It's a Bird, It's a Plane

In Southern California, they have practically begged the swallows to return to Capistrano, where the birds are a big tourist attraction. But the central California city of Fairfield (pop. 58,000) has for three months suffered an almost Hitchcockian invasion of birds. Starlings, perhaps 200,000 at one time, have chosen to winter in a local eucalyptus grove. Major Hal Biestek, a pilot stationed at nearby Travis Air Force Base, lives close to the grove, directly under the starlings' flight path. "It was so loud," said Biestek of the birds' chirps and screeches, "it kept...