I will be trying it in Canada and I'll let you know. I've been swooped too many times; last week over a lake again and almost lost the drone but it recovered after quite a tumble from altitude. Kestrels, crows, seagulls, and hawks are the issue for me. That last incident was recorded in video shorts "Bird Strike Recovery", it paints the M3P in a good light!
It works to stop actual strikes but they still approach. I just posted a short today called 'don't fly with geese', in it you can see many get close but no strikes. I should add, I used a Razor iridescent decal...sorta looks like the Isle of Mann flag and reflects many colors from all angles.@@JavierGonzalez-ot3uy
Interesting. I've been attacked by seagulls and a kestrel before when flying my Inspire. Never had a problem with any of my fpv drones as they're too fast and manoeuvrable. But I did learn a tip to stop my DJI drones getting attacked by birds - and it works every time: fly higher than the attacking bird. Only needs to be for a short while and they will leave. A bird of prey specilaist/ornathologist told me it's nature's way of signalling who's highest in the food chain. Small birds flee when birds of prey above them. Even birds of prey flee when a drone is bearing down on them. Airspace cleared every time i've flown since I learned that.
I was thinking it must be something like that . I've been flying since 2016 and had a few hawks have a go but that's about it and found if I flew straight up and a bit aggressive they soon nicked off .
I have used reflective tape on my quads for years to be able to find them after crashes. I also put it on my gopro's for the same reason. Hawks and Owls in Florida don't care about it . They apparently choose violence.
Thanks, I ordered this type from Amazon. I waiting delivery untill 2 -3 days and will trying, because im in the Austrian Alphs and here we have a lot of large birds such as hawks and eagles.
My second flight ever last week with my mini 4 pro and had 2 wedge tails circle above it. Very interested in it so I put it in sports mode and zoomed straight home!
In Oregon, the mighty Osprey, with a nearly 6 foot wingspan, definitely aren’t happy with drones in their airspace. They are powerful birds and can easily take down a Mavic 3 size or even larger drone. Hasn’t happened to me yet, but I’ve had them circling overhead a few times and quickly landed, will definitely try the red reflective tape. Thanks for the tip. 🙏🏼
I am also interesested if birds of prey are lets say affected by it. Im interested to put it in an fpv wing, i saw a lots of attacks on this kind of wings front predatory birds
I've spent about 40hrs flying in NSW and a bit around QLD and luckily haven't been attacked. Though most of my time is spent moving rather than stationary for photos. This is good to know and I will be more cautious when I see birds
Taping the front legs on Mavic 3 will affect the obstacle avoidance system because sun light reflects from them. The drone can stop suddenly mid air. Probably taping rear legs will have an effect too
I've started doing this now Brett. Thanks for the insight and fingers crossed keep our drones safer (and indeed keep the pesky birds safer for their own good). I'm referencing your video briefly in an upcoming tutorial I have on my channel. I'll leave a link to this original video.
ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-JtI4EgKNK04.htmlsi=dnZwZ6lUtnFMf1tm Thanks Brett, gulls made me nervous the other day but the tape still seems to be working
Very cool! Yeah I started using the strobe during the day for the same reason. Birds don't seem to like flashy things... ibwant to try this though sounds like a good idea. Maybe they need to make some shiny tipped props?
Thanks for your work on this and for posting. So far, I’ve had no trouble with birds, but will keep this in mind. It’s a cheap alteration that could be useful.
I was recently attacked whilst flying my spark over a quarry dam. a flock of50 plovers attacked. I know because I counted them in freeze frame. I have never seen so many together before ! Good tip thanks.
This is genius and I am definitely going to try it. I actually had a bird knock out one of my drones (Mini 3 pro) last year in Uruguay. Another solution, which I have tested and effectively no bird (at least in Florida) has attempted to mess with the drone, are carbon fiber propellers, which have a bit of reflective material and are much stronger and lighter than the propellers from DJI, if a bird happens to get close enough they will get sliced like a tomato in mid-air... But this also makes catching the drone in mid-air (if needed) a bit of a scary situation because those propellers can cause some real damage
I've just ordered the tape... keen to try anything. Had to get some real estate shots this morning in Melbourne's South East and the crows were out in force. I've actually lost a Mavic Pro and a Mavic Pro 2 to magpies already. My Mini 3 Pro survived a direct hit because the camera gimbal is slightly inset into the body of the drone. I've got 4 more flights booked for this week, can't wait to see if the tape helps.
@@reviewprodigy I'd actually just resigned myself to the probability of losing another drone this spring. $70 for a replacement under care refresh has been a lifesaver (providing you can land it/retrieve it).
Hi i have 2 parrots at home and they both hate anything which is bright red .. I can see how you're theory works and definitely Help ... I will be trying it out on my drones ... 👍👍👍
I've put fluorescent stickers on my drone and didn't have problems with birds afterwards. Stuff that emits or reflects light has a clear effect on repelling birds.
I love it. Now we need to find the way to put Birds Natural Reserves on the DJI maps. I just flew into one that is open only 3 days a week and I always miss it. They are not allowing to fly drones there without the permission. I didn't know. Software didn't tell me anything about it. We are close to the airport. I was getting warnings about that and I focus my attention on them.
I tied a crap ton of reflective tape streamers to our tower crane to deter ospreys. Not only did this not work, they nested directly under them and even ripped some off to put in their nest. Good luck.
I have just brought my first drone ever dji mini 4pro and wow this thing is fun. I haven’t had any problems with bird 🦅 attacks yet but if I do I’ll give it a try. Thanx for the tip buddy 👍🏻🚁
thanks brett, I thought of having a door bell alarm hooked up to a separate controller on the drone top surface whenever the crow is in LOS, will flick a switch to scare them. But it will get others attention too. This I will try thanks for your efforts in sharing useful tips. keep up the good work.
I’ve used my drone for work maybe 70 times. Had maybe 5 near misses. This time I’m not sure if a bird hit my drone or if my drone failed. But it fell out of the sky. So I’ll be adopting this. Don’t know if it even was a bird attack. But I like to prepare haha
Interesting. I had some twitchers on a photography workshop, they were talking about playing bird sounds to attract the birds for photography. They recommended owl sounds to scare off birds, just an idea at the moment, red tape sounds easier. Cheers.
I think a cool test would be with the Wedge Tail eagle. Been wanting to film some mountains but I’ve seen them around. One strike, you’re out with them.
I've had only one issue with birds, a Nighthawk took an interest as I hovered over the house for a sunset. If I dropped it down the bird left but higher up it came from well back in the agriculture behind the house to have some swipes again. I fly a Mini 3 Pro in Manitoba, Canada. On holiday, I was flying in NW Ontario where seagulls and Bald Eagles are the main birds and neither bothered the drone in September of this year.
Do you have videos speaking about how to enter the real estate market? What software you use or techniques you use? I am interested in this and it looks like you do this full time.
I dont have any videos as yet but I'm happy to make some. Are you interested in the drone part of real estate or photography of houses from the ground?
Just bought my first drone today. Glad I stumbled upon this video. It's actually my 6 year old son's Christmas present 😁😁😁 Or is it? If it does what I am hoping I may buy a better one.
I see further down you say the tape doesn't affect the handling of the drone, which is great. However it must weigh something. With this drone being mere grammes away from the 250g limit, could you give an idea of how much your tape weighs to cover your drone as you have done? Many thanks!
Super helpful video - thank you very much. I've an Air 3, and covered it in reflective red tape, but apparently a little too much as I think the GPS was interfered with. Does anyone have a recommendation or schematic for the Air 3 on were to place the tape? Thanks all!
Cool. Great idea with the reflective tape. Curious if that helps also with hawks and eagles, as I had some encounters with them. Thanks for sharing. Cheers from LA.
I live south of Blackpool,UK Seaguls here just don't bother at all luckily Bird attacks in general just dont seem to be a prolific issue at all. i think its because there are RC air fields local as well as 2 airports the birds are used to sharing air space. even with kite festivals etc.
You mention prop guard can save the birds.... but do you think that it's better to fly with or without them it you don't want your drone to crash. ... in otherwords ...are your chances better with or without guards? ......Will try the red tape !
Great solution, I've been attacked from seagulls several times but fortunately nothing bad have happened. I don't know why magpies are behaving like that in Australia but in Greece they are very fearful, they never attacked anybody, crows are bullies they attack even at hawks but haven't attacked my drone yet but I keep an eye on them. Thanks for the info. Cheers
I think our magpies and yours might be a slightly different breed. Ours are just black and white and about the size of a crow. Yours appear to be smaller with blue on their wings.
Hi Brett, thanks for the interesting video! I’m flying to Perth in about 2 months time, would you reckon birds flying around drones is a common thing? Because I don’t really have that issue back from where I’m from.
My Mavic Air was wrapped with a Deadpool wrap before I purchased it and I have only ever had issues with bats at night and I am in Queensland I have flown at Rainbow Beach, Double Island Point, Bribie Island, and around Caboolture. I will definitely give this a try if they start causing issues.
I guess I've just been lucky and not had a bird go after mine yet, but I've always been worried about it. I didn't know it was such a frequent problem in some places. Maybe I'm pushing my luck photographing a Bald Eagle I know of.
Most DJI drones the antennae are in the front legs or arms its part of the reason why they are long and skinny. Its also the reason why DJI drones start losing signal on range tests when they are facing away from you but then have almost a full signal when they turn around and head back to home.
I've used a similar trick on my drones using two colours of reflective tape. Red for port side and green for starboard side, this also helps me instantly know the orientation of the drown even from some distance.
I'm going to the desert in my home state of Texas, and I'll give this a shot. Fingers crossed I'll be able to come back to this comment and leave the results
Yea... birds hate reflective anything. I have a Gila Woodpecker mating pair that lives in metro Phoenix neighborhood. The male has been intent on making the back of my house...his new house. Apparently, Gila Woodpeckers like to have multiple holes/homes. They have another on a palm tree, one in Saguaro Cactus across the street and likely more I don't even know about. The male tries around this time of year to peck his way into my attic just above the ceiling line. I tried a few things with no luck. Finally, I 3D printed some posts that came off the house and attached silver reflective ribbon to them. The kind of ribbon you would use for wrapping a gift. Put a line of 8 of them about 12 inches off the house so the would hang down in the area he liked to... Peck at. That did the trick. That at filling holes with spackle as fast as he made them. The ribbons came down in a thunderstorm over the summer and I hadn't replaced them. Sure enough, last week he was back lol. Now...the ribbon is back. For something like this, it's good to have the ribbon long enough so it moves in the wing. This way, the ribbons interact better with sun light and produces reflections birds hate.
I see your one who leaves the stickers on the legs with order of opening help. I used to think some folks did that for resale value, like leaving plastic on car seats. Obviously a Mavic 2 Pro at 5.5 years since release isnt going to be mistaken for new. Can you tell me why you leave them? Certainly your no longer needing a reminder which order to open the arms?
Hi thanks so much for your video, it was exactly what i was looking for as the first time i launched my Mavic 3 cine seagulls in the area started trying to attack it. Repeatedly swooping at it and only missing it by about half a meter.. I bought some red tape and the strobe light recommended and have just tried again. I hate to say it but the seagulls here in the UK seem to be un perturbed by the drones new features and carried on regardless :( A bit worrying as I bought the drone with the intention of using it for coastal shots!
Im sorry to hear that, it works great for me here in Australia. you could maybe also get some red props because thats what I use as well. Maybe UK seagulls are more aggressive.
Lol.. you are going to create what will be known as the great reflective tape shortage of 2023! Seriously though, birds see the world differently. Reds are getting to the edge of their perceptive limit, but they can see well into the ultraviolet range. I wonder what this tape looks like in that range. Also, a lot of birds that look "black" to us are actually quite reflective with ultraviolet wavelengths. I bet this is partly why this trick is working. I wonder if the hexagon pattern is also threatening... Like the scales of a snake?. Either way, great find!
If a bird wants to attack it its gonna attack it better have full coverage insurance. Usually if u go high in sport mode the birds can't fly up fast and alot can't fly that high. Most birds top out around 400 feet except hawks and eagles.
Is it possible not to use reflective type but use red (normal) tape or sticker skin that can cover almost full body of the drone?, I'm afraid reflective type tape/sticker can interfere the obstacle sensor due to light reflection
Are there any universities who published papers on this? Before we modify our drones in any way... We must have proper documentation to prove why. If anyone has links, please share.
I've used silver reflective tape on my Air 2S after several close calls with gulls (rhyme time) and haven't had a problem since ..nothing close. I may try the red. My only gripe with the amz tape I bought (there are tons of options) is the glue wasn't too strong and so some fell off.
I wondered if the LED strips, set up to flash brightly, a couple of times per second, would convince the birds that your drone is not a "competitor" for food or nest space... Magpies.. That looks like a hard but to crack!
Finally I had a chance to take my mini 3 Pro up in the air today not for long bc the wind didn't help but I can tell you that no seagulls or other birds came close , like they always did before ,@@reviewprodigy . Thank you !
Cheers for this mate,I'm trying this... just had a hawk attack my drone. I've only had this new one for a few days as it was a warranty replacement from dji. First time attacked and bought it down... I'm farking spewing! 😂
