Stone the crows... schoolgirls’ Hitchcock-style nightmare as birds launch wave of attacks

PARENTS whose children walk to school might issue them some road safety advice or a ‘stranger danger’ reminder.

But pupils at a leading private girls’ school have had a more unconventional warning: Remain vigilant in case of attack from a gang of … crows.

In an echo of the Hitchcock movie The Birds, James Allen’s Girls’ School has even advised pupils to avoid one nearby street in the expensive south London suburb of Dulwich Village after a homeowner suffered ‘ about half a dozen small puncture wounds to the head’ and another had to fight off the crows with an umbrella. The £22,000-a-year school is the oldest private girls’ school in London and former pupils include author Anita Brookner and double Oscar nominee actress Sally Hawkins.

An email to parents from the personal assistant to the school’s director of operations warns: ‘We’ve had a note from a concerned resident about crow attacks.’ It adds: ‘There are two large crows protecting a nest of fledglings and they are attacking anyone who walks along the road.

‘The resident says he was attacked, resulting in about half a dozen small puncture wounds to the head, another neighbour had to use an umbrella to get out of their house, and other residents have also been attacked.’

The school warned pupils to avoid walking or cycling down East Dulwich Road – where the average house costs more than £1.5million – ‘especially towards the bottom’ until the fledglings have flown the nest. The email directs parents to a website with information about crow attacks, which says they are rare and that the worst outcome is likely to be ‘a few cuts or scratches’.

The website, Birdfact, gives tips on how to avoid being attacked by a crow and explains that the birds are ‘about as intelligent as a seven-year-old’ child.

It says they are likely to attack only during breeding season, when they become highly territorial and will swoop and dive to scare away adversaries. It advises the target of attacks to ‘remain calm and walk away’ as flapping or chasing the bird is likely to increase the ferocity of its onslaught.