Birds, I hate them and they cause me headaches

[Fisherking]

I fly in Japan, we get 2 common birds, Hawks (near ports) and Crows. I had my first near hit experience when flying in the mountains when I got close to some trees. I guess there was a nest, the crow came out and started to chase my drone. I was able to understand the situation right away and proceeded with some counter fly away maneuvers. Long story short, when there are circling birds nearby what is the general rule? Have you ever had a bird attack your drone and if so what happened to it?

 

[Cobs]

Yes many birds will attack your drone, Magpies usually near where i live, they will swoop at it, you are in their territory so best avoid those areas if possible.

 

[HBO]

Facing the same problem here.
Chrome the drone might be a solution, was thinking it will either makes it invisible or scared them away.
Anyone tried that before?

 

[MapMaker53]

I stuck a couple of nasty-looking hawk eyes (decals) on the top of my Phantom but haven't had a bird situation lately to test the results. Birds will often attack from a position they feel has an advantage - usually from behind and above. But they generally don't like something looking back at them. For example, we have a territorial Mocking Bird nesting near our office parking lot. It will swoop and peck at you from behind the moment you turn you back. But if you face it and look at it, the bird keeps it's distance.

 

[PTCX]

I find swallows are the worst for attacking my multi rotors,the Phantoms especially,the large black hex not so much.
They will swoop at high speed and on mass.I've had up to a dozen at a time swooping at my Phantoms.
I have flown spirals in thermals with large birds in close proximity a couple of times and they don't seem bothered.
Since joining a flying club which is situated in an area with a very large bird population I see a lot of different behaviours from birds,some seem to enjoy chasing planes,heli's and multirotors but not attacking just playing.
Some eagles like to fly close to gliders up high but I won't fly if there is a big wedge-tailed eagle nearby,they will take your quadcopter off you and rip it to bits.

 

[SoCalDude]

For those that are concerned about birds attacking your Phantom, just strap one of these bad boys on it. That should keep most birds away ...

 

[Cobs]

Or simply invest in this thread ... Are you for real? Drone Flying cats, ostriches, mouses, etc....

 

[Pharm]

A couple of weeks ago I flew at the beach. I took off and immediately saw a few seagulls coming in my direction before I got much altitude (I was switching to a Litchi mission). I got a bit nervous after reading some of the seagull stories on here but even the ones at approx. the same altitude just altered course and flew right past it without a second thought. All went well except my Phantom kept rotating in a circle for the first half of the flight (I had accidentally set the rotation direction to manual instead of managed and it continued to rotate clockwise between waypoints (as the Phantom flew in a slow counterclockwise direction)). Corrected it and reflew and all went well.

 

[MikeON]

For those that are concerned about birds attacking your Phantom, just strap one of these bad boys on it. That should keep most birds away ...

I once put a plastic owl like that in my strawberry patch. Ten minutes later there was a robin perched on it eyeing up the berries.