I had a bird swoop down and try to take the button off of the top of my baseball cap once. It must have thought it was some sort of insect, probably a beetle. It really startled me.
Unless you've had it happen to you it sounds crazy, but once you've experienced it becomes totally believable.
True story. Yesterday afternoon (Saturday) I was driving on I-95 north from Baltimore along a long, straight, down hill grade of highway and saw a flock of birds flying back and forth across the highway.
Numbering at least two-dozen, they were flying from the trees on one side then immediately turning and flying back to the trees on the other side. It looked like they were swooping down pretty close to road in my northbound lane but the grade made it difficult to tell. I did however see break lights coming on ahead of me. I saw them make about six passes before I came up on them.
When I got to where they were flying back and forth, I could see they looked like pigeons and they came down right in front of me at about windshield height. I thought I was going to hit some of them when they suddenly flew up.
Were these birds suicidal or did they have more malevolent intentions? I don’t know but it was one of the strangest things I’ve ever seen. Strange enough that I was almost tempted to stop and take a picture with my cell phone. I felt a bit like Tippi Hedren.
I’ve never really trusted birds, as they are probably the descendents of T-Rex. I’m also suspect of circus clowns and monkeys, especially flying monkeys.