In the video, the eagles appear to snag the quadcopter on its body between the rotors, which minimizes risk to the bird. That’s deeply important if birds are to be used for anti-drone work. In 2014, I spoke to several falconers about the mere possibility of training birds to attack drones, and while they all agreed it could be done, they were deeply skeptical that it could be done in a way that respected the safety of the bird. Joey Sebolt, president and director of the Georgia Falconry Association, told Popular Science then: “The practical reason for why anyone would want to do that is beyond me. There have been encounters with wild birds with those kinds of devices that are dangerous to the wild animal and the equipment. You certainly wouldn’t want to train a bird to do that.” At least the eagles seem happy and unharmed in the Dutch test. For people who don’t have access to eagles, net guns are an equally effective anti-drone alternative.
