A Life-threatening Bird ID

I'm pretty new to birding. Not that I haven't always loved our fine feathered friends, but I actually started keeping a log earlier this year and trying to add to it when I can. I've identified a whopping 37 so far. I'm pretty sure it's some kind of record.

So I'm sitting on my back patio on Saturday, enjoying a nice summer evening. And camera in hand (surprise!), I'm watching my flower pots for hummingbirds or whatever might swing by for a visit.

A couple of small birds land on my back fence and start squawking at each other. One chases the other away, he comes back, gets squawked at and leaves again, comes back. You know, couples being couples.

I have no idea what kind of birds these are, and their calls are really interesting and unlike anything I'm familiar with. Then I remember that I put a bird app on my phone recently that includes bird sounds. I plug in the bird characteristics and I end up with a list of 6 species that look similar to the ones bickering on the fence. In fact, they're all so similar, that I'm unable to tell for sure which species these birds are.

So I tap on the "Sound" button for each species to see if I recognize their call. First one? Nope. Second one? Not. Third one? Negative. Then I click on the sound for the fourth one and all of the sudden one of those birds on the fence tears away from its partner and charges full speed at my head. I duck just in time to avoid the attack and the poor thing slams into the sliding glass door behind me.

I'm very happy to report that the bird was a bit stunned but was perfectly okay in less than a minute. I'm also calling this a positive bird ID: the Say's Phoebe. Don't mess with these guys. They'll take your head off.