How long have you been flying, and how common are bird attacks? Have you ever had a bird go after your drone?
I was flying my drone outside my job a couple of weeks ago. There’s a landfill across the street, so there are always a lot of birds around. I had it up about 35-40 feet when a hawk tried to grab it! It was wild. Luckily, it didn’t actually get ahold of it. I might have footage—I’ll check later.
@Indigo
That sounds awesome! If you find the footage, definitely share it.
Did you have to dodge, or did it back off? I read that the best way to escape a bird attack is to throttle up since birds can’t climb as fast as they dive or turn.
@Indigo
Did it actually try to claw at the drone, or was it just checking it out?
Yeah, if a bird comes after your drone, just fly straight up. They usually can’t keep up, and you can escape before landing safely.
Happens to me a lot near beaches. The smaller birds get super territorial, especially around little islands. You can see them squawking and chasing the drone like it’s an intruder.
I’ve only got about 20 hours of flight time over 3 years, and I’ve already had two hawks and a small bird try to attack my Mini SE.
It happens more often in the spring when birds are nesting.
Most birds won’t actually attack, they just dive at it to scare it off. But be careful around flocks—sometimes they’ll all take off at once and surround your drone, which can get messy fast.
I haven’t had any actual attacks, but near-misses with flocks of pigeons are the real problem. They pop up out of nowhere and cross my flight path at the worst times.
How common is breathing?
A magpie swooped my drone once… I don’t think it understood what propellers are. Poor guy was limping afterward.