Tuesday, June 16, 2009

The Bully

There's a robin that lives outside our apartment building that absolutely HATES the kestrel. Seems like all birds do these days, but this robin is exceptional in his distaste. Every morning when I leave with the kestrel on my fist he comes zooming in to buzz my bird no more than a foot from my face! I'm not exaggerating its proximity either, literally 12 inches, occasionally closer! I can't tell you how many times I've instinctively ducked when out of the corner of my eye this red-breasted ball of fury comes hurtling towards my head!

This morning he was in particularly good form, making perhaps a dozen passes at us before we made it into the car. You'd think a bright red enclosure of metal and glass would stifle the attack but this robin knows we're in there and will keep dive bombing the car until I'm moving out of the parking lot. And the scary thing is, it apparently remembers we're in there an hour later!

When I returned from hawking this morning (not bad, but nothing to blog about) the robin resumed its attack before I'd even left the car! I had scarcely I pulled into a parking spot when I heard the tell tale war cry sound from the roof of the garages behind us and the rufous defender was after us again! Confident in the car's stolidity, I proceeded to let the kestrel finish a tidbit when I hear a loud *thwack* on my window. The robin actually hit the car! There were wing prints on the window!

Head bowed in deference (not submission!!) to the bold little Turdis Migratorius I quickly bolted for the safety of my apartment. I'm not scared of The Bully, I swear I'm not, but that sucker might just put out my eye if I'm not careful!

4 comments:

Joel said...

LOL - reminds me of one who attacked his reflection every spring in our kitchen window. It carried on for several years.
How does your bird respond?

Isaac said...

My bird is mobbed by vicious groups of grackles, robins, and starlings every time we go out. She's used to multiple attackers she has to fend off essentially by herself, when she's on my fist in the car she barely flinches. I think my reactions are probably funnier to watch!

Mom N said...

Is it nesting time for the robins?
Why do all those other birds attack the kestrel? Is that normal?

Isaac said...

All birds have young around right now and the kestrel, being a predator and all, is not appreciated. Yeah, it's pretty normal for this time of year.