Daphne du Maurier’s The Birds short story may have been an inspiration for Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 film The Birds, but the film was reportedly based on real-life events. The film centers on a Californian coastal town that was terrorized by a flock of birds.
In 1961, birds in the Monterey Bay area reportedly acted disoriented and rammed into people’s houses due to an unknown cause.
In 2011, it was reported that researchers found a toxin-making algae in the birds that cause amnesia, disorientation and seizures.
