The Life of Birds

Wow!! Welcome to the wonderful world of birds!!

Believe me, folks - Not only is this 8-hour, 10-chapter wildlife documentary (about the world's birds) totally informative and equally educational, too - But, it also contains some of the most impressive, up-close photography that you are ever gonna see. Yes. Indeed.

From the coldest climate on the planet, to the absolute hottest locations of all - This thoroughly enjoyable presentation from the BBC Network is certain to make bird-lovers out of all of its viewers.

Though I was/am not a great nature lover, this series succeeded in keeping me interested right throughout with its excellent commentary (credit to Attenborough). The documentary covers the origins, types( sea/land, veg/meat-eating), acquisition of food, communication methods, mating rituals, laying of eggs, raising family, and finally dangers to its existence in modern world.

Except the goose and swans, most of them seem are prone to either infidelity/polygamous relationships or seasonal relationships, treacherous behaviour to obtain food etc. And all of them are territorial.

Some of the stuff which was fascinating:

-how the bower birds decorate their nests to attract mates

-polygamous birds especially the sparrow .

-how one mother bird (cant remember which one) kills one of its weakest child for survival

-how a crow breaks a nut in middle of a busy Tokyo city street

Not much is covered on migrant birds behaviors. For that I would recommend the movie 'The winged migration'.

Sir David Attenborough always makes natural history so fascinating, the Life of Birds is no exception.With excellent narration and the incredible footage, he takes viewers all over the globe observing the life-styles and behavior of birds. With a dash of humor here, a tiny amount of suspense there,Sir David Attenborough draws us in with his genuine fascination of each bird species.

Also, the order in which they are presented is just incredible. The series starts from the birds aerial accomplishment of flight and ends with their struggle to survive in the modern world. Every birder, conservationist and environmentalist should watch this series.

When it comes to producing wildlife documentaries, none do it better than wildlife veteran Sir David Attenborough. Afterall, his list of achievements is impeccable- 'The Life of Birds,''The Life of Mammals,' 'The Private Life of Plants,' 'Life in the Undergrowth,' 'Life in the Freezer,' 'The Trials of Life' and 'The Blue Planet'

'The Life of Birds' is among Attenborough's best. This ten-part documentary series, presented by Attenborough himself, is a comprehensive and richly detailed study of birds, examining the variety of different species and their ways of life.

The wildlife photography is simply breathtaking, and the viewer is often confronted with avian species they have never even heard of before, let alone seen on film. Every aspect of bird behaviour is explored, including the evolutionary origins of the birds, mating rituals, hunting tactics, feeding habits and threats to many species' survival.

'The Life of Birds' is the most comprehensive documentary study of avian life ever produced, and the series borders on sheer perfection...

A near definitive account of bird behaviour.

Following on from the well received Private Life of Plants (1994) The Life of Birds (1998) series continued Attenborough's exploration of the natural world focussing exclusively on birds. The series contains 10 episodes packed onto 3 disks, each 50 minutes in length.

My only real complaints about this dvd is the transfer quality which is far from great though perhaps an accurate portrait of 1990s digital photography. The colours are not very strong, quite pasty, the image is quite soft and the picture is rather grainy when featuring scenes filmed in low light.

The only other issues are the score which is a slightly awkward transition from the 1980s symphonic sounds to the orchestral music were more used to today.

Episode one features Attenborough not only introducing various birds to us but also tracing their evolutionary history, this features him visiting a couple of fossil sights as well as some rather dubious 1990s CGI. It's a great educational lesson though and the image quality improves too as we transition into various close ups. The story of the kakapo is also told, there was something so sad about it's demise that I could hardly think of something sadder that the last known male species at that time still climbing to the peaks of its Island calling for a mate until the end. There are also various attempts throughout episode one while telling the story to use as many modern examples as possible when describing various adaptations in their evolutionary story, this approach is very similar to Life on Earth (1979).

Fishing for a Living is another of my favourite episodes. As Attenborough rightly points out most of the planet is covered in water so birds which can hunt in them may be able to find plenty of food. In this episode we meet dippers, kingfishers which can hover, as well as the humble mallard.

"Signals and Songs" is another very revealing episode focussing on the visual and audio displays used by birds to declare their territory and to attract a mate. Attenborough treks through woodland bringing down various finches to the ground to feed as well as tricking a woodpecker into revealing itself through an elaborate knocking game.

The series is great bit it needs a re-release with a better transfer.