https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/b...ries-jpf56j0lk
Bird attacks on drones force Google to suspend home deliveries
Ravens are attacking drones passing through their territory, forcing curtailment of a pioneering drone home delivery service in Australia’s capital.
Wing, run by Google’s overarching company Alphabet, has been operating drones in the skies above Canberra since 2019, flying meals, coffee, medicine, hardware and office supplies to the city’s northern residents — a forerunner for
similar services globally.
Large ravens that appear to be enraged by the drones have engaged in sorties with the remote-controlled craft, nearly bringing down at least two flights in recent days. Wing has been forced to suspend flights to some areas of the city to prevent harm to the birds and its drones.
The ravens have learnt how to swoop on the drones, which are crisscrossing the skies of Canberra in greater numbers as demand for their service surges during the city’s coronavirus lockdown.
“It’s a matter of time before they bring one down,” said one resident, Ben Roberts, whose cup of coffee arrives at his home each morning slung beneath a drone. Roberts filmed the latest attack, and the video prompted Wing to suspend delivery to his suburb today while it ponders how to deal with the marauders.
On the first day of combat, Roberts told
The Canberra Times, the birds appeared to have botched their drone attack, with flying feathers indicating that at least one had hit the propellers. By their third sortie the ravens had learnt how to avoid the drone blades. Roberts said there were flecks of what he thinks were paint in the air, indicating that the birds had made a hit.
The company first trialled its drone delivery service in Canberra three years ago, attracted by the city’s large parking lots and wide street edges, which offer plentiful landing sites.
It told affected customers: “We’ve identified some birds in your area demonstrating territorial behaviours and swooping at moving objects. While this is common during nesting season, we are committed to being strong stewards of the environment, and would like to have ornithological experts investigate this further to ensure we continue to have minimal impact on birdlife in our service locations.”
A Wing spokeswoman said in the tens of thousands of drone deliveries made in Canberra, contact with birds was extremely rare.
“In the unlikely event that a bird makes direct contact with our drone, we have multiple levels of redundancy built into our operations to ensure we can continue to fly safely,” she told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation……