Stacey Barchenger

FLORIDA TODAY

A duo of Sandhill cranes are defending their nest - and two eggs snuggled inside - from waxed V6 and four-cylinder predators that pull up to the intersection of NASA Boulevard and Evans Road in Melbourne.

The protective soon-to-be parents are pecking at cars and dodging into traffic, creating quite a fluff and flurry of horn honking at the busy intersection.

About noon today, Dave Pearce of Pearce Power Spraying and Pest Control stopped his pickup to shoo a plumed protector from the pavement.

"I've been watching those birds," he said. "The one has become very aggressive and has been pecking at cars. I'm worried it's luck is going to run out.

"I see people on their cellphones not looking. He's going to get run over sooner rather than later."

The bird declined to comment to FLORIDA TODAY.