Environment
When Birds Attack
Toronto Photography Meetup Group member WKHC posted a call for help identifying a bird species.
He's not so much a bird-watcher, as much as he was rather curious to know what kind of bird has been attacking him. It turns out that he has an unwanted (and angry and protective) American Robin nesting in a lamp post, very close his front door. He also managed to captured an awesome photo sequence of an dive-bombing attack, and couldn't help but giggle when I saw it.
Nicely presented photo story, WKHC. Thanks for sharing it. We can certainly sense the drama (blurring, sporadic zooming, malfocus - this series has it all). Duck!
Hopefully the newly born birds grow up fast, and vacate the lamp post. And in the interim, let's hope this new parent doesn't attack you anymore.
Anyone else have any or their own "urban animal versus human" experiences to share?
All photos by WKHC.
Discussion
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One year there was a red-winged blackbird doing the same to people who strolled by the nest above a Centre Island path. On a sunny Saturday, that's a lot of people to attack. Very amusing, but it's a little unsettling to have a hissing bird attack one's head.
Also, one spring, my old cat, when he was about 6 or 7 years old, killed and ate a baby cardinal. Of course, this didn't sit well with the parents. They chased him around our backyard for three days straight. Every time he ran and hid under the van they would sit on the hood and squawk. He would poke his head out, eyes extra wide, to see if they were still there and then he would cower further under the car.
1. Angry diving redwing blackbirds at U of T.
2. Anxious mother robin trying to protect her youngster that had fallen from the tree (while a hungry crow waited to pounce from a roof nearby). I was trying to get the baby bird into a box to protect it from the crow, but gave up after almost losing my eye to the mother.
3. Opportunistic seagull that flew by my head, hit me with its wing, then landed at my feet hoping I'd drop my hotdog after the surprise ambush.
3. Evil grackles that used to divebomb my spaniel in our backyard while he was stationary (i.e. taking a dump). He got so scared of doing his business outside that I had to go out with the hose to protect him. I'd spray the grackles as they started to swoop down to deter them....luckily after that one summer, they moved on to a different victim.
I am just going to leave them alone. The babies will fledge about 2 weeks after hatch so it should be soon. I usually do not use the front door cause I get in the house through the garage. I just need to warn any visitors to take the side door instead. Now who needs a guard dog huh?
Also, just yesterday I witnessed a seagull tearing apart a robin or a sparrow over a territorial fight. It was horrifying!
Not happy at all in Grimsby!!!!