Where was The Big Year filmed? Owen Wilson, Jack Black, and Steve Martin chase birds across North America. Real locations, fake ketchup chips, and one hilarious fall.
The Big Year (2011) follows three obsessed birders – a laid-off exec (Steve Martin), a competitive champ (Owen Wilson), and a computer nerd (Jack Black) – racing to spot the most species in one year.
Based on Mark Obmascik‘s 2004 book, The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature and Fowl Obsession, which chronicled the 1998 real-life competition between birders Sandy Komito, Al Levantin, and Greg Miller, the film turns birdwatching into an epic road trip.
All three crossed 700 species in one year – something that’s never been done before. Komito, a roofing contractor, spent up to $12,000 a month chasing birds. Levantin, a wealthy exec, got violently seasick chasing seabirds. Miller, a nuclear plant programmer, maxed out credit cards while debugging Y2K.
The movie adds laughs. The real race added therapy bills.
Table of Contents
📍 The Big Year Filming Locations
The Big Year filming locations stretch from the Canadian wilderness to the American Southwest – with British Columbia doing most of the heavy lifting.
🏔️ Tofino, British Columbia
This rainy surf town on Vancouver Island doubled for Oregon, California, and Alaska. The crew filmed here for three weeks in spring 2010.
How Canadian is it? Steve Martin asks for “ketchup chips” at a convenience store – a dead giveaway. Lay’s ketchup chips are a Canadian staple, virtually unknown in the US. The production kept the line as an inside joke.
The Pacific Breeze Motel (750 Campbell Street) became the “Alaska Breeze Motel” on screen. The real motel still displays a photo of Owen Wilson in the lobby.
And those stormy boat scenes on the Auklet? Filmed on a cloudless afternoon using industrial rain towers. The actors endured six hours of fake downpour. Between takes, Jack Black shouted, “I’m becoming a duck.”
What was filmed here:
- Fourth Street Dock: Stormy pelagic boat scenes with fake rain.
- Cox Bay Beach: “Monterey, California” coastline.
- Schooner Restaurant: Deleted scenes of Steve Martin eating.
- Arnet House: Anjelica Huston’s waterfront home.
- Storm Light Outfitters (390 Main St): Owen Wilson’s coffee run.
- Pacific Breeze Motel: The “Alaska Breeze Motel” on screen.
🏜️ Osoyoos, British Columbia
Welcome to Canada‘s only true desert. The Okanagan Valley gets less rain than Tucson, so the crew used it to fake Arizona and Nevada. Yes, Canada has a desert. No, we’re not making this up.
The Himalayan Snowcock chase was filmed on Mount Kobau, a 1,870-metre peak with no roads. The crew helicoptered in all their gear.
That’s dedication to a bird that isn’t even supposed to be in North America. The real Snowcock lives in Central Asia. Hollywood doesn’t care about geography.
Jack Black tripped over a sagebrush root during a desert scramble. Not scripted. The director kept it. This man cannot stay upright. We’re not saying he’s accident-prone, but someone should probably follow him around with a mattress.
Osoyoos also has real Western Rattlesnakes. Production hired a full-time reptile wrangler. His job was to stand there with a snake hook and look serious.
No actors were bitten. One producer reportedly ran back to the catering truck screaming. That part is unconfirmed. But we choose to believe it.
What was filmed here:
- Mount Kobau slopes: Himalayan Snowcock mountain chase.
- Osoyoos desert flats: Arizona and Nevada driving montages.
- Nk’Mip area: Wide shots of “Southwest” landscape.
❄️ Tombstone Territorial Park, Yukon
The crew filmed along the Dempster Highway in the Yukon during June 2010. The gravel road stood in for Alaska’s remote Attu Island because the landscape looked almost identical. The highway eats tires for breakfast. Hollywood is glamorous.
Jack Black slipped on wet moss and fell hard during filming. The director kept the take. You can see it in the final cut. This was his second unscripted fall in the movie. Someone buy this man a helmet.
Most birds in the Attu sequence were added in post-production using CGI and stock footage. Black and Owen Wilson pointed at empty air for days. They were very convincing actors. The birds were added later by people in comfortable chairs.
What was filmed here:
- Dempster Highway valley: All Attu Island birding scenes.
- Tombstone mountain backdrop: Dramatic “end of the world” vistas.
- Rocky tundra patch: Jack Black‘s unscripted fall location.
🌵 Miller Canyon, Huachuca Mountains, Arizona
Located in southeastern Arizona near the Mexican border, the Huachucas are a world-famous birding hotspot with over 250 species recorded, including 15 types of hummingbirds.
The crew filmed here for just two days. That’s 125 species per day. Birders get a calculator out for this sort of thing.
The rare Elegant Trogon – a colourful Mexican bird that occasionally strays into Arizona – was the target species. No trogons were available on demand because birds do not read scripts.
They don’t even show up on time. So the bird was added digitally. The actors pointed at nothing. The CGI team did the rest. That’s Hollywood. Fake the bird. Save the day.
What was filmed here:
- Miller Canyon: Southwest desert bird pursuit scenes.
🌊 Boy Scout Woods Sanctuary, High Island, Texas
High Island is a tiny Gulf Coast town with 450 people and roughly 20,000 birds in spring. The birds outnumber the people 44 to 1. The humans are fine with this. They came here on purpose.
The town is famous for “spring fallouts” – weather conditions that force exhausted migrating warblers to land by the thousands. Imagine being so tired you crash-land in Texas. That’s a warbler’s life.
Birders travel from around the world to witness it. The crew filmed here for one single day. One day in Texas. They said “y’all” exactly once, ironically, and then never again.
The “Brownsville Dump” scene – where birders search for rare gulls in a landfill – was filmed near Vancouver, not Texas. Because nothing says “Hollywood magic” like a fake garbage dump in Canada standing in for a real garbage dump in America.
The establishing shots of High Island’s bird sanctuary, however, are completely real. The crew had to shoo away actual birders who wandered into frame.
They were not paid extras. They were not actors. They were just there. For the birds. At 6 a.m. On a Tuesday. Birding is a lifestyle. Seek help.
What was filmed here:
- Boy Scout Woods Sanctuary: Migratory bird “fallout” establishing shots.
Where to stay:
🗽 7 World Trade Center, NYC & Upstate New York
The office where Steve Martin‘s character quits his job is the real 7 World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan. The building opened in 2006, replacing the original that was destroyed on 9/11.
The production chose it for its sleek, corporate vibe – perfect for a man about to throw it all away for a bird. A Snowy Owl, specifically. Worth it.
The resignation scene reportedly took many takes because Martin kept improvising. Did the director yell, “Steve, just hand over the badge”? Did Martin reply, “But I’m feeling the moment”?
We have no idea. But we desperately want to believe it happened. So we will. Cinema was probably saved. Maybe.
The upstate New York backlot used for Kenny Bostick‘s suburban house exterior is a generic residential set. Owen Wilson‘s character spends almost no time there anyway.
Neither did the actor, presumably. Hard to film a house exterior when you’re standing in a fake desert or a frozen tundra. Priorities.
What was filmed here:
- 7 World Trade Center: Stu‘s corporate resignation scene (14 takes, one badge).
- Upstate NY backlot: Kenny Bostick‘s suburban house exterior.
🏢 Studio Locations – Where They Added Birds
Every motel room, car interior, and cramped cabin where Jack Black huddles for warmth was built by carpenters on a soundstage.
Steve Martin practiced bird calls live on set. The crew laughed so hard they had to re-record the room tone. The boom operator wheezed. He still gets teased about it. Birding is a lifelong sentence.
The visual effects team spent 400 hours rendering the Pink-footed Goose alone. Because you can’t train a real Pink-footed Goose to hit its mark. Trust us, they tried.
That goose has more screen time than some supporting actors. Did the goose get a trailer? No. Did the goose get craft services? Also no. Did the goose demand a better agent? Probably. Geese are like that.
What was filmed here:
- Vancouver, BC Soundstages: Motel rooms, car interiors, cabin sets.
- 20th Century Fox Studios, Los Angeles: Digital bird overlay and post-production.
🐦 Real Birding Locations from the 1998 Race
These are actual places where the real birders – Sandy Komito, Al Levantin, and Greg Miller – sweated, froze, and triumphed.
No green screens. Just mosquitoes and regret. And occasionally, joy. Mostly mosquitoes, though.
- Attu Island, Alaska: Komito made the trip. Brutal weather and plenty of bugs.
- Patagonia Lake State Park, Arizona: Spotted rare Nutting’s Flycatcher.
- Chesapeake Bay, Maryland: Nuclear plant attracted weird ducks.
- High Island, Texas: 10,000 warblers fell out.
- Gambell, Alaska: $50/day for rooftop access.
- Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida: Levantin spotted a lost mockingbird.
🦜 Birding Tours in the Americas
Think you can spot 700 species in a year? Join a birding tour and let the pros handle the logistics.
- Denver: Birding Basics and Beyond
- NYC: Winter Wildlife, Seals & Birds Sightseeing Boat Tour
- Boothbay Harbor: Puffin & Wildlife Cruise
- Birding and Photography Tour, Costa Rica
- Private Birding Hike in Rocky Mountain National Park
- Matagorda County Birding & Nature Center Tours
- Everglades Private 2.5 Hour Photo & Birding Safari
- Everglades: Birding, Wildlife, & Photography Expedition
- Marco Island: 2-Hour Dolphin, Birding, & Shelling Tour
- Central Florida Half-Day Private Birding Activity
- Private Bird Tour of Fort De Soto Park in St. Petersburg, Florida
- Riviera Maya: Puerto Morelos 4-Hour Bird Watching Tour
🎒 Essential Birding Gear List
Before you grab your bins and hit the field, here’s what the pros (and Hollywood) actually pack.
Binoculars by character:
- Stu Preissler (Steve Martin): SWAROVSKI EL 10×42 W B. $2,700. Owners are either pros or dentists with a hobby.
- Kenny Bostick (Owen Wilson): Zeiss Victory FL 10×42. $2,200. Fluoride glass = no colour fringing. Serious brand wars.
- Brad Harris (Jack Black): Kowa BD42-10×42. $540. Same Japanese glass used in medical endoscopes. Brad has bills.
Birding gear for beginners:
- Tripod: Mandatory. Carbon fiber = light but expensive. Aluminum = heavy but cheap.
- Field guide: “Birding bible.” National Geographic 7th Edition. Stuffed in back pockets.
- Waterproof jacket: Gore-Tex or bust. Real rain demands it.
- Rubber boots: You will stand in mud. Guaranteed.
- Wide-brim hat: Sun protection and branch defense.
- Fingerless gloves: For terrible winter birding. Helps a little.
- Binocular harness chest pack: Protects your neck. Holds binoculars and critical snacks.
- Celestron Nature DX 8×42: $145. See birds and still pay rent.
- Vortex Diamondback HD 10×42: $310. Lifetime warranty. Replaces truck-run-over binoculars.
- Nikon 8×42 Monarch 5: $360. Waterproof, fog-proof, and marriage-proof (probably).
❓ The Big Year FAQ
What is a Big Year?
A competitive race to see the most bird species in one year within North America. The current record is 840 species (2016). The 1998 race was legendary because three competitors all crossed 700 species.
Is The Big Year based on a book?
Yes. Mark Obmascik’s The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession (2004). The book is better. It has more bird drama and a freezing-water fall, the movie cut.
How many birds did the real winner see?
Sandy Komito saw 748 species in 1998. Al Levantin had 711. Greg Miller had 715. Komito won by 33 birds – a landslide. The movie made it a near-tie for drama.
What birds are in The Big Year movie?
- The Pink-footed Goose is a “code 5” rarity, triggering the first chase.
- The Xantus’s Hummingbird causes a “twitch” (frantic chase).
- The Himalayan Snowcock requires hiking a mountain for a large, loud chicken.
- The Nutting’s Flycatcher kicked off Komito’s real 1998 run.
- The Snowy Owl appears in the sentimental finale.
Did Jack Black really bird with Greg Miller?
Yes. Two hours in an Ohio nature preserve. Miller taught Black the “aha finger” (one finger up when you hear a bird). He also called Black “a natural mimic” and “genuinely curious about birds.”
Why does Steve Martin ask for ketchup chips?
Because that scene was filmed in Canada. Lay’s ketchup chips are a Canadian delicacy. The production left the line as an inside joke.
Is there an extended cut?
Yes. The Big Year movie, Amazon Extended Edition. The extra three minutes are pure bird nerd joy. More Attu. More muttering. More Jack Black falling down. Worth every penny.
How accurate is the movie?
Not very. The real Sandy Komito wasn’t married with a baby on the way. Greg Miller‘s father was supportive. No one fell off a boat. Komito won by 33 birds. But the obsessive, weird, wonderful spirit of birding is right. Bring a grain of salt and binoculars.
What’s the deal with the real Greg Miller?
The real Greg Miller, who inspired Jack Black‘s character, consulted on the film and holds Ohio’s birding record (320 species). As of 2026, he’s still birding and living the dream.
The Big Year Movie cast list?
- Steve Martin as Stu Preissler
- Owen Wilson as Kenny Bostick
- Jack Black as Brad Harris
- Anjelica Huston as Annie Auklet
- Rashida Jones as Ellie
- Rosamund Pike as Jessica
- JoBeth Williams as Edith
- Brian Dennehy (RIP) as Raymond Harris
📺 Where to Watch The Big Year Movie
Streaming status as of April 2026. No binoculars required.
- Amazon Prime Video: Watch the Amazon Extended Edition.
- Blu-ray: Bonus features include “The Big Migration” featurette, a gag reel, and deleted scenes.
- Other platforms: Disney+, Netflix, Max, Apple TV/iTunes, Google Play Movies, Vudu/Fandango.
Watch The Big Year movie tonight. The birds are waiting.
Disclaimer: This fan-created article is provided for entertainment purposes only. We don’t guarantee the accuracy of any of these facts and don’t recommend making important life decisions based on them. All referenced titles, names, and related intellectual property are the property of their respective owners, and no copyright infringement is intended.
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