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Many have accepted and embraced the fact that drones look set to be a big part of out future – especially in terms of delivery – however some eagles are not quite as keen on the idea.
The birds of prey are known to be very territorial, and stories of drone pilots seeing their aircraft knocked out of the sky are becoming more and more frequent.
Australia seems to be something of a hotspot for the incidents, as the above video shows. According to ABC News in the country, surveyor Rick Steven from Western Australia, who uses drones to 3D map mining areas, has his unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) coming under increasing attack from wedge-tailed eagles.
The issue became so prominent that expert advice was sought from a birds of prey rehabilitation centre, who suggested that camouflaging the devices to look like juvenile eagles could help.
It did, for a while, but now Steven has said he and his team have changed the time of day they fly in order to avoid the birds, who use thermal detection as part of their hunting.
“I know the eagle loves to fly on thermals. Because they’re a big heavy bird, and the more thermal activity there is, the easy it is for them to fly,” he said.
“Thermals activate during the hottest part of the day – which is why we’re flying first thing in the morning now.”
With drone trials taking place around the world – for delivering pizzas in New Zealand and parcels in the UK – more encounters for birds of prey are likely to be inevitable in the future, with those behind the technology likely to be forced to find new ways to avoid more incidents.
