This is right across the street from my building. I've seen these birds attack. It's pretty funny stuff. (Okay I'm sooo getting attacked when I leave my building for laughing about it) http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/news/051705_APlocal_birds.html Large black birds attacking people outside downtown building By The Associated Press (5/17/05 - HOUSTON) — Like a scene from the horror movie "The Birds," large black grackles are swooping down on downtown Houston and attacking people's heads, hair and backs. Authorities closed off a sidewalk after the aggressive birds -- which can have 2-foot wingspans -- flew out of magnolia trees Monday in front of the County Administration Building. "They were just going crazy," said constable Wilbert Jue, who works at the building. "They were attacking everybody that walked by." The grackles zeroed in on a lawyer who shooed a bird away before he tripped and injured his face, Jue said. The lawyer was treated for several cuts. It appears that the birds are protecting their offspring. On Monday a young grackle had fallen out of its nest and adult birds attacked people who got too close, Jue said. Another bird attacked a deputy county clerk. "I hit him with a bottle," said Sylvia Velasquez. "The other birds came, and one attacked my blouse and on my back." Two women came to help her after she fell to the ground, and the birds attacked them as well. The group escaped by running into the building. "This is a very Hitchcock kind of story. Very Tippi Hedren," said downtown worker Laura Aranda Smith, referring to one of the stars of Alfred Hitchcock's move "The Birds." For the past few years, the great-tailed grackles have attacked people in the late spring, said Jue, who works in the building. Winnie Burkett, manager of the Houston Audubon Society sanctuary, said grackles will often take extreme measures to defend a young bird. The great-tailed grackles are native to Mexico and South Texas but have spread to Houston, Burkett said. The males have long tails and are black with an iridescent sheen. They are 15-18 inches long and have a wingspan of 15-25 inches.
I was playing golf in Lubbock once and saw a Kite (hawk) dive from a treetop to my friend's head. Luckily he was not hurt, but I heard that some teenagers needed stiches from some other Kite attacks.
I love that the guy injured his face. How odd is that injury? Uh, I injured my face. You just don't hear that phrase very often.
I was just down there this afternoon!!! I didn't see anyone attacked, but I did see the yellow tape blocking you off from walking to close to the trees! We've lived side by side with grackles in harmony for many years. Sure, they've crapped on our monuments...but overall, we've lived in peace. Something has changed.
"The birds zeroed in on a lawyer who tried to shoo them away before he tripped and injured his face, Jue said. The lawyer was then rushed to the emergency room by ambulance as several grackles began swooping in behind the vehicle. The birds alarmed by the swarm of lawyers around the ambulance returned to their nests in nearby trees." ---Wayne Dolcefino ____________
