'Pretty evil birds' are dive-bombing pedestrians in Etobicoke, residents say

Red-winged blackbirds are dive-bombing residents of one Toronto neighbourhood, swooping down and pecking at their heads, but an expert says there's not too much the locals can do as the birds protect their nests.

On one street in Etobicoke, near Kipling Avenue and Dundas Street W., the birds with the distinctive markings are annoying and even frightening residents. In some cases, if the pedestrians flee, the birds will chase.

Ron Glatt, a local resident who has lived in the area for four years, said on Thursday that the attacks seem to be worse this year than last. He said the red-winged blackbirds live in the trees in the area, including outside his house.

"We've just really been seeing them be more aggressive than usual," Glatt said. 

"When people are running, it seems to make things worse. The birds will follow them down the street. We've seen delivery drivers get repeatedly attacked while they're trying to deliver packages. So yeah, they're pretty evil birds."

Glatt said his home security camera footage has shown instances where people have been attacked to the point where they have fallen over.

Glatt said it would be good if the birds found another area in which to nest. But failing that, he said he has found that staring at the birds, or making eye contact, is one way to lessen attacks.

"Walking backwards and looking at the birds tends to work pretty well," he said.

One of the homeowners who lives in the neighbourhood told CBC Toronto that her family stopped using the front door to avoid getting attacked.

'A territorial bird just protecting its eggs'

Tristan Boswell, another resident, said he was pecked in the head earlier this week in the evening when he was not wearing anything on his head.

"It's a territorial bird just protecting its eggs. And it's annoying," he said.

"I've seen people, when people are just passing through, get swooped on and they're like, they're being attacked by some invisible enemy, but it's just a bird nesting and trying to protect its little ones."

Boswell said he thinks the birds' behaviour is more of an inconvenience rather than a major problem, but he said the city could perhaps put decoys of hawks or owls or blue jays in the trees to ward the red-winged blackbirds off.

"Nothing invasive or anything like that... because life is life, you know," he said.

Shane Abernethy, bander-in-charge at the Tommy Thompson Park Bird Research Station, an initiative of the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, said the nests are "extremely vulnerable" because the eggs have hatched and they now contain live chicks. 

Abernethy said bird nests and their eggs are protected under the Migratory Birds Convention Act, an international treaty. Moving them is not possible, he said.

'They're not out for blood'

"These birds are defending their nests so this is a purely defensive action. They're not out for blood. This is nesting season for red-winged blackbirds and, in fact, the peak of it," Abernethy said.

"As a result, they're aggressively driving away anything they perceive as a threat, which will include any potential predators as well people who have wandered a little bit too close to the nest sites themselves," he said.

Abernethy said the attacks should end in the next few weeks. He said the birds attack from behind and he recommends that people make eye contact if a bird is spotted close by, avoid getting close to the birds and consider wearing a hat for protection.

In a statement, a city spokesperson said the city can't anticipate where nests are being built or how a bird might react to a person's proximity to one. 

"We encourage the public, if they see or encounter an aggressive red-winged blackbird, to please keep their distance because they're protecting their young and their nest."