Dive-bombing bird targets downtown walkers, runners

5:27 PM CDT Jul 09, 2014

Dive-bombing bird targets downtown walkers, runners

DES MOINES, Iowa —An unusual warning in downtown Des Moines today: Beware of the dive-bombing bird.

Red-winged Blackbird dive-bombs runners and walkers in downtown Des Moines.

An angry Red-winged Blackbird is apparently targeting anyone walking, especially with a hat, or running by the west side of the Center Street walking bridge over the Des Moines River.

KCCI cameras captured the bird getting so close it was getting into people's hair.

Experts said the birds become aggressive when protecting their nest, which is somewhere near the bridge and river. The bird sits on a nearby light pole or the bridge and swoops down on passersby.

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DNR proposes bird conservation area for Moulton

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is proposing to establish a bird conservation area in a wildlife management area along the Chariton River in southern Iowa near Moulton.

Bird conservation areas are at least 10,000 acres and include permanently protected bird habitat.

The proposed location is part of the Sedan Bottoms Wildlife Management Area, a 5,500-acre region of grassland, woodland and wetlands home to at least 113 nesting bird species.

DNR Wildlife Biologist Bruce Ehresman says many are declining in population at an alarming rate. They include the red-shouldered hawk, wood thrush, red-headed woodpecker, northern mockingbird, the northern bobwhite and bobolink.

The DNR plans a public meeting Jan. 24 at the Rathbun Lake Fish Hatchery to discuss the plans.

If approved, it would be Iowa's 18th bird conservation area.

http://globegazette.com/news/iowa/dnr-proposes-bird-conservation-area-for-moulton/article_94bde9c4-5bec-11e2-afa6-001a4bcf887a.html