CROWS left a toddler dripping with blood when they swooped on him in his buggy.

The two-year-old boy was out with his mother in Wish Road, Hove, when three of the black birds pecked him in an unprovoked attack.

Resident Helen Laguea's father, David Husbands, witnessed the horror as he walked through the street.

He saw blood pouring from the tot’s head and claw marks on him.

Mr Husbands, 71, said: “I heard a child crying and looked up to see his mother shooing away a large black crow.

“The woman couldn’t believe how aggressive the birds were. She said there were three of them.

“Blood was coming from his head and he was crying as his mum examined him.

“I nipped back to my daughter’s house opposite to get some antiseptic wipes and his mum sat on the doorstep to clean him up.

“After five or ten minutes they went on their way.

“As they left, one of the crows brazenly flew down and perched on a nearby post.”

The attack happened on the afternoon of June 1.

Mrs Laguea, 39, said the aggressive crows, who are nesting in a tree next to Wish Park, began harassing a dog walker shortly after attacking the boy.

The man, she said, had to “furiously swing a bag of poo” to make them go away. She said: “They were chasing the man down the road. It was like something out of the Alfred Hitchcock movie The Birds.”

When The Argus visited Wish Road on Tuesday, residents said crows have been nesting in the trees there for years.

The only trouble they usually cause is when they are fighting with seagulls.

Neil Jobbins, of Wish Road, has had crows gathering in his garden recently.

He said: “My partner went out with the dog and there were crows outside.

“We think the reason for it is that in the front garden there is an old knackered crow there.

“It could barely move and it looked like it was on its last legs.

“We thought they were protecting the crow.”

Chris Calow, wildlife adviser at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, said crows can be protective if they feel threatened.

He said: “Like many birds, crows can be very protective when they have young, as many do at this time of year, and can sometimes feel threatened when we get too close to their nest site.

“Thankfully, physical attacks like this one are rare, but if you are in a place you know has some overprotective bird parents nearby, we would advise putting up an umbrella to protect you or taking an alternative route. The main breeding season tends to end by mid summer.”