The first holiday Sara and I came out as certified birders, we received a myriad of birding accessories. Of all the gift we received that year, the one we enjoyed most, the one that we go back to years later, has to be the DVD box set of The Life of Birds by Sir David Attenborough. This is the stuff!
The Life of Birds is described as “the definitive series on the most colorful, popular and perfectly adapted creatures on earth.” Sir David lives the (or at least this) birder’s dream as he traverses the globe, visiting 42 countries to look hundreds of spectacular species. He’s not just talking about pigeons and sparrows either; kiwis, ostriches, penguins, and rare flightless parrots are just a handful of the exotic avians featured in this series.
Each of the 10 episodes of The Life of Birds focuses on a different aspect of bird behavior. Titles like “To Fly or Not to Fly,” “The Insatiable Appetite,” “Signals and Songs,” and “The Limits of Endurance” underscore how thoroughly this series addresses each aspect of avian life. The camera work is masterful, but the work succeeds wildly because of the influence of Sir David, probably the world’s most prominent wildlife documentarian. His obvious enthusiasm for his subject marks him as a true birder.
Some of you may be more familiar with Attenborough’s oceanic opus, The Blue Planet. We were thoroughly engrossed by that brilliant series. But The Life of Birds hits us where we live. Try it, you’ll like it!
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