Friday, June 12, 2009
Old Time San Franciscan Says "This Is Nothing New"
A 5th generation San Francisco man reported today that "those swoopers have been getting me for over 50 years." He stated that the attacks mostly occurr when he "walks his dog by the trees" at Sloat and Morningside Drive in the Sunset District of San Francisco. He added "I have yet to backdown to the 'swoopers' and will continue to walk my dog by the trees." I have my money on the birds.
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that would be the SUNSET district dearie.....morningside is the place where it all began!
ReplyDeleteI think this old guy is on the money. There are other birds of the same species who are doing some "swooping" a couple of blocks East of here.
ReplyDeleteYou anonymous commenters and geriatrics are all wrong. What Swoops is doing is totally unique. Please don't try to devalue the Swoops Brand (c).
ReplyDeletemaybe true but u never should turn your back while walking thru the trees......swoopers are maybe not historicaly acceptable but i have the peck marks to show for it. though quite faded after 50 years!
ReplyDeleteSwoops was just deemed a patriot on The O'Reilly Factor.
ReplyDeleteMy husband told me about these birds swooping down and pecking his (bald) head in West Portal long before I came to San Francisco in 2000. It's why he started to wear his signature baseball caps.
ReplyDeleteBut Swoops is in a class by himself, I must agree.
Hello! I'm working on a piece about this bird for a local paper... is there an email address at which I may reach the author, to give credit and to find out more? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteJust saw this on ABC7- hadn't heard about it! Go, Swoopster!
ReplyDeleteObviously, mobbing behavior of birds is not new. But I love that through Swoops, people are taking a bit more interest in these fantastic birds (Brewer's blackbirds).
ReplyDeletebtw: I think someone already mentioned this in an earlier post. Swoops's babies will be on the ground at some point, getting fed by mom and dad. Unless they're injured, they do not need rescuing. The parents take care of them for a few weeks until they can learn to fly. Fledglings should only be touched or moved if they're in immediate danger -- e.g. on the road, with cars, stalked by cats. Then, just lift them into the nearest safe tree or shrub. Parents do come back unless they, themselves, have been killed. They do not "smell" humans after we've touched the babies. They will continue to take care of them.
Just wanted to post that here since people seem to be checking in with Swoops updates.
These blackbirds are nesting at Genentech in SSF too. They have chosen some great spots next to a well trafficked lobby and parking lot. I've been hit four times in the past two weeks. I'm not frightened by them anymore, just a bit amused. In all my efforts to avoid them on my way to the car, those speedy mama birds still have no trouble finding my head!
ReplyDeleteIt's been interesting to watch them (and their targets). I'm happy to say that my company has posted signs and cordoned off the area where the nests are.
Anonymous writing for a local paper. Email questions to frontstreetattackbird@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteHave a good day!
I remember being hit more than once when living in the Bay. As I recall there were some hawks at the San Jose eBay campus that exhibited similar behavior several years back. I'd consider a peck from a blackbird to be preferable to a hawk's talons.
ReplyDeleteI hope nobody hurts him for doing what he's supposed to be doing! He'll stop mobbing as soon as the babies are old enough to fly.
ReplyDeleteI have so many wild birds out here in Hayward where I live. They snitch the dry cat food I put out for the stray cats and they have their own feeder I keep full too. The crows and bluejays come for the peanuts (and cat food) and they are so used to me now they bring their babies to show them where the gravy train is.
Yesterday I had a little gangly baby crow on the back porch talking and eating dry cat food. (shaking head) It's good to be the bird lady.
Im finding this amusing. In Australia we have a black and white colored bird called the Magpie, that in sping will do exactly the same thing. Only that there are hundreds and thousands of them in every city! Just google "Magpie Attacks" and you'll get lots of results.
ReplyDelete