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 .
The material at 2:00 is called 3M Diamond Grade Reflective Series 4000. Available on AMZ in different width tapes and sheets. Very strong adhesive. Wont come off after sticking to drone. It is originally designed for signs and has 10 years warranty under all weather conditions!
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!
Well done on trying this. Another likely colour combo would be yellow and black in a striped setup. Many dangerous organisms such as wasps use this combo to ward off potential predators. I’ll try red on my drone first to see how the birds respond. Cheers.
I concur Mr. Conyers! I have covered both of my drones with DOT red tape and haven't experienced a bird strike in the 6 months I have been flying with the red tape.
Interesting tip, thanks Brett. I’ve been shooting real estate with drones for nearly 3 years now and I’ve found that in general it’s the larger drones such as the Mavic Pro series which will get attacked by large birds such as hawks and eagles. I mostly fly the mini drones such as the 2 and for the last few weeks the new 4 pro and for the most part the large birds like eagles, magpies, crows and cockatoos tend to ignore it (I have more issues being chased by groups of bees and butterflies lol) but smaller birds, especially aggressive birds like the Indian Miners, really go for it at this time of the year. I’ll have to test this method out and see how it goes.
I found the opposite. I almost never had any issues with the Phantom4 Pro but the Mini 3 Pro was a much more regular target. And I actually had birds touch it whereas on the Air 3 I'm on now they don't seem to actually touch it, just get near
@@Flamamacue interesting. Not sure why this happens but lately I've had no bird issues with the mini 4 pro even smaller birds and it's 'nesting seson' here. Eagles and so on have always ignored my mini drones but usually swooped on the Mavid series. No idea why.
So far, I’ve been spared the Malay of birds strikes. But I will definitely look out for them and keep the reflective tape in mind. Thank you for the tip.
Brilliant! I am a very new drone pilot and a couple weeks ago almost freaked out as soon as some birds at the beach attacked my drone. I will definitely try this! Thank you :)
@@milesandhikes If the birds are nesting etc, they have a good reason. Likewise loafing, if you have a drone screaming at your window when in bed or putting baby to bed it's possibly at best aggravating? Shore birds get a really hard time from tosspots with dogs, vehicles, children and attitude problems. So giving drones a bad name as well isn't helpful. It's an awareness thing for those who care a bit.
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
Thanks for the tip. I have had no direct attack as yet, but one or two scares over the years. Both times during nesting seasons here in Ireland. I simply move away from the area, seeing i only fly as a hobby.
Nice tip - I had a few birds circling my drone in Gippsland last weekend. I just picked up some of the reflective red tape from Bunnings, but thinking about also adding a small red strobe to the drone to reflect off the tape. Seems like it might multiply the effect of the tape, but also make it a lot easier to spot the drone if a bird brings it down!
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
UK here, I brought me first drone dji mini 3, this is interesting, i was gonna try eyes and teeth, so im glad you wised me up, reflective is the way🤭🤭🤭 also on amazon you can reflective rap cut and shaped made for dji mini series drones👍
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.
I'll bet it's a relief to find that the tape apparently works. Kudos for sticking with it to find something that does. Good old detective work does it again!
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.
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.
I have reflective tape on my drone so if I ever crash it will be easier to find in brush or rough terrain! Especially at night if you shine a flashlight around, it will be easy to see the reflection. Good to know it might scare birds off too, come to think of it I've never been attacked...
9 years as a pro pilot in Colorado, I've had dozens of red tail hawk and eagle encounters. But the only emergency situation I've had was caused by a magpie. It cost him his life, and it cost me a Zenmuse X5. I tried the orange reflector tape years ago, it had zero effect in my experience. What I found works the best is a red strobe on the drone. Not one issue in the past 6 years. They don't even bother my Inspire 2. I just got the M350T, first thing I did was stick two red strobes on the top.
@@Clickumentary I used the Lumecube as well. The egg shaped ones that comes with both a red and green plastic cover. Depending on the drone I use 1 to 3 of them. Kinda dumb, but it really does work.
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.
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?
I have noticed that this type of thing tends to happen more when I am flying a smaller drone like the mini series. Birds don't seem to be as interested in trying to mess with the bigger ,louder, and much meaner looking Mavic 3 series.
I have a mavic 3pro lates drone and you will be in for a surprise. I had mine get attacked. I noticed they were scared to make actual contact, but as time went by the attacks started to get closer and closer so I landed. 2k drone, can’t take chances.
Has anyone witnessed the obstacle ovoidance being enough to cause the drone to dodge the bigger birds? I am using a Mini Pro 4 where bald eagles, osprey and various hawks are prevalent -- no attacks yet... Did have a hummingbird hover directly in front of the camera; it left and returned, staying away from the props- fun footage!
That's what I thought the tip would be Peter. Makes sense, as unless the bird was a raptor or somehow managed to turn the drone upside down, a modern drone would not be likely to fall out of the sky. A sea-eagle, wedgetail or similar large raptor or a fast moving crow, currawong, butcherbird, magpie, gull or plover might hit hard enough to break an arm off the drone - otherwise it's probably prop damage that brings them down.
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).
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.
Great idea! I was just recently knocked into a lake and lost drone by a flock of geese!!! But they weren't attacking me, just a coincidence, they flew just over the top and 1 wing got my mini 2 just right and down it went. I think I was blending into the background as I wasn't that high.
WOW! This is very interesting! I might have missed it. Why do they stop attacking our drones when that red tape is present? In 2019 or 20, my drone got attacked from behind. I was cruising and suddenly my drone fell to the ground. Few seconds later, I saw a hawk in the view of my camera, lol.
oh got it. I will try it. When I flew it down the mountains, I was scared that it might get attacked. Glad there was none. Here is the scene of the hawk attack, - th-cam.com/video/-k-rENgP2tU/w-d-xo.html
SUPERNICE, MAN !!! Birds downed two drones of mine ( a FIMI X8 and a MAVIC PRO ), making lack of signal the SECOND cause of problems... so THANK YOU A LOT !!!
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.
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
Hello Brett I wanted to share my experience with you. I put reflective tape on both my air 3 and mini 4 as a lot of times I have also seen birds flying around my drones. However, in the case of the air 3 the tape, the tape I purchased, which is not the same brand you linked in this video, produced communication errors, where the drone would not be able to connect to the satellites properly and GPS mode would not work. The tape I used has some metal color on the side where it sticks to the drone, so I assume this might cause that interference with the sensors. I am not sure if all reflective tapes are made in the same way. With this same tape this did not happen on my mini 4 but because of that experience on the air 3 I decided to take it off from the mini as well, as I fear it may use GPS signals on flight and might not be able to return home if for some reason I lost the signal. Please let me know if you ever experienced this as well, or if you think your tape might have different composition materials that the one I was able to purchase here. Kind Regards from Ecuador. Fabian
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.
We have to use an anti collision light at night here in the US but if you use it in strobe mode during the day the birds see the flashing light and they move away. I’ve been doing this for about two years and have had many hawks and vultures come over to check things out but quickly fly away when they see that flashing light.
I watched both your videos on the subject and I have put this exact tape on, but in your other video you said to put a strobe light on top as well. Well I have flown a few times with no issues, didn’t see any birds, but today a hawk followed my Mini 4 Pro and circles it on two occasions but never came with around 10m of it. So I count this as massive success. The interesting part was on the second flight when the hawk came back to circle, other birds started to attack the hawk rather than going for my drone. So thank you for the tips, it seems to be working well. 🎉
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.
Very interesting! I think red is one of the “warning” colors for birds, and bright orange is, too. Nice, simple solution to the problem. If there are very persistent birds, you might want to try making your drone temporarily behave in a predatory way, by chasing the birds for a few minutes. Sometimes the way to scare off an animal is to become the predator rather than the prey. Very good tip about the tape, and pleasantly simple, which is great!
I wonder if the color is the main thing to keep the birds away. *Retroreflectors* reflect light straight back at the source of the light. Since birds aren't a light source, I don't see how the reflective property helps. Still retroflector tape is cool to have. It's really great for DIY encoders since the tape reflects the IR light right back to the source so well.
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'm an architectural photographer, and only once have I had an "avian encounter." Photographing a cliffside home, I launched my Mavic Pro, and immediately a seagull that had been perched on the home across the street began squawking and swooping at my drone. Its call actually alerted other nearby gulls, and even one kestrel, and in about three minutes my drone was being attacked by over a dozen birds. Swooping, screeching, and even once making contact with a prop leaving a puff of feathers, their attack was unrelenting. They even tried to poop on my poor aircraft! I finally had to abort the mission, getting only about half the images I had wanted. This has not happened to me before or since. I found out later that one of the gulls had a brood of hatchlings on one of the rooftops, so apparently they were defending against this odd and threatening predator. ... I'll be buying a roll of that tape.
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 👍🏻🚁
Hi Brett, thanks for the video I've always been a little bit nervous flying my drone watching and hoping a bird doesn't lock on to it and attack 😅. I live in Sydney and the last month I've watched a close nesting magpie i call her sniper target and absolutely smash people riding past on bikes and scooters! I sit out the front and somebody rides past smiling saying good day and i say watch out and point up and they instantly have a look of fear and turn around and sure enough Sniper is coming in hot like a heat seeking missile. Some start screaming but most just duck and tuck it's as amusing as it is concerning😅. Anyway i just wanted to let you know at Bunnings they have the same stuff: Croc Grip 10m x 50mm Red Reflective Safety Tape. That should do the trick its only $11. Just incase anyone that can't shop online because of any reason👍. P.s love your videos and you got your self a subscriber. Cheers Brett.
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
Yeah smart birds, I remember when I was a kid I used to pretend to pick up a rock and make a throwing motion to shoo off the birds but after a while they realised I didn't have a rock and didn't budge!
We don’t have a problem in the UK, at least I haven’t had a problem. Combination of super passive birds and a long term plan for environmental destruction has done the trick. Clear skies and timid birds make drone piloting a dream.
Thank you for taking up your time,to research this and share it with us. I’ve had a flock of small birds swarm my drone. I was afraid they would knock it out of the air. I don’t fly there anymore, I think the red tape will look pretty cool in spots on my drone. Thanks for sharing 👍🏾
Great tip! I'll try this with my vehicle. I'm actually curious now if like, a sticker of cat eyes on the roof or something similar might keep birds from pooping on my car.
I encountered crows and hawks while vacationing in Liberia. The crows got close but flew away when I claimed fast and never approached the drone again. The hawks were very aggressive. Will try the tape. Thanks.
lost two drones in the ocean to bird strike and had magpies put one down... been attacked by ducks, magpies, hawks, swallows, seagulls and oyster catchers.
I'm in Alaska and the dam magpies are mischievous birds. They sit on a omeowners fence and swoop over the dogs over the yard and land on the other side of the yard on the fence. They will go back and forth toying with your dogs. Lol . They harass ravens and pigeons and seagulls. Let's not even talk about how ravens will push snow off a roof on your head and then laugh at you. As far as attacking my drone...... been ok so far.
Ducks attacked you? You must be messing with them or something because when I flew my drone around ducks, they all jumped in the water, stayed, and watched. It was a lot of them too. I got the video
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 covered my drone with a bright orange skin 2years ago, since then i had no problems. think about it. most birds are Grey and how mamy are bright orange.
I own several drones and have had birds circle and swoop by very close many times. Interestingly, the only drone I've had actually struck by a bird is my, bright orange, Autel Nano+. Because of terrain, I couldn't see the drone when it was hit. I did see some odd movement in the video display but thought it was just some anomaly with the gimbal. After landing, I found a crack in the plastic skin of the drone, on the top, over an inch long. I super glued the crack and the drone flies as good as it ever did. From my experience, I don't feel that the orange color deters birds. I'll probably give the reflective tape a try.
In Brazil I once had a problem with small parrots (called maritacas in portuguese) they flocked around my drone in circles around 50 meter from the ground, I thought they would knock it down, then I put my Mavic Air in sports mode and showed they I coukd fly and manouver must faster than them and they quit bothering.
I was in Brazil this year on holidays, I had no major problems, just an attack by a carcará bird when I was flying in the southern region of Bahia, but nothing compares to Australia here the crows are freaking angry
Strange you say that because I used silver hi vis tape and that was initially for visibility reasons but I did notice less birds around it, what worked better was high brightness red strobe lights, again for visibility but nothing has swooped me since the strobes, unfortunately I can’t do that to my smaller drones weight issues, so I’m going to buy some red hi vis tape, I never put one and one together to think of trying that as it was the red strobe that my head was thinking as a solution. Good find will be doing it, you forgot to mention the minor birds as well, it’s a real issue for us in Aus. Thanks mate !
Great tip. I have this reflective stuff on both my drones (the mini only has yellow, the Air 2 S has one red one and white, yellow and orange for the batteries). I had no idea, but can't say I had a lot of bird problems, even though some came pretty close, seemingly by accident. I'll put some more red on both drones now. Thanks for sharing!
Have you tried Firehouse strobes top and bottom ? I flew for 4 hrs. in open Mtn. area with hawks calling near the field but never seen a single bird around the area after take off.
Pee Wees are the only bird that bothers my drone. All the magpies are friendly in my region, no issues, but I'll put your suggestion to the test in my area. 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!
What a great find!!! Back before the drones of today, we flew camera rigs slung underneath or onto the frame of our R/C helicopters... I never had one take my rig out of the sky but I blended a few, for sure! I had to autorotate once because of damaged tail blades... In 2008 when I was mostly manually flying what is now a drone, birds were definitely more attracted it... Likely due to the noises / vibrations from a fast spinning large rotor disk... Never thought about finding a way to discourage them... Thanks for sharing this! While I don't do aerial photog videog any longer, I'm sure this will help countless people who do...
Here is the links to the tape if it interests you :)
US Viewers
amzn.to/3RYSwPv
AU Viewers
amzn.to/3QlFvhF
Thank you.
you're welcome
THANK YOU@@reviewprodigy any new video with this tape on yours drone ?
I did a follow up video here th-cam.com/video/J4WFCodpLXU/w-d-xo.html @@predator1990
@@reviewprodigy I'm in Europe but thanks
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.
My FPV Avata got grabbed and thrown by a hawk while I was going 40mph.
What height did you get to and find effective?
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 .
@@VideographerBill OOF! How did it end? Did you crash or take any damage?
Never been attacked but always worried about it. Let me try this next time.
I use reflective tape to keep birds away from my vegetable garden and it works great. So it makes sense that it works for drones too. Great tip!
That's a great idea!
Any particular tape? And any particular spot?
I tried this but I ended up being divebombed by seagulls. Still trying to find an alternative
The material at 2:00 is called 3M Diamond Grade Reflective Series 4000. Available on AMZ in different width tapes and sheets. Very strong adhesive. Wont come off after sticking to drone. It is originally designed for signs and has 10 years warranty under all weather conditions!
Top man! Found some in the UK
Just got my first drone..mavic mini..and will do this.
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!
good move:)
I did same last week. They were faster than the drone even in sport mode. I hope these techniques work
😏 couldn't believe it but it's definitely an issue..
Well done on trying this. Another likely colour combo would be yellow and black in a striped setup. Many dangerous organisms such as wasps use this combo to ward off potential predators. I’ll try red on my drone first to see how the birds respond. Cheers.
I concur Mr. Conyers! I have covered both of my drones with DOT red tape and haven't experienced a bird strike in the 6 months I have been flying with the red tape.
Glad it's working for you:)
Interesting tip, thanks Brett.
I’ve been shooting real estate with drones for nearly 3 years now and I’ve found that in general it’s the larger drones such as the Mavic Pro series which will get attacked by large birds such as hawks and eagles.
I mostly fly the mini drones such as the 2 and for the last few weeks the new 4 pro and for the most part the large birds like eagles, magpies, crows and cockatoos tend to ignore it (I have more issues being chased by groups of bees and butterflies lol) but smaller birds, especially aggressive birds like the Indian Miners, really go for it at this time of the year. I’ll have to test this method out and see how it goes.
let us know how it goes !
I found the opposite. I almost never had any issues with the Phantom4 Pro but the Mini 3 Pro was a much more regular target. And I actually had birds touch it whereas on the Air 3 I'm on now they don't seem to actually touch it, just get near
@@Flamamacue interesting. Not sure why this happens but lately I've had no bird issues with the mini 4 pro even smaller birds and it's 'nesting seson' here. Eagles and so on have always ignored my mini drones but usually swooped on the Mavid series. No idea why.
So far, I’ve been spared the Malay of birds strikes. But I will definitely look out for them and keep the reflective tape in mind. Thank you for the tip.
Brilliant! I am a very new drone pilot and a couple weeks ago almost freaked out as soon as some birds at the beach attacked my drone. I will definitely try this! Thank you :)
Its very stressful when they get close to your drone
@@reviewprodigy it was!
@@milesandhikes If the birds are nesting etc, they have a good reason. Likewise loafing, if you have a drone screaming at your window when in bed or putting baby to bed it's possibly at best aggravating?
Shore birds get a really hard time from tosspots with dogs, vehicles, children and attitude problems. So giving drones a bad name as well isn't helpful. It's an awareness thing for those who care a bit.
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!
I see you commented about a month ago.. How the test go?
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
How did the test go? I'm in BC and just ordered the Mini 3.
It works, no more buzzing. I still don't push my luck around eagles, osprey, or a hawk if I see it but the other birds stay away.@@davaarmedia
How did it go?
Very useful for me. I have a huge population of magpies and red tail hawks in my flying area. I have ravens also but never been bothered by them
Glad it was helpful!. Let me know how well it works for you
Thanks for the tip. I have had no direct attack as yet, but one or two scares over the years. Both times during nesting seasons here in Ireland. I simply move away from the area, seeing i only fly as a hobby.
Nice tip - I had a few birds circling my drone in Gippsland last weekend. I just picked up some of the reflective red tape from Bunnings, but thinking about also adding a small red strobe to the drone to reflect off the tape. Seems like it might multiply the effect of the tape, but also make it a lot easier to spot the drone if a bird brings it down!
Not a bad idea, Ill be doing a follow up video before christmas with some other things I have tried as well.
@@reviewprodigy Yes, red and green would be good for Christmas.
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
They can be a real problem
UK here, I brought me first drone dji mini 3, this is interesting, i was gonna try eyes and teeth, so im glad you wised me up, reflective is the way🤭🤭🤭 also on amazon you can reflective rap cut and shaped made for dji mini series drones👍
Oooh, that's interesting. Thanks for the info
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.
I'll bet it's a relief to find that the tape apparently works.
Kudos for sticking with it to find something that does.
Good old detective work does it again!
Thanks for your comment. It works great 90% of the time. When its overcast the birds get a little more adventurous but it still keeps them away:)
@@reviewprodigy Ever ran a strobe on top? Wondering if the flashing would keep them away.
@@bigfranksworldI have, and it works well)
I have that same issue. 3 bird strikes and many near misses in the log. thanks for saving me all the research time involved. Ill give it a try
Glad to help
Lol I had a bunch of this tape and was trying to figure out what to do with it. Now i have ideas!
nice one:)
Oh, I'm definitely testing it out as soon as I find some reflective red tape here in Greece!!!
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.
Good Luck:)
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.
Much appreciated, feel free to come back here and link your video as well
th-cam.com/video/JtI4EgKNK04/w-d-xo.htmlsi=dnZwZ6lUtnFMf1tm
Thanks Brett, gulls made me nervous the other day but the tape still seems to be working
I don’t have a bird problem, but if I ever do now, I know what to do. I ordered that tape just to keep it around. Thanks for doing the video.
Thanks for your comment, much appreciated
Thank you for sharing this Trick....Birds are the biggest worry for anyone flying a Drone.
yes they are
I have reflective tape on my drone so if I ever crash it will be easier to find in brush or rough terrain! Especially at night if you shine a flashlight around, it will be easy to see the reflection. Good to know it might scare birds off too, come to think of it I've never been attacked...
Thats a very good point:)
9 years as a pro pilot in Colorado, I've had dozens of red tail hawk and eagle encounters. But the only emergency situation I've had was caused by a magpie. It cost him his life, and it cost me a Zenmuse X5. I tried the orange reflector tape years ago, it had zero effect in my experience. What I found works the best is a red strobe on the drone. Not one issue in the past 6 years. They don't even bother my Inspire 2. I just got the M350T, first thing I did was stick two red strobes on the top.
Thanks for the info
What is this particular strobe you mention? I have lumacube strobe for night flying but it is white.
@@Clickumentary I used the Lumecube as well. The egg shaped ones that comes with both a red and green plastic cover. Depending on the drone I use 1 to 3 of them. Kinda dumb, but it really does work.
I too use red flashing lights. birds seems to avoid my drone.
Please be so kind to share a photo of this setup. Much appreciated
@WOTHFPV
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.
It sounds like an organized attack. Those Plovers are relentless:)
I can confirm it helps, I use silver reflecting stickers and no problems (fly much in open fields) !
I have just ordered some, lets see what happens, i am just starting out so advice from people like you is priceless, thank you.
Thank you for your support , I appreciate it!
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?
I think the phantom 3 wayback had red bands on the arms, I wonder why they moved over to grey
I have this tape in a very reflective silver have you tried silver / clear reflective tape?
I havent tried it. Give it a shot and let me know how it goes
I have noticed that this type of thing tends to happen more when I am flying a smaller drone like the mini series. Birds don't seem to be as interested in trying to mess with the bigger ,louder, and much meaner looking Mavic 3 series.
Interesting! I have the Mavic2Pro and they love attacking it
I have a mavic 3pro lates drone and you will be in for a surprise. I had mine get attacked. I noticed they were scared to make actual contact, but as time went by the attacks started to get closer and closer so I landed. 2k drone, can’t take chances.
Thats what happened to me in the beginning. Thats why I started to look for a soluton@@andylopez6393
Has anyone witnessed the obstacle ovoidance being enough to cause the drone to dodge the bigger birds?
I am using a Mini Pro 4 where bald eagles, osprey and various hawks are prevalent -- no attacks yet...
Did have a hummingbird hover directly in front of the camera; it left and returned, staying away from the props- fun footage!
Thanks for the great tip. I always fit Propeller Guards when flying near birds.
Great tip!
That's what I thought the tip would be Peter. Makes sense, as unless the bird was a raptor or somehow managed to turn the drone upside down, a modern drone would not be likely to fall out of the sky. A sea-eagle, wedgetail or similar large raptor or a fast moving crow, currawong, butcherbird, magpie, gull or plover might hit hard enough to break an arm off the drone - otherwise it's probably prop damage that brings them down.
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.
It helps me plenty, im in melbournes east. Crows are the worst
@@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).
@@johnnyonline Yeah, it helps for sure. Since I've put the tape on I've had no bird contact with the drone at all.
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 all these solutions that everyone is suggesting.:) Thanks for yours
Great idea! I was just recently knocked into a lake and lost drone by a flock of geese!!! But they weren't attacking me, just a coincidence, they flew just over the top and 1 wing got my mini 2 just right and down it went. I think I was blending into the background as I wasn't that high.
Oh that sucks:(
WOW! This is very interesting! I might have missed it. Why do they stop attacking our drones when that red tape is present? In 2019 or 20, my drone got attacked from behind. I was cruising and suddenly my drone fell to the ground. Few seconds later, I saw a hawk in the view of my camera, lol.
its highly reflective, sorry to hear about your drone
oh got it. I will try it. When I flew it down the mountains, I was scared that it might get attacked. Glad there was none. Here is the scene of the hawk attack, - th-cam.com/video/-k-rENgP2tU/w-d-xo.html
Should it be red or doesn't matter as long as it is highly reflective?
SUPERNICE, MAN !!! Birds downed two drones of mine ( a FIMI X8 and a MAVIC PRO ), making lack of signal the SECOND cause of problems... so THANK YOU A LOT !!!
Glad to help
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.
You're very welcome!
I was wondering how about using a disco ball attached to the drone? J/K great advice about the red reflective tape. Going to give that a go.
You might be on to something:)
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
Makes sense. I bought the tape but will stick it to the drone body only.
Hello Brett I wanted to share my experience with you. I put reflective tape on both my air 3 and mini 4 as a lot of times I have also seen birds flying around my drones. However, in the case of the air 3 the tape, the tape I purchased, which is not the same brand you linked in this video, produced communication errors, where the drone would not be able to connect to the satellites properly and GPS mode would not work. The tape I used has some metal color on the side where it sticks to the drone, so I assume this might cause that interference with the sensors. I am not sure if all reflective tapes are made in the same way. With this same tape this did not happen on my mini 4 but because of that experience on the air 3 I decided to take it off from the mini as well, as I fear it may use GPS signals on flight and might not be able to return home if for some reason I lost the signal. Please let me know if you ever experienced this as well, or if you think your tape might have different composition materials that the one I was able to purchase here. Kind Regards from Ecuador. Fabian
I havent had any issues with my Mavic. Thanks for letting me know
I ve just ordered a similar looking one from Polyvinyl Chloride. It is basically PVC plastic so no metal in it.
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.
Try a few of the strobes in this video maybe th-cam.com/video/J4WFCodpLXU/w-d-xo.htmlsi=zN2Xnhna69rrs87o
We have to use an anti collision light at night here in the US but if you use it in strobe mode during the day the birds see the flashing light and they move away. I’ve been doing this for about two years and have had many hawks and vultures come over to check things out but quickly fly away when they see that flashing light.
Ive been testing this myself with great results
Interesting. I've heard of bird attacks but I've never had it happen to my drones.
I watched both your videos on the subject and I have put this exact tape on, but in your other video you said to put a strobe light on top as well.
Well I have flown a few times with no issues, didn’t see any birds, but today a hawk followed my Mini 4 Pro and circles it on two occasions but never came with around 10m of it. So I count this as massive success.
The interesting part was on the second flight when the hawk came back to circle, other birds started to attack the hawk rather than going for my drone. So thank you for the tips, it seems to be working well. 🎉
Awesome:)
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.
That would be a great idea:)
Very interesting! I think red is one of the “warning” colors for birds, and bright orange is, too. Nice, simple solution to the problem. If there are very persistent birds, you might want to try making your drone temporarily behave in a predatory way, by chasing the birds for a few minutes. Sometimes the way to scare off an animal is to become the predator rather than the prey. Very good tip about the tape, and pleasantly simple, which is great!
I wonder if the color is the main thing to keep the birds away. *Retroreflectors* reflect light straight back at the source of the light. Since birds aren't a light source, I don't see how the reflective property helps. Still retroflector tape is cool to have. It's really great for DIY encoders since the tape reflects the IR light right back to the source so well.
Did try this , it works for few minutes than they (birds) come back, specially if I need to shoot photos
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 ... 👍👍👍
Awesome!
I'm an architectural photographer, and only once have I had an "avian encounter." Photographing a cliffside home, I launched my Mavic Pro, and immediately a seagull that had been perched on the home across the street began squawking and swooping at my drone. Its call actually alerted other nearby gulls, and even one kestrel, and in about three minutes my drone was being attacked by over a dozen birds. Swooping, screeching, and even once making contact with a prop leaving a puff of feathers, their attack was unrelenting. They even tried to poop on my poor aircraft! I finally had to abort the mission, getting only about half the images I had wanted. This has not happened to me before or since. I found out later that one of the gulls had a brood of hatchlings on one of the rooftops, so apparently they were defending against this odd and threatening predator. ... I'll be buying a roll of that tape.
I'm a Real Estate Photographer, I understand your pain:)
Good info 👍I cut the tape into the shape of a scorpion, wasn't going to put ugly rectangles on the drone :)
good idea
Worth trying it out...👍
Let me know how you go
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 👍🏻🚁
Glad to help
Hi Brett, thanks for the video I've always been a little bit nervous flying my drone watching and hoping a bird doesn't lock on to it and attack 😅. I live in Sydney and the last month I've watched a close nesting magpie i call her sniper target and absolutely smash people riding past on bikes and scooters! I sit out the front and somebody rides past smiling saying good day and i say watch out and point up and they instantly have a look of fear and turn around and sure enough Sniper is coming in hot like a heat seeking missile. Some start screaming but most just duck and tuck it's as amusing as it is concerning😅. Anyway i just wanted to let you know at Bunnings they have the same stuff: Croc Grip 10m x 50mm Red Reflective Safety Tape. That should do the trick its only $11. Just incase anyone that can't shop online because of any reason👍. P.s love your videos and you got your self a subscriber. Cheers Brett.
Thanks for the funny story and subscribing cheers:)
Great tip , thanks for the effort and time to share your experiences. Will try it out
Thank you
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
hope your mini is fine
What would be the impact of red or orange propellers instead?
Give this a watch as I explain that very thing th-cam.com/video/J4WFCodpLXU/w-d-xo.html
I bet if you flew around the asme crows they'd eventually figure it out and start messing with the drone again. Super smart birds.
Yeah smart birds, I remember when I was a kid I used to pretend to pick up a rock and make a throwing motion to shoo off the birds but after a while they realised I didn't have a rock and didn't budge!
I will gladly try that out - thank you so much for the great idea and video, Brett! 🙂
Thank you :)
We don’t have a problem in the UK, at least I haven’t had a problem. Combination of super passive birds and a long term plan for environmental destruction has done the trick. Clear skies and timid birds make drone piloting a dream.
Knock on wood buddy
Come down South Seagulls are a menace i be trying this with a strobe.
Ty for the tip. Never actually thought birds would attack a drone. Makes sense though. I’ll try it.
Thanks for your comment
I have aluminum foil tape . Super reflective
does it work against birds, have you tried it yet?
Thanks for your work. This will help me on my next job.
Gosh, birds are way crazier in Australia.
You got that bloody right . Enough to make a bloke turn gay !
Thank you for taking up your time,to research this and share it with us.
I’ve had a flock of small birds swarm my drone. I was afraid they would knock it out of the air.
I don’t fly there anymore, I think the red tape will look pretty cool in spots on my drone. Thanks for sharing 👍🏾
Glad to help. Let me know how it works for you in your area when you try it.
Great tip! I'll try this with my vehicle.
I'm actually curious now if like, a sticker of cat eyes on the roof or something similar might keep birds from pooping on my car.
Thats actually a pretty good idea, let me know if it works
My drone was attacked by a flock of about 200 pigeons . Being a former pigeon racer I was as concerned about the birds as I was with the drone .
I hope all came out ok
I encountered crows and hawks while vacationing in Liberia. The crows got close but flew away when I claimed fast and never approached the drone again. The hawks were very aggressive. Will try the tape. Thanks.
Thanks for sharing, Let me know how it goes against hawks.
lost two drones in the ocean to bird strike and had magpies put one down... been attacked by ducks, magpies, hawks, swallows, seagulls and oyster catchers.
I'm in Alaska and the dam magpies are mischievous birds. They sit on a omeowners fence and swoop over the dogs over the yard and land on the other side of the yard on the fence. They will go back and forth toying with your dogs. Lol . They harass ravens and pigeons and seagulls. Let's not even talk about how ravens will push snow off a roof on your head and then laugh at you.
As far as attacking my drone...... been ok so far.
Ducks attacked you? You must be messing with them or something because when I flew my drone around ducks, they all jumped in the water, stayed, and watched. It was a lot of them too. I got the video
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.
good luck with it
you get the added benefit that the red tape makes your drone look ultra fearsome
I agree, it looks more aggressive thats for sure
I covered my drone with a bright orange skin 2years ago, since then i had no problems. think about it. most birds are Grey and how mamy are bright orange.
That was why I picke the red :)
I own several drones and have had birds circle and swoop by very close many times. Interestingly, the only drone I've had actually struck by a bird is my, bright orange, Autel Nano+. Because of terrain, I couldn't see the drone when it was hit. I did see some odd movement in the video display but thought it was just some anomaly with the gimbal. After landing, I found a crack in the plastic skin of the drone, on the top, over an inch long. I super glued the crack and the drone flies as good as it ever did. From my experience, I don't feel that the orange color deters birds. I'll probably give the reflective tape a try.
May I know what color of flash light is the best? Is it also red?
I just use white but the strobe does various colors
In Brazil I once had a problem with small parrots (called maritacas in portuguese) they flocked around my drone in circles around 50 meter from the ground, I thought they would knock it down, then I put my Mavic Air in sports mode and showed they I coukd fly and manouver must faster than them and they quit bothering.
nicely done
*cough* bullsh*t
@@mark675😅
I was in Brazil this year on holidays, I had no major problems, just an attack by a carcará bird when I was flying in the southern region of Bahia, but nothing compares to Australia here the crows are freaking angry
I'll try it in the Philippines and California. The florescent red sounds interesting too.
Good Luck :)
Jump to 1 minute 58 for the answer
Strange you say that because I used silver hi vis tape and that was initially for visibility reasons but I did notice less birds around it, what worked better was high brightness red strobe lights, again for visibility but nothing has swooped me since the strobes, unfortunately I can’t do that to my smaller drones weight issues, so I’m going to buy some red hi vis tape, I never put one and one together to think of trying that as it was the red strobe that my head was thinking as a solution. Good find will be doing it, you forgot to mention the minor birds as well, it’s a real issue for us in Aus. Thanks mate !
Thanks for your thoughts
Quit flying up the birds asses and you won't have a problem. LOL
Great tip !! I will try since Ive been attacked by seagulls and bees
Good luck!
In America just tie machine guns to our drones and the birds seem to leave us alone.
Great tip. I have this reflective stuff on both my drones (the mini only has yellow, the Air 2 S has one red one and white, yellow and orange for the batteries). I had no idea, but can't say I had a lot of bird problems, even though some came pretty close, seemingly by accident. I'll put some more red on both drones now. Thanks for sharing!
looks like you've got everything you need.:)
Jesus just say reflective tape...
I may try this! I had a hawk take down my drone yesterday.
Have you tried Firehouse strobes top and bottom ?
I flew for 4 hrs. in open Mtn. area with hawks calling near the field but never seen a single bird around the area after take off.
No I havent tried them, where did you buy them?
Nice one! I already thought about silver reflecting tape… where fif you applied it? Only on top or also on the „arms“ and sides? thank you so much!!
i applied it on top, arms, and sides. make sure you arent near any censors
Thanks for the tip! I film in Maine where seaguls are the big issue when you want to film at the ocean. I ordered some tape from your link! Thanks!
Glad to help, Seagulls are the worst:) Thanks
Thank you, I am new to drone and this is really helpfull.
Glad it was helpful!
Thanks. Tape on order... along with the flashing light you suggested in another video.
Good one:)
Thanks for the awesome tip Brett, I've had a few problems with birds here in New Zealand, will give the tape a go.
Glad to help
Pee Wees are the only bird that bothers my drone. All the magpies are friendly in my region, no issues, but I'll put your suggestion to the test in my area. Thanks
Ill try it, I have very hard times in Icelands and I had to land all the time to avoid hurting birds
Good luck :)
Glad I saw this video. Will definitely try this reflective red tape on my drone. Thank You
Glad it was helpful!
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!
maybe just take a bit off at a time and test it
a good plan! Thanks
As drone owner, this is gold information. Thx
But what color is effective? Or only red color reflective sticker that works?
I tried a few but red worked best. Orange worked as well
Thanks, my problem in NSW are Wedge Tail Eagles. I'll give it a go.
I'm curious to see how that goes:)
Me too. I lost mine last week
What a great find!!! Back before the drones of today, we flew camera rigs slung underneath or onto the frame of our R/C helicopters... I never had one take my rig out of the sky but I blended a few, for sure! I had to autorotate once because of damaged tail blades... In 2008 when I was mostly manually flying what is now a drone, birds were definitely more attracted it... Likely due to the noises / vibrations from a fast spinning large rotor disk... Never thought about finding a way to discourage them... Thanks for sharing this! While I don't do aerial photog videog any longer, I'm sure this will help countless people who do...
Thanks for your comments
Thanks a million
So, I use strobes but they have 3 colors, red, green, white…was yours flashing white, green or red?
Wow, well done on research & video! I'm ready to order off your link asap!
Thanks for your comment, much appreciated