Red-winged Blackbird a Menace to Society?

I recently read, on one of the local bird lists, that a friend of mine, one of the Red-winged Blackbird that hangs out at Turtle Pond, had been disparaged by a local birder. Knowing this bird as I do I was shocked to read about what a "menace" he was. Why just last week he delighted a group of second graders I was leading on a bird walk and singlehandedly turned them all into bird-watchers and conservationists through the simple act of taking a peanut from my outstretched hand.

I contacted my friend the blackbird late this evening and asked him about the incident. He was still fuming (blackbirds have short tempers) because he was sick and tired of all the outstretched hands that held no peanuts. Apparently there has been an upswing in the number of birders in Central Park and more and more of them stop by and hold out their hand with nothing in it.

He says he wastes a lot of time and energy flying to an empty hand. Usually he will just give the offender a gentle peck to remind them that he doesn't like to be tricked but he said that today a guy was repeatedly holding out his empty hand and he decided to teach the guy a lesson. In addition to pecking his empty hand, he gave the guy a gentle peck on the head for good measure. He didn't think he hurt him because, as he told me, all birds know that birders have thick skulls.

He was also upset because so many of the birders in the park these days seem only interested in warblers. He thinks he's a pretty interesting bird and doesn't understand this human obsession with warblers.

I warned him to go a little easier on the foodless ones--they were probably just showing-off to friends. Besides, I said, there are plenty of people who do give you peanuts. If you do something rash it may come back to bite you in the....well wherever.

And when I told him his attacker had played the "West Nile Virus" trump card he was shocked.

"Are they nuts? Don't they know mosquitoes spread that damn disease, not birds?" he asked incredulously.

I explained that, in the world of humans, it was a pretty standard tactic to spread fear, uncertainty, and doubt about ones opponent and mentioning West Nile was a perfect way to do that.

With a better understanding of the way things work in the human world, this blackbird agreed to calm down. He said he would still give people a gentle peck on their empty outstretched hands but would not attack any of them on the head again.

He said to tell the people who do feed him that he appreciates it and prefers plain unsalted peanuts. No cashews, almonds or rice cakes, please. If you really want to make a friend you can bring him some wild bird seed.