Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) meets Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) in a pet shop where they are both shopping for birds. Melanie is intrigued by him, especially when he tells her she's a spoiled rich girl. She tries to take a pair of lovebirds to his home but finds out that he spends weekends with his family in Bodega Bay. Taking the lovebirds, Melanie drives to Bodega Bay. She gets a room at Annie Hayworth's (Suzanne Pleshette) who points the way to Mitch's sister's house. Melanie takes a boat and goes to over to the house. Mitch sees and pursues her. He invites her to dinner with his sister (Veronica Cartwright) and mother (Jessica Tandy). During the day birds have been doing strange things. A gull attacks Melanie. the chickens won't eat, and birds start massing in trees, but people don't really notice until a neighbor is killed by birds. More bird attacks follow on the school and on the town and cause many deaths and a lot of devastation on the town.