madhipp's Identifications

Not great pics but adding to remember the way these guys were deliberately rushing people for kicks on the Museum campus, near the snack vendors. I’ve seen folks on the Chicago reddit complaining about RWBs diving at them, but the ones local to me are just very loud and will “Check!” from the bushes, but only chase one another or other birds. I don’t know if they’re just extra territorial downtown or if they’ve learned that children and some adults will accidentally drop their food if startled? But saw them a couple times in a row wait on the path until someone was close enough and then explosively fly up towards their face, causing several kids to yell and jump back. It actually WAS kind of amusing, and they aren’t corvids but maybe they just think it’s funny? Last three pictures: he jumped up and scared a small child, then perched on the trash can, then took off and came at ME and flew within inches of my face. Very unfortunate for him that I was taking photos and laughing instead of flinching and dropping snacks (sadly unable to get closer pics of him in flight, just had my phone out while sitting down to get a drink).