Crow divebombing people in Oakland's Preservation Park
OAKLAND, Calif. - Perched at the top of a towering pine tree in Oakland’s Preservation Park is a pair of crows that witnesses say, have been divebombing people in the plaza for the past week.
Ja’Layah McDaniel said one of the birds brushed her.
"A crow just kind of swept past me…and I was like, oh my goodness is it going to get me?" said McDaniel.
"First I saw a couple of people where the bird would swoop down near their head," said Fanya Kamakini who works in the park. "Then Tuesday, we got a notice from the Preservation Park Office alerting tenants that there was a territorial crow."
That crow has allegedly been blitzing people who get too close, like Pamela Burdman. Burdman works in a building near the tree.
"I was walking into my office one morning last week, and I was hit in the back of my head by something and I had no clue what it was," said Burdman.
She said the impact was so strong, it knocked one of her earrings out.
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"I turned around to get the earring and then bam, it hit me again on the top of the head. I was kind of scared and I went away. And every time I go back there I carry an umbrella now," said Burdman.
This is nesting season, so the birds are likely protecting their nest. We also found a broken egg on a staircase just below the tree, although it’s unknown if it came from the crow’s nest.
"Someone is channeling their inner Tippi Hedren," said Joshua Sellers, referencing the Hitchcock classic, "The Birds." "But it seems like it’s legit. The folks even who manage the park were saying other folks have been attacked by the bird."
The birds didn’t swoop us while we were filming but did seem agitated by a drone someone had in the air. People who frequent Preservation Park say for now, they’re doing their best to avoid the crows even if that means taking "the long way around."
"I’m kind of scared," said McDaniel. "I get scared easily, so I think it might get me."