Vancouver's most controversial bird appears to have struck again.
Video captured from a Fairview apartment shows a murder of crows chasing off a bald eagle over the weekend. The video is attached above.
The smaller birds can be seen swooping through the air as the raptor soars off toward the downtown core.
Erika Facchin, who captured the scene on cellphone camera, said it's something she's seen a handful of times.
"It starts with all of the birds in the neighbourhood making a lot of noise and then sure enough there's a pack of them chasing an eagle away," she told CTV News Vancouver.
Despite their relatively small stature, they appeared to have managed to intimidate the larger bird enough to cause it to leave.
The birds collectively known as a murder are known to gang up to chase larger birds, according to UBC research.
Crows are a divisive topic in Vancouver, a city where attacks are common, but so are sightings of a scrappy bird who's been known to make friends in East Van.
Nicknamed "Canuck," the bird with the red leg band has exhibited behaviour ranging from stealing a knife from a crime scene to befriending a mail courier.
Most recently, the public learned the bird became a father.
An earlier attempt at procreation ended in tragedy when an "airborne predator" attacked the nest in May.
And Canuck isn't the only crow who makes headlines in the city. Vancouver's crows are the subject of coverage every year when they get aggressive while protecting their offspring.
Two instructors at Langara College are mapping the phenomenon through an interactive feature they've called "CrowTrax." Attacks on humans are reported by the victims and ranked in terms of aggressiveness.
Crows have also been known to mistake ponytails for the tails of squirrels – "notorious egg predators," according to an expert at UBC.
The best thing to do in the event of an attack is to make eye contact and stop, or to leave the area.
