In Daphne du Maurier’s short story, The Birds (1952), a change in bird behaviour is linked to the impact of technological developments after the second world war.
Birds, as the 2022 State of the World’s Birds report warns, are “barometers for planetary health”. Nearly half of global bird species are now in decline. In du Maurier’s apocalyptic tale, set in Cornwall, birds launch vicious and unprovoked attacks on humans.
Alfred Hitchcock’s adaptation, The Birds, celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2023. Revisiting du Maurier’s story of relentless devastation shows how the writer anticipated some of today’s most pressing environmental concerns.
