Red-winged black attack!

Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds

Isn't the song of the red-winged blackbird quite beautiful?  Listen here...

song of the red-winged black bird

I've frequently enjoyed watching these birds perched on short trees and tall grasses in the marshy areas of my neighborhood and thought that their song is lovely.  Well, Alfred Hitchcock must have known something about red-winged blackbirds when he was putting together the classic horror film The Birds. I took a less traveled route home from my run today, past a swamp generally full of turtles, ducks, and a couple of muskrats.  Snakes, yes, but I have *never* had a problem with birds, until today.  Apparently I walked too close to the nest of a very protective papa.  This particular bird dive bombed me, and kept at it until I ran full speed about 100 yards from the attack!

I didn't know this before, but I found out today that what Wikipedia says is really true:  The Red-winged Blackbird aggressively defends its territory from other animals. It will attack much larger birds.^[18] Males have been known to swoop humans who encroach upon their nesting territory during breeding season.^[19][20]

No kidding!  Different route tomorrow, at least until breeding season is over.

Nec aspera terrent!


6/8/12 - 2.0 miles |  23 min | 5.1 mph | 219 kcal