When birds peck on humans
Bird attacks are becoming more frequent in parts of the globe
Who is really afraid of the birds? Most of them fly away in the presence of humans. Those who can hurt us, tend to stay away from us unless threatened.
Imagine you are walking in the park for a leisurely walk and got jumped by something. Searching for the attacker, you discovered with astonishment that it is none other than a bird.
This is exactly what happened with Mary Heiman while she was walking her dog around a lake in downtown Denver, Colorado in late July. A bird abruptly slammed the back of her head and flew around frantically and then went back into the bush, reports BBC.
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A global phenomenon
Joggers in Denver are being chased by red-winged blackbirds. In Wales, it was seagull attacks and in Vancouver and British Columbia, they were crows.
One victim -- Jim O'Leary – who was attacked multiple times by birds developed a website called CrowTrax for people to report violent incidents of bird attack. He told the Wall Street Journal, “The website has tracked more than 5,000 reports.”
Canada Post had to stop delivering mail to several homes in Vancouver after a postal carrier was repeatedly attacked by a famed crow known as Canuck.
Why the sudden aggression?
According to Wildlife experts, the bird attacks on humans are growing more common as people continue to encroach on bird nesting territory.
“Available nest sites become harder to find due to habitat loss, thus the interactions between diligent bird parents and humans will grow,” said Dr Steve Portugal, an eco-physiologist from Royal Holloway University of London, to the Independent, a British Online News Portal.
“Especially when the birds are defending their eggs and young against intruders”, added Dr Steve.
“Climate change is also having an impact towards shrinking bird habitat”, told Andrea Jones, director of bird conservation at the US National Audubon Society, to BBC as a drought in the US West has dried up wetlands where some birds lay eggs and raise chicks.
However, the attacks are unlikely to cause injury, she added.
People are now taking precautions to avoid being attacked by birds
Ornithologists that study raptors and other birds of prey sometimes wear hard hats used in construction sector while checking nests for chicks.
A man from Wales was told by his town council to put up umbrellas after he asked the government how to prevent sea gull attacks around his home.
An Australian shared tips for how to avoid being attacked by magpie During Australia's "swooping season -
To curb bird attacks, experts suggest a simple solution which is to leave the area of their nest.
