

" The agency said the drone was a DJI Phantom 4 Pro Advanced, which cost $950. "

 

[SelfBiased]

I wonder where they are buying their cheap drones?

Big Gvmt discount

 

[pdqdl]

That makes perfect sense. Better, cheaper access to restricted areas that cannot be spied on otherwise.

 

[Remote Pilots Australia]

Well, it’s not really much of a surprise is it? I’ve had to land on commercial jobs because of nesting swallows getting all macho and buzzing the drone, I’m sure most of you have had similar and birds of prey are a constant issue here in Australia.

Bald eagles are a beautiful animal but not exactly heavy duty in the eagle stakes ? Try the wedge tailed eagle documented to attack parachutists, hang gliders and ultralights. Not that far from me is a nest and carefully and artfully embedded in the structure of the nest is someone’s Phantom 4 Pro Obsidian lol (not mine thankfully).

 

[pdqdl]

Actually...I think you will find that the bald eagle has the greatest recorded weight ever lifted by a bird in flight, despite the fact that there are several species of eagles that are larger. I have read that the crown eagle that routinely attacks mandrills might be a candidate. Australia certainly has a big bad eagle that has earned a reputation also. I don't know whether bald eagles are more vicious than other eagles, but they are known to attack & kill deer 10 times their weight (or more), and they are also known to attack grizzly bears, just to harass them away from their food.

ANYTHING that will attack a grizzly bear isn't what I would call a lightweight.

Side note: apparently the Dutch police have been training eagles to snatch drones out of the air near airports. They recover the drone and then track down the owner.

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[pdqdl]

Well, it seems that program didn't pan out too well.

Dutch police will stop using drone-hunting eagles since they weren’t doing what they’re told

Who could have predicted this was a bad idea?

www.theverge.com

 

[Remote Pilots Australia]

Actually...I think you will find that the bald eagle has the greatest recorded weight ever lifted by a bird in flight, despite the fact that there are several species of eagles that are larger. I have read that the crown eagle that routinely attacks mandrills might be a candidate. Australia certainly has a big bad eagle that has earned a reputation also. I don't know whether bald eagles are more vicious than other eagles, but they are known to attack & kill deer 10 times their weight (or more), and they are also known to attack grizzly bears, just to harass them away from their food.

ANYTHING that will attack a grizzly bear isn't what I would call a lightweight.

i’m sorry

This goes completely against what I understand to be the facts although I’m happy to be corrected. I did look into this some years ago prompted by another discussion. The bald eagle is part of the sea eagle family and doesn’t even make it to the top 10 on most lists.

That said, I do remember that you could find any number of lists of the worlds Eagles from largest to smallest but you could tailor the criteria as far as length wingspan weight etc so as to arrive at your desired favourite isn’t that always the way?

The wedge tailed eagle comes in number four in the world as far as average size when you look at it from the perspective of wingspan however ithe largest Eagle ever recorded was a single female wedge tail measured with a 9 foot + wing span. They are known to routinely carry off kangaroos and smaller sheep, also as I did remark although there have been reports of other Eagles doing so it is the only one to thIs stage (to my knowledge) that has been documented to have actually attacked ultralight aircraft and hang gliders.

Regards

Ari

 

[3putts]

Well, it seems that program didn't pan out too well.

Dutch police will stop using drone-hunting eagles since they weren’t doing what they’re told

Who could have predicted this was a bad idea?

www.theverge.com

What a magnificent bird in the photo. The one chasing the drone, not so much!

 

[dangerd]

I encountered a bald eagle while flying in Alaska. Luckily it had no interest in my P4. It could have definitely taken the drone down if it wanted, no doubt. I kept my distance and an eye out. In my experience seagulls are much more of a threat, as I have been attacked on more than one occasion by the flying rats! Usually they get close, divebombing the UAV, I always worry one of them will be a bad flier and accidentally hit the props. In most seagull encounters I just bring the drone home.

 

[Remote Pilots Australia]

They are all indeed gorgeous creatures. I had read a couple of years back that they were being trialed as an anti drone measure in Europe and thought at the time that even the biggest of them would surely receive some sort of rotor injury to the legs grappling with a drone or any sort of size like a Phantom. It’s a little cruel in my eyes.

 

[pdqdl]

When I was much younger, I kept a great horned owl & a red-tailed hawk. Neither was a pet, and I ended up turning them loose. Both had been injured.

If you have never handled a raptor, you just cannot understand how strong and dangerous their feet are. While I was researching the Dutch police & eagle story, I came across several comments about how the eagles feet seemed to be impervious to the drones propellers.

I don't think using the birds as drone interdiction is a good plan, but they are really tough creatures, particularly their feet.

I am fairly certain that the best practical drone control would be another drone with a simple entanglement device. If the attack drone was large enough, it could keep a tether cord on it's net/entangler device, and then return with the trapped device suspended below.

I'd be willing to bet such technology is already in use by our military. It's probably only a matter of time till the airports & police have them too.

 

[SelfBiased]

If you have never handled a raptor, you just cannot understand how strong and dangerous their feet are.

Yup;
rehab'd animals for ~5yrs, found a red-tail stunned by the road, brought him home, they are NOT for the faint of heart!! One of the predator specialist came by and finished the rehab, was set free about a month later. Never forget what that bird felt like clamping onto me, even with welders gloves!

 

[bhartwell]

I encountered a bald eagle while flying in Alaska. Luckily it had no interest in my P4. It could have definitely taken the drone down if it wanted, no doubt. I kept my distance and an eye out. In my experience seagulls are much more of a threat, as I have been attacked on more than one occasion by the flying rats! Usually they get close, divebombing the UAV, I always worry one of them will be a bad flier and accidentally hit the props. In most seagull encounters I just bring the drone home.

Agree with the Seagull observation. I fly by the NorCal cost quite often and the Gulls are quick to come after my P4 if it gets to close. The are very aggressive and would have no trouble knocking a drone into the sea.

 

[KachemakDiver]

I encountered a bald eagle while flying in Alaska. Luckily it had no interest in my P4. It could have definitely taken the drone down if it wanted, no doubt. I kept my distance and an eye out. In my experience seagulls are much more of a threat, as I have been attacked on more than one occasion by the flying rats! Usually they get close, divebombing the UAV, I always worry one of them will be a bad flier and accidentally hit the props. In most seagull encounters I just bring the drone home.

I have a couple of Bald Eagles that have nests in our neighborhood. I am yet to have one mess with my P3P. They have come over to check out what is making the strange noise, and just circle above my drone. I do keep a distance from them, as it’s illegal to harass them. As mentioned,,,seagulls are the biggest bird threat to a drone, at least here in a coastal community of Alaska. Most of the time, the flying rats don’t make any noise until they’re in the immediate area. I also gain altitude and bring the drone home.

 

[Andy9]

It's common belief that straight up is the best way to escape the attack. Has somebody done that yet?

 

[pdqdl]

I have also thought that straight up would be the best course of action.

First, they cannot fly straight up, so they certainly can't chase the drone except from above. Second, their natural prey never attempts to escape by going straight up, so I would think that it would catch them completely off guard.

That being said, an eagle will probably be diving down from above. If the operator can actually see the attack coming, "up, up, and away" might be a bit better. Particularly if the operator can impart an unpredictable path. A multitude of directional changes while rising will really screw up their attack. Given that so many of us cannot actually see the drone while we are flying it, despite government rules to the contrary, the chance of escaping an eagle attack are probably pretty low.

I watched with amazement as an eagle flew several thousand feet above the peaks of the mountains in Glacier National park. Probably these mountains:

It was a tiny dot that I could barely see flying far above a 9300ft peak with my binoculars. If a bird can navigate at that altitude, even when using thermals, it is extremely unlikely that a drone can hope to escape from them when limited to 400 ft off the ground.

 

[Andy9]

Absolutely agre. Drones can't win those battles. One only can hope if he escaped first attack, that the bird will go away. Rarly the bird would do a real attack as it recognises that the drone is not likely to be a meal and if it's not a real threat to the bird. But you never know. In that case you should say byby my craft.