Birds causing big mess in northwest Harris County neighborhood

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- One homeowner in Copperfield says her yard is for the birds. One morning in April, Stacey Lopez walked outside to find hundreds of beady eyes watching her.

A strange colony of squawking birds had chosen her backyard as their new giant nest.

One of those birds resembles a flamingo, though it's not. In fact, the nickname for this particular for bird is the Texas Flamingo.

"In this colony, we have roseate spoonbills which are the pink birds that everyone sees on the Texas coast and say 'Oh, look, there's a flamingo!' Well, we don't have flamingos but we do have roseate spoonbills!" said Richard Gibbons, an ornithologist with the Houston Audobon Society.

While birds of a feather usually flock together, this group has all kinds of colors in it. The cattle egret and an unidentified hair and also make up the crew.

"What birds that are coming together want is safety. They nest together so they have more eyes to look for predators and also to look for a mate and also to share information about where they are foraging," said Gibbons.

These waterbirds are migratory and will eventually had to South America. While the bird poop is ruining their backyard, the family can't do anything to shoot these birds away. They are all protected species.

"It is unlawful to prevent these birds from completing their nesting," said Gibbons.

These birds are only here temporarily to mate and lay eggs. Before long, they will take off again and head for warmer weather in Central and South America.