‘A daily event’: Red-winged blackbirds attack Etobicoke residents

Security camera captured the moment an aggressive red-winged blackbird dive-bombed a delivery driver - one of many such incidents reported across the city.

They sit, waiting for anyone to cross into their territory and then, they attack.

Danielle Lowzon was walking in Etobicoke on Friday when a blackbird swooped by her ear.

“I just felt a whoosh of air pass my head and it freaked me out, ” she says.

Steve Blanchard says he is constantly threatened. “I try to get out daily. So it’s a daily event,” he says.

While Talika Sheehan says, “It is. It’s crazy. They’re so aggressive this year.”

According to Sheehan, their Etobicoke neighbourhood near Kipling and Dundas has always had blackbirds, but this year they are more aggressive. A nest is located near her front door.

“I mean, I can’t use my front door anymore,” she says. “I have to sneak out the side. My kids and I are all on it every day when we’re on our way to school. They know to watch the birds.”

Sheehan has even posted to Facebook videos from her home security camera showing anyone who tries to approach the house being attacked. In various videos, a bird can be seen diving towards their heads, constantly fluttering around them until they walk away from the front door.

“Red-winged blackbirds are very territorial,” Andrea Chreston of the Toronto Region and Conservation Authority says.

According to Chreston, mid-June is prime breeding season, a time when blackbirds have set up their territory and their nests are full of babies. The male of the species actively defends this area to protect his babies “so that his genetic material can be passed on and survive into the future,” she says.

Chreston says the birds’ goal is simply to drive any threats out of the area.

Ron Glatt lives next door to a nest, and he has seen a lot of attacks. “It seems like, especially people who are distracted, like if you’re on your phone or not paying attention, that’s when they really try to get you,” he says.

Some on the street, like Steve Blanchard, are making peace with the blackbirds. He says, “living in the city. It makes you feel a little closer to nature, I think.”

According to Chreston, breeding season will last for a most weeks at most, but Sheehan has a nest right in her front yard.

“There’s also one in the bush in our neighbour’s yard over there as well, and possibly one in (a nearby) tree,” she says.

Typically, the advice for those who don’t want to be attacked is to avoid the area—something Sheehan cannot simply do.

“Explain to me how I’m supposed to avoid the area. I can’t. It’s literally at my front door. I can’t avoid walking past them all day,” Sheehan says.