Hitchcock's The Birds Shot Here

Bodega, California

Bodega Bay, north of San Francisco and Marin County, is reminiscent of a New England fishing village, even after decades of luxury home development on the hillsides. This area was the location for exterior scenes in Alfred Hitchcock's film, The Birds, where our feathered friends go psycho, pecking townspeople to death. In the movie, the town is called Bodega Bay, and the marina there was used for the bayside shots.

Two important landmarks from the The Birds still stand in the town of Bodega (which is not the same town as Bodega Bay and is inland a bit). The Potter School, just east of Bodega, served as the spot where screaming children fled for their lives. St. Theresa's church, right in town and also on the Bodega Highway, is where they found refuge.

Though the church is promoted in area tourism literature for its cinematic moment, once you arrive you won't see any stuffed crows or Tippi Hedren statues. Hitchcock didn't map his drama to match Bodega's layout.