So I was calmly cycling along some fields the other day when I hear a noise that sounds a bit like “grekk”. I thought that was a strange sound to come from my bike but then after a while hear that it is coming from behind me and above me. I look behind and there’s a black bird dive bombing at me.
After I performed a few rather erratic maneuver, which involved some flayling arms, wild shouting and random turns of direction, I managed to shake off the bird… much to the amusement of a couple of binglan chewing onlookers.
However, 30 minutes later I’m getting dive bombed by another of the things.
So…
does anyone know what kind of bird is doing this (it’s basically a small black bird, black beak with a long tail)?
why does it only attack cyclists and blithely ignore scooters or (I would wish) buses and lorries?
how do I keep from being attacked? Please bear in mind I was on a loaded tourer and I wasn’t about to lift my bike to have it between me and my assailant.
Black drongos. They get very aggressive if they’re protecting their nests. There’s usually at least one TV news clip per year of some guy getting attacked. And sure, they’ll go for scooter riders, too.
I had a similar problem when I was cycling through Tibet. In that case I used my ninja assassin skillz to save a grateful village from extermination at the hand of an entire flock of grackles. Now I can sense them coming at me before I even see them and generally despatch them with a single flick of the wrist- I don’t even need to unclip.
Well if they’re anything like the Australian magpie, which are famous for being aggressive to cyclists in particular (late August to early October is their breeding season and thats when they get pissy), the best way to keep 'em off the back of your head is to fly a flag on a pole that extends up from your back wheel. Its not the most convenient thing to do, but it’ll probably keep the these blackbirds at bay.
And since nobody in their right mind would put a damned flag on their bike, Taiwanese may generally avoid you as well
Train it to follow you and attack people you don’t like.
We saw a pidgeon flying along in traffic the other day. It was the strangest thing. It was going along with the traffic, dodging cars, all probably done at about the height of a car roof. Crossing a bridge.
Later realized it was following one scooter dude. The guy had a little pet carry case between his legs on the floor. Mystery solved. But so cool! Until it gets hit by a bus!
Can’t wait 'till the shit hits the fan with someone suggesting we shoot feral birds with a BB gun.
