Director Quentin Tarantino is suing his neighbour and fellow film director Alan Ball over the latter's loud macaws, which the former said have been driving him to distraction.
Tarantino, 47, claims the "blood curdling, pterodactyl-like screams" of 53-year-old Ball's birds are stopping him from working on his latest film.
In a six-page lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Tarantino claims Ball and his partner Peter Macdissi have installed an "exotic bird menagerie", which has been driving him to distraction for more than a year.
"On a daily basis the defendants' macaws, large tropical birds known for their loud squawks and screams, are placed in an outdoor aviary where they emit blood-curdling screams at random intervals for seven to eight hours each day," The Telegraph quoted lawsuit as saying.
"Nearly every day Mr Tarantino and others in his home are subjected to the macaws' obnoxious pterodactyl-like screams, which are not only startling, but have also seriously disrupted Mr Tarantino's ability to work as a writer in his home.
"The defendants know that their birds issue blood-curdling, prehistoric sounding screams. Though one might assume that, as a fellow writer, Mr Ball would understand and respect a writer's need for peace and quiet while he is working, that assumption would be wrong," it read.
{{/usCountry}}"The defendants know that their birds issue blood-curdling, prehistoric sounding screams. Though one might assume that, as a fellow writer, Mr Ball would understand and respect a writer's need for peace and quiet while he is working, that assumption would be wrong," it read.
{{/usCountry}}Tarantino also claims the "relentless squawking" is "injurious to his health and offensive to his senses" and "interferes with his comfortable enjoyment of life".
The director behind Reservoir Dogs, Inglorious Basterds and the Kill Bill films is currently said to be putting the finishing touches to a script for a Western.
Tarantino said that attempts to resolve the macaw situation amicably failed and he claims his neighbours have "done little to eliminate the daily cacophony".
He is therefore applying for an injunction and abatement of noise order, and wants his legal costs reimbursed by his neighbours.