Residents in a sleepy North Carolina town are at war after a nature-loving couple encouraged hundreds of vultures to roost on their roof, causing chaos on the streets. 

Ken and Linda Ostrand said they love the birds that visit their backyard in Hillsborough every day and often feed them scraps of leftover meat and carcasses. 

However, some of their neighbors aren't as fond of their feathered friends, complaining that they damage roof shingles with their talons and pave the sidewalks in unsightly excrement. 

The two-year dispute between the Ostrands and some of their neighbors escalated into a court battle earlier this year, a complaint seen by the Daily Mail shows. 

The Ostrands have been accused of 'feeding scraps to the vultures, which lured more and more vultures to congregate at and near their property,' the petition reads. 

Filed March 17 by several residents represented by the Town of Hillsborough, the petition accuses the Ostrands of violating the Town Code by encouraging the birds. 

The code 'prohibits the feeding of wildlife or placing attractant material, such as food scraps, outdoors on public or private property for the purpose of feeding wildlife'.

The plaintiffs have asked a judge to direct the nature-loving couple to 'cease and desist' from 'attracting' the birds by leaving food out for them. 

Dozens of vultures are pictured on the roof of the Ostrand's home in the court filings.

The couple said the birds came with their home when they purchased it in 2017, attracted to the large yard on a sun-soaked south-facing slope surrounded by tall trees. 

They began feeding the birds shortly after moving in when a deer died in the yard and they did not know how to dispose of it while workmen were building a fence. 

'One of the workmen found a dead deer in the back and he said, "What do you want me to do with it?" We weren't quite sure what to do with it,' Linda Ostrand told The Assembly.

'They moved the carcass to where the vultures could get it and it was gone in a day. It was amazing how thorough they are.' 

The Town of Hillsborough said it began receiving complaints from disgruntled neighbors around May 2024, their legal petition states. 

Neighbor Michael Beanland, who moved next door to the couple with his wife in 2020, told the Hillsborough Board of Commissioners that the Ostrands told him the birds were migratory and not a permanent fixture at the home. 

Beanland told the board that the vultures regularly spill over into his yard, where their talons have damaged his roof shingles and coated the pavement below in excrement.

He added that he and his wife found leftovers from meals the Ostrands had left out for the birds, which included 'things we don’t want our dog and our children coming in contact with,' like meat trays from the supermarket and chicken bones. 

Beanland said the situation reached a breaking point when he found several dead vultures in his yard in 2022 after they were struck down by disease.  

The legal complaint filed by the Town of Hillsborough also outlines an alleged recent sighting of Ken Ostrand breaking the Town Code by feeding the vultures. 

'As recently as early February 2026, Mr Ostrand was observed placing some material, believed to be food scraps, on the ground at the property.

'Moments after Mr Ostrand set out the food scraps, vultures swarmed the property to, presumably, feast on whatever food scraps Mr Ostrand had placed there.'

'Mr and Mrs Ostrand have even given names to certain specific vultures which routinely appear at the property (and nearby properties) to feed and roost,' the petition added. 

Ken Ostrand said they had desisted from feeding the birds, apart from two injured vultures which they did name.  

'One is Chester. If you’re a Gunsmoke fan, you’ll know that Chester has a bad leg, and in fact he can’t move it very well, but he can fly,' he told The Assembly. 

'And the other one is Morticia. Morticia is unable to fly because of a bad wing, but they both recognize us to come around to try to get fed.'

Linda Ostrand, who ran a wildlife rehabilitation center on the outskirts of Hillsborough for several years, said that vultures are misunderstood creatures. 

'They’re nature’s garbage cleaners,' she said. 

'I can understand that a lot of people don’t want them on their house because they’re not the most beautiful floaty little bird, but they do such a good job.'