Hitchcock's birds in real-life flap

MORE than 40 years after Alfred Hitchcock unleashed his cult film The Birds, a real-life flock has caused alarm in an idyllic Californian town.

A brown pelican dive-bombed a car on the Pacific Coastal Highway near Laguna Beach - apparently affected by the sea-borne toxin which inspired the 1963 film.

Three disorientated pelicans were later found in the town centre, far from their natural environment. According to police, the birds, one of which crashed through the driver's windscreen, were "drunk" on domoic acid, a by-product of pollution along California's coast.

The driver of the car was not hurt .

Hitchcock's Oscar-nominated big-screen portrayal of the phenomenon, which depicted thousands of birds attacking humans after a case of shellfish poisoning around the northern California town of Bodega Bay in 1961, terrified audiences across the world.

The Wetlands and Wildlife Care Centre in Huntington Beach, California, has received 16 calls of unusual behaviour in the past week. Staff there are treating the disorientated birds, and toxicology tests are expected to take three weeks.

The centre's assistant wildlife director, Lisa Birkle, warned the public to be on the lookout for birds acting "drunk", disoriented or being in an unusual place.

The pelican which collided with the car suffered internal injuries, a 4in wound to its pouch and a broken foot. It is said to be recovering.