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Video: Crow swoops on unsuspecting woman's head in Vancouver

"It makes me more cautious when I go for a walk now."
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A Vancouver, B.C. man recorded a crow swooping on a woman at the intersection of Victoria and 49th Ave. in 2022. Find out how to protect yourself.

While many people have heard about a crow "swooping" attack — or even experienced the terrifying ordeal first-hand — most of these incidents go unrecorded. 

But one springtime strike was recently captured on dashcam footage in Vancouver. 

A local man was stopped at the intersection of Victoria Drive and 49th Avenue on May 31 when he spotted a crow diving down on an unsuspecting pedestrian. 

Ben, who lives in Vancouver, tells Vancouver Is Awesome that he was driving home from work when he saw the crow fly down and graze the young woman's head. 

"It has never happened to me before. It doesn’t make me fearful of crows or birds," he said, adding that it was the first time he's ever seen it happen.

"But it makes me more cautious when I go for a walk now...especially since some people have commented how it’s more common around this time of the year."

Young crows are not adept flyers, which puts their protective parents on high alert, prompting divebombs, swooping, cawing, and the occasional wing slap to the back of the head.

Find out more about crow fledgling season and how to protect yourself.

With files from Mae Folsom Jacobson