Ever have a wild bird land on you for any length of time without immediately flying off?

Question

What kind of bird?

About 30 years ago I had a red-tailed hawk land on my shoulder, I was afraid to move, thing stayed there for about 10 minutes then took off, took almost the entire 30 years later with applying aloe vera on the shoulder for the scars to disappear from it's talons.

Scared the hell out of me too. I always heard if you looked at them they would take an eye out or something. My Dad told me I did the right thing by not moving. Hell I was petrified.

Answer 1

We have a hawk family that thinks of this area as it's "home territory", and has for a long time...we are probably on at least the tenth generation by now...

Anyway, one day about 10 years ago, I had an electrician come in to switch the house over from a 60 amp fuse box to a 100 amp breaker service. To put in the pvc piping they use to run the wire in from where it attachs the house to the pole, down through the meter and into the breaker panel, the man installing the pipe had to cut an access hole through the edge of the roof (we have a 10 inch overhang). Doing this with the same type of wide bit used to cut holes in doors, caused a LOT OF noise...it literally sounded like a large animal fighting for it's life against a large predator. I happened to glance up to the peak of the roof of the neighbouring house closest to where I was standing at the foot of the ladder while the electrician did his drilling, and saw the HUGE daddy hawk sitting there having a VERY GOOD look at what was going on. That bird was easily 3 1/2 feet tall. I touched the foot of the electrician, who at first looked very annoyed at me, as I motioned him to stop drilling. But when I pointed out the "audience" he had attracted, he stood there absolutely mesmerized until the hawk had taken off, now knowing that there was no chance of dinner in the offing. The electrician was reverant, as he exclaimed over the size of the wing span (which had to be more than eight feet)...it was the very first time he had ever seen a large wild bird of prey that closely.

I have told you all this Wally, because I wonder how you managed NOT TO scream in agony while that bird impaled you on it's talons! If it was anything like the ones we have around here, I am surprised it didn't break bones!!

Oh...and to answer your question, I have handled a wild robin, crow, woodpecker (the large ones with the totally red heads), a female cardinal, and a small woodpecker that has the black and white harlequin markings.

The robin was brought to me as a baby to raise--and I did raise it to adulthood, so that is cheating. The crow had a broken wing, which I fixed and was able to let it go three weeks later. The woodpecker was an attempt at raising another baby...but my mother convinced me to give it back to it's own mother. The cardinal I literally reached into my dog's mouth to retrieve before she could kill it after it had stunned itself against my back deck window--some time in the sun and some encouragement at flying when it was fully awake set her right. And the small woodpecker took HOURS to recover, but finally did. I only handled it enough to know that it was still alive, and left it to it's own devices (although keeping a very good eye on it to make sure no cat made it into a meal).

Answer 2

I was wearing a rose colored shirt and sitting on a chair on my porch when a hummingbird landed on my shoulder. He only stayed a few seconds but he buzzed me several times after that. I guess he mistook me for a flower but if that's the case, he really needs contacts or some wee little glasses.

I now live at the beach and often have a 'Mr. Ed" experience ... seagulls doing target practice and yes, it's always when I've just showered and am dressed to go out.

Answer 3

Wow, that is really impressive Wally. I'm surprised he landed
on you like that. I thought they kept their distance from people.
Unless they are trained to land on their keepers arm or
something similar. I guess they can never be completely
tamed, since they are the breed they are.
I don't think anyone could say they've shared your experience. The closest thing I ever had happen to me, was
having a Mockingbird dive bomb me so close I felt the
wind from his wings. He or she was trying to keep me and
my dog from getting too close to a nest of theirs. And it
swooped down and brushed the top of our Bichon. I decided
I didn't want to get an even closer attack, so we headed
home. This was in an alley in Phoenix well over 20 years ago.
I never realized a bird could be so aggressive, until I had
that experience. And the noise that bird made, it also scared
me. It sure wasn't afraid of me, that's for sure. But I was of it.

Answer 4

I was a day that i was walking home from H.S. and this parrot landed on my backpack and stayed there for entire 8mile walk home. I thought it had flew off and it didnt and it had a note tied aroud it neck saying if this bird lands on you it has found its new home and if you want my contact me at the this numbers,
so the lady and i tried to find homes for all 200 birds, her neirboor was breader and passed way and she didnt want the animals to go to a shelter and told animail control give a wk and i will find a home for each and every one of them which did with a little help. I ended with nine.

Answer 5

I was at a lake fishing, sitting in the shade in a lawn chair, daughter was with me. A black bird with a yellow head landed on my head--I said, psst to my daughter, what's on my head, she told me and it hopped to my shoulder---I closed my eye, it sat there for a bit and hopped into the edge of my open tackle box and got a little marshmallow out of a baggie I had opened and hopped down to the water, got it wet and ate it. About an hour later it did it again. Only time it ever happened and I too was afraid it was going to peck my eye out. No wounds!! ;0)

Answer 6

Ever been to Trafalgar Square in London? You cannot avoid those bloody pigeons! Dirty things have absolutely no regard for nicely tailored suit, and most suffer from chronic diarrhea the minute I hit town! ( I think a pigeon qualifies as a "wild bird"???????) CJ

Answer 7

Wow, that would scare me too. The closest thing to a wild bird landing on me, were the pigeons I feed in the park.

Answer 8

What an experience that must have been. I've never had a bird land on me (drop on me, yes). But, as a child, we did have an owl that would sit in our hay loft and look for mice. We named him Hoover and he would fly around and swoop down on small animals. It scared the heck out of me back then. I can't imagine Hoover landing on me!

Answer 9

Only ones bribed with food will land on my hand and they just grab some and go. I have had a chipmunk standing on the toe of my boot and made friends with a momma skunk and her brood, though. I also get laughed at during deer season because I get caught talking to them.

Answer 10

No, not personally. My mother did have a rooster land on her head when she was feeding the chickens. It punched a hole with one of its spurs and was very painful. She was very happy when we had it for dinner one night. It tasted horrible because as most everyone knows the meat is too tough. But she figured she was getting even.