Nesting crows attacking pedestrians in downtown Vancouver

You might want to keep your head up and your hat on if you walk down the 800 block of Richards Street (near Robson), where nesting crows have been attacking pedestrians since late April.

Or, you could carry an open umbrella rain or shinelike Jim O'Leary does.

"I look a little funny but it's better than getting hit in the back of the head by a crow," saidO' Leary,who works in the office building right beside the tree that contains the crows' nest.

"They do draw blood"

Many of his co-workers are regularly dive-bombed as they walk to work, says O' Leary, who hasn't been personally attacked ...yet.

Rowena Tansleyhasn't been as lucky.

"I just heard alot of cawing, somebody yelled at me to watch out," recalls Tansley. Shenow always pulls up her hood when approaching her office, as do many of her colleagues.

"They do draw blood," warns Tansley, as crows swoop down from power-lines, attacking passersbywith alarming regularity.

Natural behavior

Even though theaggressivebehaviour can seem right outof a Hitchcock movie, zoologist Wayne Goodeysays the birds are just doing what comes naturally byprotecting their vulnerable young.

"They're not doing this to upset people," saidthe UBC lecturer. "They're doing to it because historically it's been the best way to deter potentialnest predators from their area."

Goodey says crows are amongst the most intelligent birds and have an ability to adapt and learn.

"They have tremendously long memories," saidGoodey. He says crows appear to remember a person who has yelled at or thrown things at them, and are far more likely to attack that personthan a stranger even two or three yearsafter the initial encounter.

"You could say they hold grudges, in asense," saidGoodey. Crows don't attack everyperson that passes a nest, but merely resembling a perceived predator interms of motion or appearance can elicit an attack.

Crows likely toreturn year after year

Crows are likely to return to the successfulnests year after year, says Goodey. That's whyO'Leary, Tansley and many of their coworkers would like to see the City of Vancouver do something about the situation, which is not unique to this block, although there are no official statistics available from the city regarding aggressive crows.

Responding toan emailquery from CBC, staff wrote"TheCity doesnotremove any nests and nests with active eggs are protected under theBC Wildlife Act.Staff advise citizens to take an alternate route or use an umbrella."