When catbirds attack, duck and run

We birders — most of us, anyway — are happy to share tips on where and how to spot the various birds that come calling in our little corners of the planet. Today’s tip from me is unusual. I’m offering advice on how to avoid a bird, not how to find one.

Last week I was walking the main leg of the red trail at the Charles H. Rogers Preserve in Princeton when a gray catbird to my left started chattering excitedly.

Catbirds are common in my sector of New Jersey. They are frequent visitors to our home (there’s one in the back yard as I type) and to the woods I walk in Mercer and surrounding counties much of the year. Catbirds seemingly pay me no heed, and it’s not unusual for me to see a dozen or more over the course of an hour, often only a few feet away.

I don’t know what was agitating this particular bird, but it seemed to follow me down the path, flying from one tree to another. All of a sudden, the bird darted into the trail from behind me at about a 45-degree angle and buzzed my head. I kept walking, a little faster, and it swooped around and came at me again. I ducked and kicked my stride into overdrive to head down the trail.

After 50 yards or so I stopped at a point where the trail veers to the left at a water company pump house. The catbird was no longer hectoring me and was nowhere in sight. I breathed a sigh of relief.

I didn’t have enough time to take the trail the long way around to get back to my car, as it was a work day and duty called. So I summoned up a bit of bird-resistant courage and started walking resolutely back the way I came, keeping my head down and staying on the far side of the path.

I walked well past where the catbird had attacked and finally slowed to my normal pace, and I started wondering what had set the bird off. My first guess was that I had wandered close to its nest, but if that had been the case, it should have pestered me as I made my way back.

It also could have been coincidence that I appeared at a time it was agitated at another bird or other threat, and I wandered into the crossfire. I’ll never know the reason.

So I will close with this advice: if you hear birds getting agitated as you approach, keep a wary eye out. Should one of the birds come zooming at your head, duck and high-tail it out of the danger zone as quickly as you can.