People living on the 800 block of Beverly Street in Houston Heights told the local TV station KHOU that the avian intruders have taken up residence in a tall tree, and occasionally swoop down on people walking by.
"I felt something hit my back, and I was like, what was that?" local resident Eliana Crenshaw-Gibbs told the station. "I turn around and see the bird coming at me, so I start running."
Another neighbor, Victor Valenzuela, was attacked as well.
"It's annoying, it's not very fun," he said. "I've seen it happen to a bunch of people: the UPS guy, my girlfriend walks by - she gets attacked."
Nobody knows for sure, but the neighbors told KHOU's reporter Marcelino Benito that the birds' behavior may be explained by a nearby nest of younglings. Shortly afterwards, Benito himself was chased away by a feathery fighter.
Aggressive birds target, attack neighbors http://t.co/Ir2nrNerpk
— Presence Patience (@PatienceNeitap) June 30, 2015
So far, nobody has been hurt, and the neighbors are giving the birds some space. Crenshaw-Gibbs says she walks her dog elsewhere.
According to the Houston Chronicle, a flock of great-tailed grackles nesting at the Harris County government building a decade ago routinely attacked county workers and passers-by. Most of the time there were no major injuries, except when a lawyer tripped and fell after getting dive-bombed from behind.
Big flocks of birds have been a common sight in Houston in recent years, sometimes providing spectacular visuals.
Then I must be 'special', as in my locale it is a specific type of bird and the act seems territorial and others have said that they weren't bothered at all.
Ara, ara.