On August 18, 1961, thousands of seabirds suddenly began dive-bombing homes and cars in the coastal town of Capitola, California.
The strange event terrified residents, who woke to find the streets littered with disoriented and dead birds regurgitating half-digested anchovies.
At the time, famed director Alfred Hitchcock lived on a 200-acre estate just a few miles away in Scotts Valley. Intrigued by the bizarre incident, he called the local Santa Cruz Sentinel newspaper.
He asked the paper for copies of their coverage, using the real-life horror as research material for his next project.
This real-life avian invasion combined with a 1952 short story. It became the direct inspiration for his classic 1963 thriller, The Birds.
For decades, the cause of the birds’ behavior remained a mystery. It wasn’t until years later that scientists found the stunning answer.
The sooty shearwaters had consumed a neurotoxin called domoic acid. This toxin was produced by a massive bloom of a specific type of algae in Monterey Bay.
This toxin caused the birds to become confused, aggressive, and have seizures, explaining their erratic attack on the town.
The mystery of 1961 was finally solved, confirming the unsettling truth behind a cinematic masterpiece.
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Interesting backstory. Thanks! 🙂
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That movie was unsettling. I’ve been dive-bombed by Seagulls and a Mockingbird, so they can be aggressive. Momo and I watched that movie a few months ago. A classic from Hitch.
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Hunh. We lived in the Monterey Bay area for a lot of years (all after 1961, though). I never knew this true story inspiration for The Birds. Also never knew that A. Hitchcock lived in Scotts Valley. I was attacked by a crow in Bossier City. FabGirl was accosted by a woodpecker in Palo Duro Canyon. Freaky experience!
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Wow!;I only know of one person ever attacked by a bird (not counting a man who had a buzzard fly into his front windshield near Johnson City Texas.
I actually traveled to Monterrey Bay to visit the school house & movie sites back in 2010.
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We also had a pelican unload a literal s&%tload of pelican poop on our windshield while we were driving down Lighthouse Avenue in Monterey. That was gross and unbelievably voluminous.
Wasn’t The Birds filmed mostly in Bodega Bay?
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Yes, Bodego Bay.
Ha. I remember eating out on a wooden deck overlooking the Bay. Birds everywhere to a point I had to hold my cap over my plate.
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