UPPER EAST SIDE, NY – An attack from above left a pair of NYPD officers ducking for cover on the Upper East Side – though their assailant was no more menacing than a protective bird.

The cops were called to help a Blue Jay chick found on the sidewalk somewhere in the NYPD's 19th precinct, which covers the neighborhood. But as they approached, the baby's mom swooped from above, according to the precinct's Twitter feed.

Though the Twitter feed identified the bird as a Bluebird in the Aug. 23 post, it was later confirmed to be a Blue Jay.

