'Pretty evil birds' are dive-bombing pedestrians in Etobicoke, residents say

Red-winged blackbirds are dive-bombing residents of one Toronto neighbourhood, swooping down and pecking at their heads, but an expert says there's not too much the locals can do as the birds protect their nests.

On one street in Etobicoke, near Kipling Avenue and Dundas Street W., the birds with the distinctive markings are annoying and even frightening residents. In some cases, if the pedestrians flee, the birds will chase.

Ron Glatt, a local resident who has lived in the area for four years, said on Thursday that the attacks seem to be worse this year than last. He said the red-winged blackbirds live in the trees in the area, including outside his house.

"We've just really been seeing them be more aggressive than usual," Glatt said. 

"When people are running, it seems to make things worse. The birds will follow them down the street. We've seen delivery drivers get repeatedly attacked while they're trying to deliver packages. So yeah, they're pretty evil birds."

Glatt said his home security camera footage has shown instances where people have been attacked to the point where they have fallen over.

Glatt said it would be good if the birds found another area in which to nest. But failing that, he said he has found that staring at the birds, or making eye contact, is one way to lessen attacks.

"Walking backwards and looking at the birds tends to work pretty well," he said.

One of the homeowners who lives in the neighbourhood told CBC Toronto that her family stopped using the front door to avoid getting attacked.

Tristan Boswell, another resident, said he was pecked in the head earlier this week in the evening when he was not wearing anything on his head.

"It's a territorial bird just protecting its eggs. And it's annoying," he said.

"I've seen people, when people are just passing through, get swooped on and they're like, they're being attacked by some invisible enemy, but it's just a bird nesting and trying to protect its little ones."

Boswell said he thinks the birds' behaviour is more of an inconvenience rather than a major problem, but he said the city could perhaps put decoys of hawks or owls or blue jays in the trees to ward the red-winged blackbirds off.

"Nothing invasive or anything like that... because life is life, you know," he said.