While we haven’t heard of this happening in Ballard (yet), it is “fledge season” for crows and one Queen Anne resident says she was attacked by a pair of the birds. “Fledge season” generally starts in mid-May and runs through mid-June when crows teach their babies to fly. They are on edge, on high-alert and ready to attack anything they might see as a threat.
QueenAnneView reader Marina Frykholm sent this email to the editor:
I was running last night on 7th Ave W, and just north of Garfield Street I had two crows attack my head about 10X for two blocks. I was running down the street away from them and yelling and waving my arms. I assume they have a nest in someone’s yard and are protecting their young, but they were VERY aggressive and could definitely knock an elderly person or child off balance.
“They’ve invested a lot in their young and literally have helped them survive natural hazards and storms,” professor of wildlife science at the University of Washington John Marzluff, who in 2005 co-authored a book called “In the Company of Crows and Ravens,” told The Seattle Times in a story last year. Read the full story for more information on how to avoid crow attacks during fledge season, or what to do if you are attacked.
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maybe it was her beehive hairdo?
Well, I’ve got my air rifle ready, so it’s a fair fight.
Yeah! Nothing nothing makes a guy feel more better than shooting parent birds while they are protecting their young.
Yup, there’s at least one crow near 13th and Pine on Capital Hill who’s divebombing. Guess he didn’t like my ponytail
This happened to me last week (in Ballard OMG) and I would hardly call it an “attack”.
The crow flapped its wings at my head a couple times and then sat on the eaves of a building and yelled at me until I was a block or so away. I’m bald so if they wanted to draw blood it would have been easy.
Just my opinion, but I’d save the word “attack” to describe what a bear or or a shark would do to you…..
They are definitely following suit in Ballard. I watched a poor woman being divebombed by crows this morning next to the old Sunset Bowl parking lot as I was driving to work.
But bears and sharks don’t have wings to flap…
Parents? I shoot the kids too…. Then go back to bed and get some sleep.
They’re rats with wings.
I was divebombed by a crow in ballard a couple of weeks ago but nothing since then. I can’t imagine that crows divebombing habits were differ very much between neighborhoods
If you take a bit of time and get to know your local crows, you won’t get divebombed. I have two pairs that nested around my house for a total of 3 fledglings. I never get mobbed. Every time I leave the house, if the crows are around, I say hi and cluck to them and they cluck back – and now the babies cluck back too! I wave and head out on my way. Coming home, they sometimes spot me a block or more away, and will fly out to meet me, clucking all the way. What a treat! I know a neighbor gives them treats, but I just talk to them. I can’t wait to see this year’s crop of youngsters grow up – last year a raccoon got the eggs of both nests.
It sure is noisy around here, with all the feeding going on. Such demands from the younguns! I love how their cawing gets stopped mid-caw when the parents cram food in their mouths. Ha! The babies around here seem to be a week or even two ahead of crows in other parts of the city.
“If you take a bit of time and get to know your local crows”
Sure, if you’ve got time to waste. Otherwise a 22 gauge air-rifle is a great way to get up close and personal with the noisy buggers.