NBC News Studios, Perfect Four Productions

In 1972, young married biologists George Hunt and Molly Warner travel to a remote Channel Island off the coast of California to study western gulls. There, they make a discovery that will change the course of their lives—and echo far beyond the bounds of their research. Among the nesting birds, they find something astonishing: a significant number of same-sex female pairs raising chicks together.

Their findings ignite a media firestorm. The LGBTQ+ community embraces their work with celebratory fervor—while conservative lawmakers seize on it as a symbol of government excess. As the National Science Foundation’s funding comes under attack, the couple find themselves at the center of a national debate about the value of science, the meaning of nature, and the politics of identity.

But Love Birds is as much a story of personal upheaval as it is of public controversy. Told through intimate present-day interviews and a treasure trove of unpublished Kodachrome photographs, the film traces George and Molly’s journey from the idealism of their early romance to the emotional toll of their scientific success. In the isolation of the island, under mounting scrutiny and pressure, the bond between them begins to fray. Their relationship, once rooted in shared ambition and curiosity, becomes collateral damage in the very story they helped bring into the world.

Set against the backdrop of a divided 1970s America, Love Birds explores what happens when science dares to challenge cultural norms—and the personal cost of making history.