Hi guys,

My Mavic Air was attacked by birds a couple of weeks ago, fell out of the sky and landed in the sea. I’ve retrieved it however pretty sure it’s done, so bought a new one!

Why do they seem to attack birds?

What can we do to stop this?

I also have a white Phantom 4 Advanced but can’t say I’ve noticed any interest from birds!

I’ve attached a photo - of the birds, by the time I seen them, it was a second or two before it went down.

Sorry, why do they seem to attack birds - meant to be, why do they seem to attract birds?

Generally it's to protect their nests or if they feel threatened.

I think the small size of the mavic air makes it more of a target e.g. it's smaller than the birds so they see it as a valid target.

It might also be down to the prop frequency in terms of they don't like it

I terms of avoiding it;

don't fly near birds or avoid their nesting areas / when they are raising their young

you could try a reflective skin, this might have the same effect as a flook reflector, you could also try some strobes to create a similar effect

keep an eye on your drone and move it away from danger

Sorry to hear that. I would recommend you to contact our support to start up case : (https://www.dji.com/support?site=brandsite&from=nav). We have the professional data analysis team who would do their best to find out the crash reason and then the corresponding resolution would be provided. Thanks for your support.

Ridg,

I now always fly it back to me seeing any birds in the sky, lesson learned.
Ive noticed that my friend who has the Mavic Pro doesn’t seem to have issues, he always uses sports mode (turns of the sensors) maybe it’s that that attracts them.
Also, his frequency is deeper where the Mavic Air is higher pitched.

fansd6e20876 Posted at 2018-8-30 03:08
Sorry, why do they seem to attack birds - meant to be, why do they seem to attract birds?

It is recommended to keep a safe distance away from animals. It is also advisable to  fly the drone with caution and choosing a more simple place use it.

When see any birds or bugs fly to your drone get out ASAP! Most bird will stop attack if you leave.

I suspected I’d get a lot of comments about getting out if there are birds, thing is, I didn’t have time! They were not there when I took off, 2 minutes later setting up to take a photo of the beach I looked up and saw a flock and then aircraft disconnected on my display.

They must have been on the sea and as they’re 500 yards away was impossible to see until they took flight.

I was wondering if there was something to do to prevent birds from attacking it should they suddenly appear!

I’ve bought a new one and now flying with my friend who has a Mavic Pro and watching the wildlife around notice they don’t pay any attention. Now, he uses sports mode all the time and I’m wondering if because his sonic sensors are off when using sports mode where’s mines on because I’m not using sports mode, may have something to do with it?

NICE!

Randy

  yikes

Some people say you can paint your drone with yellow and black stripe to make it looks like a giant wasp. Birds with keep away with it.

If you ever inadvertently get into a tangle with a bird, the best course of action is to rapidly ascend, switch to sport, quickly escape, and bring it home. Most birds cannot ascend as fast as a drone.

MrArcher Posted at 2018-8-30 18:11
If you ever inadvertently get into a tangle with a bird, the best course of action is to rapidly ascend, switch to sport, quickly escape, and bring it home. Most birds cannot ascend as fast as a drone.

Exactly this, in my experience.  You don't have the speed to outrun a bird in level flight (outside of, perhaps, sport mode).

Flying straight up is the best option to evade an attacking bird; they're not built to climb vertically.  Once you've got some altitude, fly straight away from the area as fast as possible and then plot a quick, arcing, gradually descending course back home.  Works for me, anyways.

DJI Paladin Posted at 2018-8-30 03:15
Sorry to hear that. I would recommend you to contact our support to start up case : (https://www.dji.com/support?site=brandsite&from=nav). We have the professional data analysis team who would do their best to find out the crash reason and then the corresponding resolution would be provided. Thanks for your support.

think the reason is pretty obvious tbh !!

I recently met some birds of prey during my flight too. They circled around the drone and came closer but thankfully they lost interest as soon as i flew further away. But it was a scary moment.
I also think thy tiny size of the Mavic Air  attracts birds much more than a Phantom or other big drones.

Eagles, hawks and seagulls are the ones to watch for.. even with a bigger drone like the P4. Seagulls are annoying.. they're a little clumsy when they get confused and sometimes get in very close calls. Hawks and Eagles generally stay close to their nests.. so if you're flying near one, prepare to be taken down.

I don't know how anyone feels safe even just hovering in place with a small drone or doing any autonomous flight modes. There are so many different species of birds out there and some of them are real jerks.
I have a custom skin with a realistic looking graphic of huge owl eyes on top. The eyes are also close together (like a predatory bird's).
I used to get curious birds come by for a safe look occasionally, but now they GTFO.
Still, I throw it in sport mode and climb to 300ft to be on the safe side.
I doubt I'd ever be able to forgive myself if a bird got hurt because of my drone

MrArcher Posted at 2018-8-30 18:11
If you ever inadvertently get into a tangle with a bird, the best course of action is to rapidly ascend, switch to sport, quickly escape, and bring it home. Most birds cannot ascend as fast as a drone.

suppose that birds were flying higher than the drone  level ?

Amjad1983 Posted at 2018-10-5 12:16
suppose that birds were flying higher than the drone  level ?

Think about it. A bird can only physically attack a drone if it's in close proximity, right? Not many birds carry heat seeking missiles or boulders to drop on unsuspecting drones below.

Provided you are flying LOS as you should be at ALL times, when the bird reduces his altitude towards the drone, you then ascend.  However, if the bird is significantly higher than the drone in the first place, then just land the drone.  What is so hard to understand?

This is just a tip sharing that drones have one significant advantage over birds in the rate of ascent, so use that to your advantage if you can.  Or, don't.  

Ridg Posted at 2018-8-30 03:13
Generally it's to protect their nests or if they feel threatened.

I think the small size of the mavic air makes it more of a target e.g. it's smaller than the birds so they see it as a valid target.

With experience with this problem, I couldnt agree more with this. Personally, I gain altitude as quickly as possible or go offensive, as in doing a charge at a single bird typically causes it to back off. in a flock scenario.... not much you can do expect evade as much as possible.

Mir Posted at 2018-10-5 08:07
Eagles, hawks and seagulls are the ones to watch for.. even with a bigger drone like the P4. Seagulls are annoying.. they're a little clumsy when they get confused and sometimes get in very close calls. Hawks and Eagles generally stay close to their nests.. so if you're flying near one, prepare to be taken down.

Huge problem in the northwest, theres been places I wanted to fly at but with Bald Eagles in the area it is neither safe (or legal!)

In Maldives, i have problem with pigeon and crow. i have to put sport mode and fly out of the place

AlphaFlightNW Posted at 2018-10-5 16:52
With experience with this problem, I couldnt agree more with this. Personally, I gain altitude as quickly as possible or go offensive, as in doing a charge at a single bird typically causes it to back off. in a flock scenario.... not much you can do expect evade as much as possible.

I'm pretty sure that a drone charging at a bird would get very ugly if anyone witnessed it. Everytime I see a drone out among wildlife, I tend to be anticipating and photographing the encounters with 500mm lens... and if your reg number wasn't on the side of your drone, I'd get the one on your car.

I had the same issue when I just got my Mavic air. I think it has to do with the size or shape of the aircraft because I've had a phantom 3 standard and wouldn't experience this unless the birds were big (usually sea birds). With the mavic air (the black one I have) seems to be a magnet for all types of birds. I read somewhere that guy suggested to make the aircraft look like a bee and I've noticed that it has helped a lot with birds but I won't necessarily say it can't happen again. Check out the video where I made mine look like a large bee.

custom skin using a photo of fake owl eyes. looks funny, but anytime a bird gets a view of the topside of my mavic air, it doesn't hang around.

my experience has been that different birds behave differently.
Birds of prey have be known to attack drones - not always but it seems more often they will then any other birds do.
Seagulls in my town will always fly up to investigate me if i am in their air space. Some times they fly real close but always pull out at.
Oyster catchers are somewhat more  aggressive in the mock attacks but they are just mock attacks.
The problem with a flock of birds and drone crashes seems to be that the drone becomes hit unintentionally by a bird.
Unintentional hits happen when the birds are flying in a path lets say towards your drone. as the birds in front see the drone they move away but sometimes the poor guy at the back does not have enough time to swerve to miss the drone.
Considering the picture i wonder if that was not the case for you.

If so then it was mostly bad luck (as they did not come to get you intentionally) and partly user error in that you had your drone (unintentionally) in a vulnerable location.

BobDoLe Posted at 2018-10-6 13:02
I'm pretty sure that a drone charging at a bird would get very ugly if anyone witnessed it. Everytime I see a drone out among wildlife, I tend to be anticipating and photographing the encounters with 500mm lens... and if your reg number wasn't on the side of your drone, I'd get the one on your car.

Its not ideal and only happened on one occasion. There was a seagull that was a bit curious and wanted to try and peck at my drone. I couldnt fly upward without crashing into a nearby branch so I decided moving forwards was my best option. To be clear, I do not condone the charging at birds tactic. Its only a last resort method like turning off all motors. This was a one off event and I was only mentioning it as it did deter that one seagull. As I stated in another post, if I see a hawk/eagle, I abort mission. Its not worth it and could cause problems with Fish and wildlife/ Department of Ecology, or a lost drone.

BobDoLe Posted at 2018-10-7 10:17
custom skin using a photo of fake owl eyes. looks funny, but anytime a bird gets a view of the topside of my mavic air, it doesn't hang around.
[view_image]

I'll take a look at getting some eyes like this. Any suggestions?

GDL Posted at 2018-8-30 03:32
When see any birds or bugs fly to your drone get out ASAP! Most bird will stop attack if you leave.

Flick to sport mode and get through or away.

AlphaFlightNW Posted at 2018-10-7 16:29
I'll take a look at getting some eyes like this. Any suggestions?

i made a custom skin by uploading an image to a skin site.
if i was going to do it all over again, i think i'd just find big owl or eagle eye stickers.

however, i'm not even 100% sure i can recommend what i'm doing because i imagine there are situations where my drone might fly into the wrong neighborhood and get jumped by a murder of crows.

i'm still looking for the perfect solution myself. ideally something that would just be ignored completely.

Mine is black

nice shot though lol