In Britain he is a household name, and, among those who are not royalty, movie, music or sports stars or politicians, one of the few people to be recognised in the street. But I was persuaded that that was an advantage, for me to look at them from the general naturalist's point of view. Modesty is one of his endearing qualities. Like all his series, Life of Birds is very much his series, written to his own words, put together largely as he planned it. His rare skill is being able to compress often complex behaviour into a succinct and understandable film sequence, and deliver it to a script which is a model of precision.
Birds are the most popular group in the animal kingdom.
We feed them and tame them and think we know them. And yet they inhabit a world which is really rather mysterious. Once they take off from our bird tables or our lawns they disappear into a world of their own. What I am interested in with birds, just as I am with spiders or monkeys, is what they do and why they do it. This is what the series is about.