Hi guys,
Have anyone encountered birds seemingly attacking the drone? It already happened twice at different locations. Will the drone crash if a small bird hit the propellers? Why do the birds seemingly attack the drone? Thanks guys!

It depends on how big the bird is. After flying, I sometimes found some bodies of mosquito and other little insect on phantom. On Youtube, there is a video recording eagle grabbing the flying phantom to its nest.

Thanks how about a sparrow that's roughly 5 inches?

francisjosephga Posted at 2016-5-26 14:35
Thanks how about a sparrow that's roughly 5 inches?

I also see some bug splats on the body and the propeller after doing a shoot for a client?  Would that break the balance of the propeller?

Bug splatter you can just clean off the props.  A small bird will probably damage the props and may bring down the drone.  A big bird will almost certainly crash the drone.  Oh yeah,  small birds will usually be killed.  I generally land right away if birds are too active.

Kneepuck Posted at 2016-5-26 14:40
Bug splatter you can just clean off the props.  A small bird will probably damage the props and may  ...

Alright i feel bad for the birds and I land the P3A right away to prevent it from crashing. thank you

Hi!

I've had two close meeting with seagulls, the first time a lot of seagulls appear just after I takeoff my aircraft and they were aggressive and they started to fly in a circle around the aircraft...I was much afraid. The second time from video I recorded, there is one seagull that was flying just in direction to the aircraft and he/she was very close to hit it but luckily at the ended he/she eluded my aircraft ehhhhhhh...

I think that first time, they were defending the air supremacy, and I'm sure that if they hit a propeller the Phantom, for safety reason, will cut the power to the motors.

Nicola90s Posted at 2016-5-26 14:50
Hi!

I've had two close meeting with seagulls, the first time a lot of seagulls appear just after I ...

Woah thats scary. Will the motor automatically shut off when it hit something? thank you sir.

Hello Francis, I've seen some bird attacks in my daily life and all of their drones crashed.So it is recommended to keep a safe distance away from animals.

DJI-Paladin Posted at 2016-5-26 15:18
Hello Francis, I've seen some bird attacks in my daily life and all of their drones crashed.So it is ...

alright noted thank you sir

francisjosephga Posted at 2016-5-26 15:14
Woah thats scary. Will the motor automatically shut off when it hit something? thank you sir.

I think yes but I'm not sure, luckily I never tested it in flight.

I remember the first time I landed my Phantom that it flipped (because I used the CSC instead of jus pull down the left stick) and hit some grass with the propeller and immediately I received the message ''Warning:Motor Obstructed".

They do when you are in their airspace. I have been buzzed by Barn Swallows and Osprey.

most ive been stalked by was a bunch of bumble bees.   made a mess but props make easy work of them.  had some interesting splatter designs on my shell but easily cleaned. only time i worried was when i had a hawk take an interest in my drone, once i noticed that i brought it down because more than likely neither would survive an encounter

its always happens to me .. but now i advised to use pro guard .. both birds are safe then

Birds can be very territorial and from what I've seen they can attack drones with minimal to no damage to themselves. Birds that are definitely used to prey fighting back are built with tough skin around the talons that could take propeller hits. Apparently the Dutch police were looking into training hawks and eagles to take down "unauthorized drones" under this premise, which there are a couple good articles on this subject if you search online.

DJI-Jamie Posted at 2016-5-26 12:01
Birds can be very territorial and from what I've seen they can attack drones with minimal to no dama ...

The local red tail hawk(s) in my neck of the woods have taken exception to me flying from my yard...and they're sneaky too...sometimes not announcing their presence.  They seem to be able to figure out the direction I'm flying and try to come from behind.  I've had two close calls and I now have on my pre-flight check list:  "Scan/Listen for raptors...if present DON'T FLY"

You guys dont have a shotgun? You can use blanks to scare off birds if you dont fly too far out or if birds are bothering it near your location. Times like this I appreciate living in a rural area.

Well Francis  try not to fly near big birds. Usualy they are very territorials like seaguls others like Eagles see the drone like a Big Mac and others to procteted their nest. small birds run way or fly away lol soon they will hear the drone.Francis please do not say SIR.
chears

cayalag Posted at 2016-5-26 20:10
https://youtu.be/naApS4Zy3P0

A imagem é excelente. qual a maquina que usas?

cayalag Posted at 2016-5-26 11:10
https://youtu.be/naApS4Zy3P0

this is why 4k is important, need slow mo clips of the attacking seagul trying to crap on ya

J.N Posted at 2016-5-27 03:38
A imagem é excelente. qual a maquina que usas?

Phantom 4 ;)

cayalag Posted at 2016-5-26 23:51
Phantom 4 ;)

O local é o porto de Leixões em Matosinhos não? Eu sou de Gaia embora esteja a viver em França.

Exactamente ! ;)

Had a crow attack my 250mm mini quad. Both birds went down.

Changed the props on the mini, back in the air in 5 minutes.

The crow? Not so much.

Your phantom will recover if you hit a small bird. With a medium bird your propeller may break and if it's big damage then crash. With a large bird you know what can happen.
Get the dji carbon reinforced, it should be stronger

Definitely seagulls don't like the Phantom 4... not a single bird in the air, I just took off and 20 to 30 seagulls made their appearance to attack the thing! I had to abort the mission...

Dutch Police are going to train Bald Eagles to take down unauthorized drones.  www.theguardian.com/world/2016/f ... unauthorized-drones   
I'm not an bird expert but don't raptors take prey from swooping over from above and using their talons to capture?   With quad drones and propellers that spin so fast they can't be seen I would think bird fatalities  or injury would be extremely high.  Comments?  

wxeye Posted at 2016-5-30 09:19
Dutch Police are going to train Bald Eagles to take down unauthorized drones.  www.theguardian.com/w ...

Comment? I think the Dutch people doing that are idiots, why risk injury to such magnificent birds for such a pointless reason.

Nicola90s Posted at 2016-5-26 16:56
I think yes but I'm not sure, luckily I never tested it in flight.

I remember the first ...

Thank you. I had that warning too when I crashed my drone atop a rooftop and the drone flipped.

rodger Posted at 2016-5-26 19:14
They do when you are in their airspace. I have been buzzed by Barn Swallows and Osprey.

Thats scary :O

quickpoint Posted at 2016-5-26 22:48
most ive been stalked by was a bunch of bumble bees.   made a mess but props make easy work of them. ...

had an encounter like that too. My drone had a lot of splatter when it landed. Luckily it didnt do any significant damage on the propellers aside from the mess

SajidShah Posted at 2016-5-26 23:49
its always happens to me .. but now i advised to use pro guard .. both birds are safe then

I now see the necessity of acquiring a pro gaurd. Will the flight be the same? Thanks

DJI-Jamie Posted at 2016-5-27 00:01
Birds can be very territorial and from what I've seen they can attack drones with minimal to no dama ...

Woah nice. Thats interesting

cayalag Posted at 2016-5-27 02:10
https://youtu.be/naApS4Zy3P0

Woah scary

J.N Posted at 2016-5-27 03:28
Well Francis  try not to fly near big birds. Usualy they are very territorials like seaguls others l ...

Okay sorry noted thanks

digdat0 Posted at 2016-5-27 04:06
this is why 4k is important, need slow mo clips of the attacking seagul trying to crap on ya

hahahahahaha

Kneepuck Posted at 2016-5-30 08:06

hahahahahaha that's one great drone gaurd

A bird of just about any size will definitely take your drone down if you hit it.  I believe it's Norway that is training eagles to catch drones and the videos I've seen the eagle catches it by the landing gear and doesn't cause any damage.  I wouldn't like it to happen to my drone though.

I've found the best strategy when gulls dive bomb my P4 is to stop any lateral movement and to fly straight up as fast as the drone will rise.  This was suggested to me by another forum poster and it works well. It seems to confuse the gulls.