As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Monday, 6 November 2017

A Woodpecker Has Been Attacking Car Mirrors in Snellville, Georgia


“Son of a biscuit,” one victim responded.

OCTOBER 25, 2017

The town of Snellville, Georgia, has lately been suffering a small and specific crime wave: someone has been shattering the side mirrors of people’s cars.

After about two dozen people reported damage, police sent extra patrols out to the neighborhood. But the real culprit was soon revealed: it was a hyped-up pileated woodpecker, attacking mirrors because he thought his reflections were rival birds.

In one of the greatest news reports this author has been fortunate enough to come across, Channel 2 Action News’s Steve Gehlbach got out on the scene and talked to a couple of victims.
One of them, John Hancock, had blamed the dings all over his wife’s car on neighborhood kids with BB guns. He seemed charmed by the real culprit, calling him “a beautiful bird.”


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