The Bird House
Alternate Title: This House is for the Birds!
If you have ever seen Alfred Hitchcock’s movie ‘The Birds,’ you may be curious as to the location of the training facility for the crows used in the film. Yep! It was this house. You can see there is an outdoor facility for Purple Martins. This helped to attract the crows, as did all the vegetation which fooled them into thinking it was a big tree.
The crows were trained inside the house until they could be trusted not to fly away. Little balls of white Wonder Bread were used as treats. The crows loved them and the wet ball of heavy dough in their stomachs slowed them down.
There were many mishaps during the training of the crows. Several of the trainers got broken bones from slipping on crow poop. There were quite a few eggs laid as well. No crows were hurt in the training process, however.
After the crows were shipped to the movie set, this facility had to be closed. Apparently, the foot of crow poop on the floor could never be totally scraped off. Also, neighbors complained that, even over 50 years later, there was a considerable stench coming from the house.
The Bird House
Alternate Title: This House is for the Birds!
If you have ever seen Alfred Hitchcock’s movie ‘The Birds,’ you may be curious as to the location of the training facility for the crows used in the film. Yep! It was this house. You can see there is an outdoor facility for Purple Martins. This helped to attract the crows, as did all the vegetation which fooled them into thinking it was a big tree.
The crows were trained inside the house until they could be trusted not to fly away. Little balls of white Wonder Bread were used as treats. The crows loved them and the wet ball of heavy dough in their stomachs slowed them down.
There were many mishaps during the training of the crows. Several of the trainers got broken bones from slipping on crow poop. There were quite a few eggs laid as well. No crows were hurt in the training process, however.
After the crows were shipped to the movie set, this facility had to be closed. Apparently, the foot of crow poop on the floor could never be totally scraped off. Also, neighbors complained that, even over 50 years later, there was a considerable stench coming from the house.