Pratt

I think magpies are kind of infamous for attacking cyclists, and may even have caused the odd fatality.

GamblerGORD53

PIC assist. LOL



Not far away .....

Driving down the Natchez Trace in Tennessee, in my Volvo. LOL. .

jaxgtr

There is a cell tower area on the University of North Florida campus that seems to be a roosting spot for buzzards, one day last winter I rode by and there was about 75 of them on the ground. It was a very cold day, so not a lot of hot air rising that day for them to glide on.

rsbob 

What an interesting set of signs. Bikes can take the ‘full’ lane by heaven forbid riding two abreast. If bikes were relegated to the shoulder, then single file would make more sense. Maybe I am interpreting it all wrong.

indyfabz

The funny thing is that he was all gobble, no peck. A neighbor pulled up in her truck and explained to me that he was the pet of a woman who lived a few properties down. Because he was in the roadway, she shooed him away. He literally turned tail and ran back through the fence like a scared kitten. With his feathers folded up, he wasn't nearly as imposing looking. Sort of like a peacock.

indyfabz

We got some harassment from magpies several times while riding across the country, especially in ND and IA. They can be really aggressive.

There was one bird species (forget the name) that would go to the ground and act like it had a broken wing. One of the people on our group told us that it was to distract potential predators from a nearby nest. Steller's jays were also menacing. One afternoon in camp in the North Cascade National Park, our leader had an unboxed bag of cereal strapped to the back of the bag of his B.O.B. trailer. Right in front of us, a jay landed on the bag and started pecking at the bag to get at the cereal inside. No fear whatsoever. You really had to watch what you left out when they were around.

Dow at the NJ shore, you have to very mindful while walking the boardwalks with food. Seagulls will swoop down from behind and grab that hot dog or even pizza right out of your hand. I have seen children get traumatized that way. At least one shore town has been hiring a bird handler during the summer. He walks the boards at night with a big owl perched on his arm. It has been wildly successful at keeping the gulls at bay.

pdlamb

Black buzzard is a separate species from a turkey buzzard. Turkey buzzard has a naked red head, while black buzzard has a black head.

FWIW, black buzzards have been migrating south for the last month, so the skies have been full of them here.

Killdeer? Killdeer - Wikipedia They're kind of cute, until they've successfully bred and take over a parking lot.

indyfabz

Thanks. That might be it. We would see them in field areas with relatively low grass. And I definitely remember them having red on their rumps.

rsbob 

Should you be worried…. If you hear behind you the clatter of claws hitting the pavement closing in on you?


I have had this happen twice with different dogs coming out of nowhere. The first one I managed to outsprint hitting nearly 30. The second one caught up and then passed me thinking it was a fun game. The second then ran about 1/10th of a mile pacing me and then disappeared down a driveway.

terrymorse 

I had a Jack Russel terrier race me once, uphill, but he stayed on the sidewalk while I was on the road. I threw some trash talk at him, which made him run even faster.

Chuck M 

They don't tend to be successful with that around here. They will make nests of small rocks in gravel parking lots and that makes the eggs snake food.

Korina

I was assaulted by a starling once; evidently I was walking too close to its nest and it gave up screaming at me and flew from behind and pecked me in the back of the head. Possibly harder than intended, because it silently flew off and didn't come back. I was left with a sore head; no blood, though.