Swooping grackles attack Houston residents
'This is a very Hitchcock kind of story'
A grackle flies in front of the Harris County Administration Building in Houston, Texas. YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS Houston (Texas) Alfred Hitchcock or or Create your own Manage alerts | What is this?
HOUSTON, Texas (AP) -- 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 movie "The Birds."
Just like a Hitchcock horror movie, birds are on the offensive in downtown Houston.  According to the Associated Press, large black grackles are attacking people on a stretch of sidewalk in the city.  It is thought that the birds may be trying to protect their young.

The sidewalk, which is in front of the County Administration Building, has been closed off by the authorities.

In 1960 Hitchcock based The Birds starring Tippi Hedren on a Daphne du Maurier short story from the early 20th century.  Although the locations are different, the main focus of both works is birds that attack people.

"I hit him with a bottle," said Sylvia Velasquez. "The other birds came, and one attacked my blouse and on my back."