Russian angry birds: Crows 'attack' MPs cars with stones

In a scene reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock's thriller The Birds, a murder of crows has stoned several expensive vehicles parked near a regional legislative body in the Russian Urals, prompting internet jokes about possible political motives.

“When leaving the office, I saw a group of drivers of ministers’ and deputies’ cars who were moving chaotically and swinging their arms,” local lawmaker Maksim Ryapasov wrote in his blog. The drivers told the MP that fuss was caused by crows that were grabbing rocks from the roof of the building and “bombarding” cars with them for several hours.The MP noted that there is a “stone garden” on the assembly’s roof, which was set up under the initiative of the legislature’s chairwoman Lyudmila Babushkina. Apparently, it was those stones the crows used as weapons.As a result of the “bird protest,” the windshields of at least three cars were broken.“I really don’t know whose cars were there. But I personally saw a crow that threw a stone and then flew to get another one from the terrace,” Ryapasov, the head of Liberal-Democratic fraction in the regional parliament wrote. “I’m not kidding,” he added. The news has become a hit in the Russian blogosphere. In a battle of wits, users are actively discussing the “protest action” of “politically-active birds.”Experts though have their own explanation for birds’ “extremism.” Most likely, the crows were simply having fun, ornithologist Tatiana Surkova told ‘Aktualno’ information agency. “Crows love collecting different items, including stones, and piling them somewhere or throwing them down,” she said.