I'm under attack

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Bass

Registered:1188959030
Posts: 2,428

Posted 1310177708	Reply with quote #1

Two days ago while watering my vegetable garden, a bird flew down and hit me on the head. I stopped I looked up and it was a Robin, I continued walking by my figs and the bird kept attacking me. I found the Robin nest in my grapevine near my vegetable garden and several of my figs. Yesterday it kept attacking me, and it seems that now the male is helping her with the attacks. My wife had to hold a stick to keep them from hitting me while I'm picking tomatoes and cucumbers. I feel bad, I know it's protecting its babies, but what got me mad is while my son was picking raspberries they were attacking him and my boy was running and screaming... Now we are being attacked every time we're in the garden. what would you do? __________________ Pennsylvania http://www.treesofjoy.com https://www.facebook.com/pages/Trees-of-Joy/110193909021138

FrozenJoe

Registered:1244509224
Posts: 1,115

Posted 1310177991	Reply with quote #2

I would pick up the nest and move it somewhere else farther away from the garden. I would wear a hat and work gloves and lots of clothes and have a helper with a broom. __________________ Joe Phoenix Area (Zone 9) I am MrFrozenJoe on YouTube. I am arizonafigs on eBay.

rafed

Registered:1252876934
Posts: 5,308

Posted 1310178007	Reply with quote #3

Get a 12ga. with a modified choke and use some dove shots. If the problem presists then move up to an extra full choke and triple XXX buck shots. This should take care of the birds, the nest and the tree with one shot.

noss

Registered:1244523274
Posts: 2,122

Posted 1310178263	Reply with quote #4

RAFED!!! NO!!! Not a Robin!!! They're usually not so aggressive like that. I vote for relocating the nest somewhere safer for everyone. :) noss __________________ noss/a.k.a. Vivian Lafayette, LA Zone 9a Wish List: Col de Dame Blanc, Col de Dame Noir, Scott's Yellow, Tony's Brown Italian, any other fig that is good in the rain/humidity and has a real figgy flavor.

satellitehead

Registered:1257988353
Posts: 3,687

Posted 1310178724	Reply with quote #5

Viv, I dunno about you, but Robins are DAMN aggressive here. The thing is, if they made a nest there one year, they will probably be back next year at the same location. If moving the nest doesn't stop the attacks, shoot the bird. __________________ Jason Atlanta/Grant Park area - z8

Bass

Registered:1188959030
Posts: 2,428

Posted 1310179608	Reply with quote #6

I'm so afraid of coming anywhere near the nest... I don't know about re locating it... Are Robins edible? __________________ Pennsylvania http://www.treesofjoy.com https://www.facebook.com/pages/Trees-of-Joy/110193909021138

OttawanZ5

Registered:1192897779
Posts: 2,551

Posted 1310179816	Reply with quote #7

I have a robin nest in a cedar hedge which belongs to my neighbour on the property line. It is next and close to my two sweet cherry trees and they don't have to go too far for their meals. They get to the fruit as soon the cherry ripen so now the few cherries left on the opposite side of the tree I get them when they are red i.e. before ripening (or else they are gone too). For whatever reason they are not attacking though. __________________ Ottawan-Z5a, Canada

possum_trot

Registered:1269047402
Posts: 224

Posted 1310180222	Reply with quote #8

I think that it is against the law to kill a song bird in this country, but baby birds mature really fast and will probably be gone within 2 weeks if you can wait it out. __________________ Susan Brown County, Indiana zone 6

Bass

Registered:1188959030
Posts: 2,428

Posted 1310180348	Reply with quote #9

I know it's against the law, we are joking. right Rafed? I like birds, but this experience reminded me of the horror movie Birds by alfred Hitchcock. __________________ Pennsylvania http://www.treesofjoy.com https://www.facebook.com/pages/Trees-of-Joy/110193909021138

rafed

Registered:1252876934
Posts: 5,308

Posted 1310180521	Reply with quote #10

Yes, I like birds too.

tmc2009

Registered:1305513080
Posts: 854

Posted 1310183134	Reply with quote #11

Robbins are eating my blueberries so I'm building some more frames to hang the bird netting on. My three year old grapevines are loaded with grapes this year too. I'll need to cover them soon. I took out a chipmunk today with my airmaster 77 bb gun. Home depot had a new rat trap made of plastic thats like a foot pedal. You use your foot to set it and no chance of getting your fingers caught. I cut down my cherry trees. Didn't get one cherry. There was some kind of end rot and the birds and chipmunk got the rest. They're too much work. You have to prune them just right to get cherries. I have redhaven peaches and golden delicious apples to replace them. __________________ Tom Massachusetts Zone 6b

noss

Registered:1244523274
Posts: 2,122

Posted 1310183254	Reply with quote #12

How do you mean that Rafed? Stewed, fried, smothered down with veggies? LOL! Our son used to go hunt blackbirds (starlings) with his friends and they would cook and eat them. They had to have a mess of them for a good meal, but those are trash birds here and it didn't matter if anyone hunted them. One time, Michael brought home half dozen little bird breasts (the only part that has any meat to speak of) and he happened to mention they were robins (they come down here for the winter, but don't nest here). I wanted to skin him alive for killing robins. Now my curiosity is piqued about the aggressiveness y'all have spoken of. In NJ, if we would find a baby robin that fell from the nest too soon, we would rig up an old bird cage, or box and put the babies in there and the parents would just keep feeding it until it was old enough to fly off with them. The parents didn't care how close we were to the bird cage, or box, they'd just go on into the cage and feed the baby right in front of us. Maybe your robins have been hanging out with the mockingbirds and catbirds and bluejays. I found a tiny baby bird one year and it didn't have any feathers on it yet, so I decided since there were all kinds of mockingbirds hanging around the baby and they were yelling, it must be a baby mockingbird, so I tried to give it to them by rigging up a box for its safety, but the mockingbirds wouldn't go anywhere near it. I gave up and took the baby into the house to raise it myself, which I did, but before long, the baby started to put out some real feathers and they were blue! It wasn't a mockingbird baby, it was a baby bluejay and the MBs and BJs hate each other with a passion. The mockingbirds were wanting to kill the baby jay, not protect it and it never occurred to me that if it had been a baby mockingbird, I would have been dive-bombed by the whole lot of them. Yes, Bass, birds are edible. Are you sure they're robins? Brownish heads and backs with a rust-red breast for the male and dustier colors for the female? Maybe NJ robins are just more gentle, or somthing because they used to make nests on our front porch and they were NEVER aggressive in any way, just sweet, gentle birds. They weren't afraid of us and they didn't care if we were on the porch talking to them or watching them. What does your kamakaze robin pair look like? They sound like they're acting more like mockingbirds. Now, you talk about attacks--They know now to do that. I hope you'll relocate the nest and it will work out. noss __________________ noss/a.k.a. Vivian Lafayette, LA Zone 9a Wish List: Col de Dame Blanc, Col de Dame Noir, Scott's Yellow, Tony's Brown Italian, any other fig that is good in the rain/humidity and has a real figgy flavor.

TucsonKen

Registered:1246833094
Posts: 1,298

Posted 1310184411	Reply with quote #13

Very doubtful the parents would continue taking care of the kids if you move the nest. Birds tend to be more keyed in on location than on physical features, so their nest in the wrong place may no longer be recognizable to them as "their" nest. __________________ Ken Tucson, Arizona Zone 8b

TucsonKen

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Posts: 1,298

Posted 1310184992	Reply with quote #14

Noss, I started my post before you finished yours; it sounds like from your experience that maybe robins would deal okay with a relocated nest. Interesting solution! Reminds me of a funny story--a former co-worker & bird watcher, who is quite tall, discovered a hummingbird nest in his back yard. His wife wasn't tall enough to look into the nest, and without thinking it through, cut off the branch with a pair of loppers so she could see if there were any eggs in the nest--which there were. She felt terrible once she realized what she had done, but they overlapped the branch where it had been cut and screwed it back together with drywall screws. A little shorter then it had been, but the hummers didn't seem to mind, and successfully reared their little brood. __________________ Ken Tucson, Arizona Zone 8b

noss

Registered:1244523274
Posts: 2,122

Posted 1310185744	Reply with quote #15

Hi Ken, There are many old wives' tales around about birds and one is never try to put a baby bird back into its nest because after you touch it, the parents won't feed it again. Not so. Birds don't have keen sense of smell, so they don't smell us on the baby and most parent birds will feed their babies wherever they are found no matter what they have to do. They know where those babies are. I'm sure, if someone relocated a nest a long way from where it was originally, the parents might not hear their babies, or if they are just eggs, find the eggs. Bass' robins sound like they'd be right there and would see where the nest would be relocated to, the way they are attacking them. Sometimes, even if a parent bird is killed and there are babies, the other birds of the same kind will feed those orphaned babies. Neat, eh? noss __________________ noss/a.k.a. Vivian Lafayette, LA Zone 9a Wish List: Col de Dame Blanc, Col de Dame Noir, Scott's Yellow, Tony's Brown Italian, any other fig that is good in the rain/humidity and has a real figgy flavor.

TucsonKen

Registered:1246833094
Posts: 1,298

Posted 1310185858	Reply with quote #16

One other thought (which is admittedly a big reach)--but do these birds always attack from behind? Some animals prefer not to face their "victims." I have a friend who does eagle research in many remote areas in the US and other parts of the world. We were once discussing mountain lion attacks, and he told be about a trick he picked up from rural people in some country I don't remember. He said they discouraged big cat attacks by wearing hats with wide open eyes painted on the backs, and he had started doing the same thing in mountain lion habitat. Many big cats prefer to ambush their victims and kill from behind with a bite to the base of the skull or back of the neck. I guess with "eyes in the backs of their heads", these folks didn't appear to be easy prey. Maybe you could scare these "raptor robins" with the same approach! __________________ Ken Tucson, Arizona Zone 8b

rafed

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Posts: 5,308

Posted 1310186509	Reply with quote #17

Ken, I can honestly tell you when I was a kid I was attacked by a bunch of Blue Jays from behind. I stole a baby Blue Jay and all hell broke loose. I felt a couple pecks in the back of my head and neck. Through it all I was Victorious!

TucsonKen

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Posts: 1,298

Posted 1310186661	Reply with quote #18

Rafed--those birds considered you a "suspect". ;-) __________________ Ken Tucson, Arizona Zone 8b

rafed

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Posts: 5,308

Posted 1310187186	Reply with quote #19

Was caught red handed

TucsonKen

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Posts: 1,298

Posted 1310187533	Reply with quote #20

It's a good thing you only took a baby, and didn't try to run off with one of their fig trees instead! __________________ Ken Tucson, Arizona Zone 8b

rafed

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Posts: 5,308

Posted 1310187869	Reply with quote #21

LOL Ken

Dieseler

Registered:1215735852
Posts: 8,252

Posted 1310188988	Reply with quote #22

Bass the robins and Blackbirds here in my yard and on side of house do the same thing you describe mostly toward the dogs. They have yet to actually hit them but i have seen them go at the dogs mostly as they are walking toward the patio. I have seen the baby birds learning to fly in our yard and they were just protecting them and i would shoe the dogs away. Luckily the small birds could take refuge up in the the evergreen bush out of there reach. If moving nest is not an option - What you can do is put a hose out in the yard you know kids love to play with the water hoses and when they see one of them birds let them have some harmless fun and in mean time i may keep the birds out of there way .

hoosierbanana

Registered:1287901146
Posts: 2,186

Posted 1310192959	Reply with quote #23

I think it's okay to move it. If they are that devoted they are going to follow you (pecking) the whole way. Maybe get a basket to put the nest in to make it easier to get up in the air and away from predators, if you could hoist it up higher into a shade tree maybe the adults would not be so tense. Protect your eyes! I used to have a Carolina Wren that would nest in a hanging basket (that I then of course had to stop watering and let the passion flower die), and the light fixtures outside (that needed to have their bulbs removed). The worst part was she was always by the door and ended up inside a few times. Birds are not smart, those robins picked a bad spot so in order to successfully raise their chicks they could really use your help. Cats and snakes could easily get the nest in a low spot like they chose. __________________ 7a, DE

Bass

Registered:1188959030
Posts: 2,428

Posted 1310206657	Reply with quote #24

I raise canaries, and if I ever touch a canary egg, the mother will abandoned it. So I doubt it's a good idea to relocate the nest, I'm not even sure if their eggs have hatched. Here's a black bird that I found in the garden. It was probably a baby. He did not mind going on my hand. Attached Images 253514_10150273773271322_689381321_8812288_2358908_n.jpg (168.76 KB, 34 views) __________________ Pennsylvania http://www.treesofjoy.com https://www.facebook.com/pages/Trees-of-Joy/110193909021138

jusalda

Registered:1243030126
Posts: 152

Posted 1310222185	Reply with quote #25

Bass you must be living in paradise :) __________________ Remis Romeoville,IL Zone 5 Ebay ID : remis79 My website: http://www.jusalda.com Portfolio : http://www.flickr.com/photos/jusalda/

FrozenJoe

Registered:1244509224
Posts: 1,115

Posted 1310224236	Reply with quote #26

Does it really matter that much if they abandon the nest? At least the problem will be gone and you won't have to use a firearm or bb gun near your home. __________________ Joe Phoenix Area (Zone 9) I am MrFrozenJoe on YouTube. I am arizonafigs on eBay.

Figluvah

Registered:1297432492
Posts: 1,111

Posted 1310224983	Reply with quote #27

Bass, After serious consideration and lotz of thought I have it all figured out, you need to feed that mama bird and her babies! Feed them some #6- 410 bird shot. __________________ Cecil (Z 8b?) in the sticks of E.Tx (Elkhart/Palestine TX)

rafed

Registered:1252876934
Posts: 5,308

Posted 1310226297	Reply with quote #28

I'm with Cecil,

hoosierbanana

Registered:1287901146
Posts: 2,186

Posted 1310227732	Reply with quote #29

I guess I should have done my googling first, glad you did not take my naive advice right away! Birds will abandon nests or eggs if they are disturbed, they are very visual and think there is a predator around. They can't detect human smells though, like Noss said, so your canaries must have noticed the eggs were in a different position. Robins can even detect other bird eggs in their nests because of their different shapes. Robins nest 2-3 feet off the ground in bushes so that is the perfect spot for them. This is probably their second nest of the season and there may be other baby robins spread around from their first clutch still; they move babies out of the nest as they grow to separate locations. Maybe they will get used to you? Or tired? Good luck. __________________ 7a, DE

fortisi876

Registered:1272118749
Posts: 81

Posted 1310228009	Reply with quote #30

Robins can be downright crazy at times. A few yrs back, I had one that would perch up on the railing on my MBR balcony and just fly itself into the patio door then perch back onto the railing repeatedly it seemed until we got out of bed. I wasn't that upset about it until it got earlier and earlier as the days went by. No nest, no nothing, what in Gods earth did that thing want from us? :D

TucsonKen

Registered:1246833094
Posts: 1,298

Posted 1310228375	Reply with quote #31

They don't seem to tire easily. There was a mockingbird that used to drive me nuts when I was painting in the studio. At various times during the day it would perch on the window sill, and every 10 seconds or so would peck its reflection in the glass in an attempt to drive the "intruder" away. This "click" ... "click" ... "click" ... went on for hours at a time, day after day, for several weeks, till I was expecting to see it with its beak worn down to a nub. Who knows why it finally stopped--maybe something ate it. __________________ Ken Tucson, Arizona Zone 8b

copperlilly

Registered:1308000974
Posts: 8

Posted 1310230109	Reply with quote #32

How about a water gun.

rafed

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Posts: 5,308

Posted 1310232420	Reply with quote #33

Are you referring to the water gun connected to a Fire truck?

copperlilly

Registered:1308000974
Posts: 8

Posted 1310235830	Reply with quote #34

That should work !

Bass

Registered:1188959030
Posts: 2,428

Posted 1310247547	Reply with quote #35

Well, just walked out to the garden and picked some brebas that were very ripe. The bird kept flying down like a missile and attacked me several times. At this point it's getting way annoying. I was about to through the large figs I just picked at it, wasn't even thinking. __________________ Pennsylvania http://www.treesofjoy.com https://www.facebook.com/pages/Trees-of-Joy/110193909021138

rafed

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Posts: 5,308

Posted 1310247888	Reply with quote #36

Bass, Walmart has a nice pump pellet rifle with a tin of pellets and scope for under $50. Just like on the other thread. Just a matter of time it attacks one of your kids and this time could be too late! Take care of the problem before the problem takes care of you. Or just take the nest and put it else where far away and not worry about what happens.

satellitehead

Registered:1257988353
Posts: 3,687

Posted 1310263487	Reply with quote #37

Two words: Tennis Racquet If it doesn't learn after the first swipe, then keep going until it does. __________________ Jason Atlanta/Grant Park area - z8

noss

Registered:1244523274
Posts: 2,122

Posted 1310283504

Reply with quote #38

Ken,

That's what the people in India do. They wear masks with faces painted on them, on the back of their heads. They do that in an area along a river where the tigers love people meat. I wonder what a bird would do? It just might work, Bass. Some bugs have big, fake eyes on parts of their bodies like that to scare predators away from them.

Rafed, don't you mean you were caught blue-handed?

Maybe New Jersey Robins are a cut above the Robins in other states? :)

We had sweet Robins. Are there different kinds of Robins in this country? I never looked to see. But Bass, you're just one state over from NJ.

I know--It HAS to be global warming effects upon their tiny brains. Dries up their brain juices and makes them behave in bizarre ways.

Canaries are finches and Robins are thrushes. (I love canaries)

Rather than shoot the Robins, I would move the nest and not worry about what happens. It's not a good idea to let them stay where they are if there are kids that could be pecked and frightened.

Be glad, be VERY glad that you don't live here in the Land of the Mockingbird. You talk about getting attacked! Little feathered thugs and they steal all my figs, that the squirrel doesn't get!

noss

__________________
noss/a.k.a. Vivian Lafayette, LA Zone 9a Wish List: Col de Dame Blanc, Col de Dame Noir, Scott's Yellow, Tony's Brown Italian, any other fig that is good in the rain/humidity and has a real figgy flavor.

BLB

Registered:1214341548
Posts: 2,936

Posted 1310301328	Reply with quote #39

Get a cat, keep the canaries up high out of reach of said cat and enjoy your yard

rafed

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Posts: 5,308

Posted 1310306224	Reply with quote #40

Way to go Barry! Tweety and Sylvester or I should say Thylvethter

texascockatoos

Registered:1278784595
Posts: 384

Posted 1310329783	Reply with quote #41

Motor Cycle Helmet. __________________ Cathy Central, Texas (Zone 8A) http://www.texascockatoos.com

TucsonKen

Registered:1246833094
Posts: 1,298

Posted 1310343623	Reply with quote #42

A tennis racquet Jason? I thought for birdies you needed a badminton racquet. Not a bad idea, Cathy. One of the curators where I used to work was getting attacked every day by some kind of hawk (Coopers? I don't remember) that was nesting on her property, so she began wearing a bicycle helmet and wrapping her dashboard shade around her shoulders while running to and from the car in order to keep from getting injured. She said the first attack caught her unawares, and for a moment she thought someone had sneaked up and hit her in the back of the head with a club. Once she got to work, she discovered she still had a piece of talon embedded in her scalp. My then 10-year old son got hit in the back of his neck and ear by an overly protective Harris hawk as he was shortcutting through a wash behind our house on his way home from school. Later I learned that mama hawk had been escalating the threat level each day, but he was ignoring the warnings. I suggested he change his route for a few weeks to give her time for an attitude adjustment, which did the trick. __________________ Ken Tucson, Arizona Zone 8b

satellitehead

Registered:1257988353
Posts: 3,687

Posted 1310345762	Reply with quote #43

I was going to say the same, Ken, but then I realized not everyone would know what badminton was. I figured tennis is pretty universal. I sacrificed the joke for the sake of understanding :( __________________ Jason Atlanta/Grant Park area - z8

TucsonKen

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Posts: 1,298

Posted 1310347894	Reply with quote #44

I should have known! At any rate, I'm rarely able to pass up a play on words (or is it birds?). __________________ Ken Tucson, Arizona Zone 8b

satellitehead

Registered:1257988353
Posts: 3,687

Posted 1310348411	Reply with quote #45

I'm right there with you. One of my acquired (in-law) aunts and I have a special heart-to-heart relationship for puns and plays on words. I LOVE it. It takes a special, thoughtful and witty kind of person to be able to recognize it. Please know that I appreciate you completely, brother. __________________ Jason Atlanta/Grant Park area - z8

TucsonKen

Registered:1246833094
Posts: 1,298

Posted 1310350382	Reply with quote #46

And a special kind of patient, long-suffering spouse to endure it. My wife has heard my puns so many times that her eyes start rolling before I've even recognized the opportunity to deliver one. __________________ Ken Tucson, Arizona Zone 8b

satellitehead

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Posts: 3,687

Posted 1310350661	Reply with quote #47

I feel your pain. __________________ Jason Atlanta/Grant Park area - z8

TucsonKen

Registered:1246833094
Posts: 1,298

Posted 1310359349	Reply with quote #48

No pain here--anyone who puts up with my sense of humor for that many years without demanding a refund is a treasure indeed! __________________ Ken Tucson, Arizona Zone 8b

JCA

Registered:1276059271
Posts: 65

Posted 1310405895	Reply with quote #49

Some birds like grackles and crows are actually very intelligent and can problem solve! They can problem solve better than some people.

genecolin

Registered:1248866064
Posts: 1,542

Posted 1310521297	Reply with quote #50

hoosier I'll vouch for Rafed. A finer person I've never met. I'm not choosing sides but I think you carried this a little too far. It's sad a person who cannot see the humor in life or tolerate the humor of others. You make this sound like a personal vendetta against you. Maybe you should move on since you don't seem to fit here. Go eat some shrooms and you'll feel better. "gene" a proud and gentile member of f4f __________________ From the bayou, "gene" zone 9 Houma, La.

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