Proving Hitchcock Right, Bird Attacks Are Turning Violent This Summer

wsj.com ^ | 7/15/19 | By Fleming Smith

[ransomnote]

Stephen Vedder used to enjoy peaceful lakeside runs near his Marlborough, Mass., home. This spring, after years of coexisting with an ornery neighbor, those tranquil outings came to an end.

It started with a whack to the back of the head. Next, Mr. Vedder was divebombed. Then clawed.

The culprit was a red-winged blackbird.

More than 250 million of the birds live across North and Central America, and this summer some are feeling extra aggressive toward human neighbors—driving them to change walking routes, wear protective headgear or furiously wave arms above their heads as they jog.

“You talk to people about being attacked by birds, and they look at you like you’re crazy,” says Mr. Vedder, a 60-year-old programmer. “This is ‘The Birds’ all over again, but it’s real!”

Many people who have long lived in harmony with the birds have noticed an uptick in their aerial assaults this season. Bird-on-human attacks are growing more common as people encroach on their habitats, says Lori Naumann, information officer at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

[familyop]

"Bird-on-human attacks are growing more common as people encroach on their habitats, says Lori Naumann, information officer at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources."

So much baloney with no real hook, for the author to lead up to that? Creepy, animal worshiping weirdos.

[ravenwolf]

In 1988 I was hauling to a road job in northern az
we were traveling on a rough desert trail for a short
to the job and traveling slow.

The driver about a half mile ahead of me called me on
the cb and said he had just been dive bombed by an eagle,
he said the eagle hit his windshield and then went to
the ground, thinking he had killed it he was going to
stop but then looking through his mirrow he saw that
the eagle had gotten up and was taking off again.

When I got there the eagle also dived for my windshield
but swerved just in time to miss me, guess he decided them
trucks were to tough.

After that he would just set and glare at us as we passed,
kind of a scary feeling.

[Tymesup]

Crows supposedly will communicate with other crows so that they’re all aware a person is on their s... list.

[trebb]

Wonder where their nesting areas are...When i was stationed at Altus AFB, we had to be careful during certain seasons because a number of hawks had their nests in the trees ... once was lined up on the edge of a fairway, along a tree line, when I happened to look up and saw a set of eyes over a beak tucked in between some sturdy looking wings and being preceded by a set of talons extending my way...ducked just in time, did a “hop-set” and whacked the ball in the general direction and moved away from the trees...
If we didn’t get too close to the nesting areas, they left us alone.

[Joe 6-pack]

"Daphne Du Maurier. She also wrote “Rebecca”"

She was also the wife of Lieutenant General Frederick Browning, father of the British Airborne forces, portrayed by Dirk Bogarde in "A Bridge Too Far."

[Jolla]

Thanks you are right, when the incident I recalled Hitch was already filming:

In August 1961, Capitola residents awoke to a scene that seemed straight out of a horror movie. Hordes of seabirds were dive-bombing their homes, crashing into cars and spewing half-digested anchovies onto lawns.

Famed film director Alfred Hitchcock even used the incident as research material for his then-in-progress movie “The Birds,” in which flocks of deranged birds inexplicably attack a coastal town.

[4TimesAYear]

No. Red-winged blackbirds have always been aggressive.