Most dangerous birds encountered whilst birding (1 Viewer)

[Hamasmith]

So far I have never been attacked by a bird. However, I have a passage down the side of my home which has a fence and a thick hedge. Every spring and summer I take my life in my hands as the hedge is full of House Sparrows which use the passage as a super highway. The Sparrows are a noisy and cantankerous lot and chase each other up and down the passage. Only once was I struck by one of them. It got stuck in my jacket and gave me such a scolding I ended up apologising to it.

Harold.

 

[dantheman]

I've had blood drawn by the infamous Farne Island Arctic terns on two occasions too - despite wearing a hat. Once whilst talking to a group of schoolkids - made for a bit of entertainment at the time as the blood trickled down ...

Also had a Pied Flycatcher land on my knee whilst I was sat on a bench on Inner Farne - so light I couldn't even feel it. (That's probably one for the 'least' dangerous birds encountered thread though ... )

 

[dantheman]

I think I can safely say that the danger is overrated. I've been up close and personal with them in the wild, which has been hair-raising but have never been attacked or injured.

Every year however, people here are injured by Australian Magpies attacking them during nesting season.

But when they do attack, I'd suspect they could possibly do a little more damage ...

??

 

[Katy Penland]

After rescuing a Brown Pelican from being entangled in fishing line on a jetty in Marina del Rey, I was walking back to my car when I tripped over a raised crack in the sidewalk and hit chin first on the concrete. Got four broken teeth and 15 stitches in my chin (skin and muscle). I blamed the pelican, of course. o

 

[Accentor]

I haven't actually been harmed by any birds, except for a few birds extracted from mist nets that have drawn blood. I've been threatened by Canada Geese and dive-bombed by Southern Lapwings and Red-winged Blackbirds.

The incessant high-pitched calling of Killdeer, when birding amongst a large number of breeders, has sometimes caused temporary mental harm!

oh those killdeers don't have to physically attack with those piecing voices of theirs. It takes a few days to get that sound out of your head.

I've been dive bombed and struck by Brewer's Blackbirds and Mockingbirds many times. The only injuries I received was a sprained finger from an enraged Canada Goose when I unknowingly stumbled upon his family in a park. A western Gull struck me in the ear once.

 

[Winterdune]

No cassowary stories yet?

 

[Larry Lade]

No cassowary stories yet?

Cassowary is mentioned in post # 11 and post # 13.

 

[Kratter]

When I started birding in the 1970s, I remember hearing that the cassowary was the most dangerous bird, especially when cornered; their razor sharp toes and muscular legs could eviscerate the unwary. In 2000 I finally ventured into the range of the Southern Cassowary in the Fly River drainage in New Guinea, and scared up a cassowary. But I soon realized that though rainforests have lots of nooks and crannies for critters to hide, there are absolutely no corners!

Andy

 

[Robert L Jarvis]

Barred Owl in Florida, it attacked our car as we were driving near a hammock. Also have seen a Great Grey Owl attack a coat ploaced near it. As for Ural Owls you know when it is bobbing up and down that is the time to retreat.

 

[Monahawk]

A wren! A little b*****d flew out of a hedge I was trimming, into my face one autumn a few years back. As a result I fell of the step ladder I was on and fractured my left collar bone, not to mention nearly decapitating myself with the hedge trimmer. Never trusted the little buggers since.

Si