I see all the birds are flown. Charles I, House of Commons 4th January 1642
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Mid-15th century proverb
The early bird catches the worm. Mid-17th century proverb
Over increasingly large areas of the United States, spring now comes unheralded by the return of the birds, and the early mornings are strangely silent where once they were filled with the beauty of bird song. Rachel Carson, Silent Spring
Archaeopteryx: Not the legs of a wizard but the wings of a bird. David Attenborough, Life on Earth VIII: Lords of the Air, BBC 1979
With song and dance, identities are established. ibid.
The air speed record is held a smaller flyer – a swift ... a hundred and seventy kilometres an hour. David Attenborough, Life on Earth (revised series), Fish, Birds & Reptiles
Feathers have enabled birds to master the air. ibid.
In the Russian Arctic at the beginning of the brief summer snow geese babies are hatching. David Attenborough, The Trials of Life II: Growing Up, BBC 1990
These Great Skewers ... are pirates ... and they are also extremely skilful hunters – they are killers. David Attenborough, The Trials of Life IV: Hunting and Escaping
Weaver birds are the great experts – it’s the males who do the building. David Attenborough, The Trials of Life VI: Home Making
But this is a Blue-footed Boobie. And when a male starts to court a female he leaves her in no doubt about that. David Attenborough, The Trials of Life XI: Courting
Surely the most spectacular of all is the display of the peacock. ibid.
Yellow-billed choughs go as high as any bird in the world. David Attenborough, The Living Planet I: A Portrait of the Earth: The Building of the Earth, BBC 1984
Not all owls use nest-holes; the Eagle owl nests on the ground often among rocks. David Attenborough, The Living Planet: The Northern Forests III
On the island of New Guinea there are forty-two different species of birds of paradise, each more bizarre than the last. David Attenborough, Planet Earth: Pole to Pole e1, BBC 2006
Golden eagles patrol these cliffs in search of the weak or injured. David Attenborough, Planet Earth e2: Mountains
A male blue bird of paradise is advertising for a mate. It’s quite a performance. But he is not the only bird of paradise here keen to make an impression. There are nearly forty different kinds on the island of New Guinea. David Attenborough, Planet Earth e8: Jungles e8
New York: This Peregrine Falcon looks down into an ideal habitat … A multitude of ledges on which falcons can nest … New York City has the highest density of nesting Peregrine Falcons anywhere on the planet. David Attenborough, Planet Earth s2e6: Cities, BBC 2016
100,068. Pigeons are by far the most successful urban bird. ibid.
Birds are the most accomplished aeronauts the world has ever seen. David Attenborough, The Life of Birds I: To Fly or Not to Fly? BBC 1998
There are also small fury mammals – bats ... they’re flying out to catch their evening meal of insects ... Bats are latecomers to the skies. ibid.
The ostrich is the biggest and heaviest bird alive today. ibid.
Kiwi: Its tiny vestigial wings are invisible, buried in its plumage, and it's lost all sign of a tail. ibid.
Getting into the air is not easy. Indeed for many birds it’s by far the most exhausting bit of the whole business of flight. David Attenborough, The Life of Birds II: The Mastery of Flight
Pelicans give breathtaking displays of syncronised formation flying. ibid.
A skeleton with fewer bones than a mammal’s. ibid.
In the evenings a barn owl can waft over the countryside as silent as a moth. ibid.
Hummingbirds: They beat routinely twenty-five times a second. ibid.
Sap is an excellent food – energy rich and easily flicked up with the tongue. David Attenborough, The Life of Birds III: The Insatiable Appetite
The sword-billed hummer – which has the longest beak in relation to its body of any bird in the world. ibid.
Crows are among the most intelligent of birds. ibid.
No group of animals living out of water have developed a wider range of techniques and indeed tools for collecting that food than the birds. David Attenborough, The Life of Birds IV: Meat-Eaters
Boobies live on the coast, but their fishing grounds are way out in the open ocean. ibid.
The Royal Albatross and the Wandering Albatross have the biggest wingspan of any living bird. And they circle the globe in search of food. ibid.
The great grey owl hunts in the Arctic ... The owl listens for its victims. David Attenborough, The Life of Birds V: Fishing for a Living
But there’s one bird that exceptionally has an extremely acute sense of smell ... Turkey vulture. ibid.
Different kinds of hornbills paint themselves different colours. David Attenborough, The Life of Birds VI: Signals and Songs
All birds have good eyesight ... they have excellent colour vision. ibid.
This is the most delectable of natural sounds: it’s an hour before dawn, it’s spring, this is an English woodland, and all around the dawn chorus. ibid.
The most lyrical of all European songsters – the nightingale. ibid.
The most elaborate, the most complex, the most beautiful song in the world ... the superb lyrebird of South Australia. ibid.
The male streamertail ... shows off in front of her with a special courtship flight. David Attenborough, The Life of Birds VII: Finding Partners
Red-headed weavers in Africa often nest in colonies. ibid.
New Guinea: A work of art: this is its creator: the Vogelkop bowerbird. He has a passion for interior decoration ... Its beauty that wins her heart. ibid.
What can rival the train of a peacock? ibid.
Rheas: That’s unusual behaviour for a male – taking total responsibility for incubation and chick-rearing. ibid.
Sooty terns: there is one thing that compels them to come down to earth: the demands of the egg. David Attenborough, The Life of Birds VIII: The Demands of the Egg
Sociable weaver: a large communal apartment block. ibid.
Rosella [parrot] parents are scrupulously fair and they make quite sure that even the youngest gets its proper share of food. David Attenborough, The Life of Birds IX: The Problems of Parenthood
The storks like many birds are exemplary parents. ibid.
There is scarcely a corner of the globe that birds have not colonised. David Attenborough, The Life of Birds X: The Limits of Endurance
City life may offer birds attractions that are rather less obvious than food. ibid.
Thousands of starlings put on a spectacular display of formation flying over the darkening city. ibid.
The last wild passenger pigeon was sighted in 1889. ibid.
With skill and care and knowledge we can ensure that there is still a place on Earth for birds in all their beauty and variety. ibid.
This is the marvellous Spatuletailed hummingbird. And these are his flags with which to attract a mate ... It’s exhausting work. It’s so demanding he can only stay airborne for a matter of seconds before he needs a rest. David Attenborough, Life: Birds e5, BBC 2009
Flight gives birds many advantages: there’s a period in their lives when they are forced back down to Earth: the nesting season. This is the time when they are at most risk. ibid.
Lesser Flamingos – they nest in the remotest corners of Africa’s caustic soda lakes. ibid.