The Life of Birds (1998) User Reviews

One of the greatest documentary series of all time...

[ackstasis · 9/10 · 20 July 2006]

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...

Has David Attenbourough ever done us wrong?

[machngunjoe · 10/10 · 25 August 2007]

It is always easy to comment on these documentary's. David Attenbourough is simply the best naturalist their is, not only because of his witty charm and extremely interesting information, but it is his voice. A voice that I myself used to grow up with on Saturday mornings "Nature" when their used to be education on TV, not the Digimon/Pokemon Crap they have now.

This particular series is exceptional because along with his useful commentary the producers add in a number of special camera's to see the things that humans almost never get to see. Also animation against live backdrops of what pre-historic birds might have looked based on fossil research. I never had such admiration of birds until I saw this documentary. It is a must see

A Masterpiece among Documentaries

[ecobird · 9/10 · 22 November 2006]

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.

Enthralling documentary

[harishb · 13 June 2004]

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'.

A Fantastic Journey Across 7 Continents

[StrictlyConfidential · 8/10 · 22 June 2020]

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.

It's a Wonderful Birds' Life

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 31 October 2017]

As said many times, David Attenborough is a national treasure. He may apparently dislike the term, but it is hard to not say that about such a great presenter who has contributed significantly to some of the best programmes (of the documentary genre and overall) the BBC has ever aired/produced.

It is really hard picking favourites, let alone a definite favourite, among what Attenborough has done because he has done so many gems, it is the equivalent of trying to choose your favourite ice cream flavour or your favourite operatic role (for examples) and finding you can't pick. 'The Life of Birds' is another one of his masterpieces, in terms of documentaries about birds it's ground-breaking and it's a wonderful documentary in its own right. It has everything that makes so much of his work so wonderful, hence some of the reiteration of my recent reviews for some of his work (being on a nature documentary binge in my spare time), and deserves everything great that has been said about it.

First and foremost, 'The Life of Birds' looks amazing. It is gorgeously filmed, done in a completely fluid and natural, sometimes intimate (a great way of connecting even more with the birds), way and never looking static. In fact much of it is remarkably cinematic with some of the shots being unique for a documentary series, making one forget that it is a series. The editing is always succinct and smooth and the scenery of all the continents is pure magic.

The music score fits very well, never overly grandiose while never being inappropriate.

Again, like so many Attenborough nature/wildlife documentaries, 'The Life of Birds' fascinates, teaches, moves, entertains and transfixes. In terms of the facts there was a very good mix of the known ones and the unknown, some facts being familiar to us while also dealing with very complex and very much relevant issues with tact. Likewise with the different birds themselves Narration by Attenborough helps significantly. He clearly knows his stuff and knows what to say and how to say it. He delivers it with his usual richness, soft-spoken enthusiasm and sincerity, never talking down to the viewer and keeping them riveted and wanting to know more.

The birds themselves are great to watch and have a wide range of personalities that makes one root for them in the same way they would a human. 'The Life of Birds', like Attenborough's other works, also displays a wide range of emotions and found myself really caring for everything that was shown to us on screen.

Like much of Attenborough/BBC's other work, each episode doesn't feel like an episodic stringing of scenes, but instead like the best nature documentaries each feels like their own story and journey, with real, complex emotions and conflicts.

In conclusion, another wonderful Attenborough gem. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Great series, bad transfer.

[LW-08854 · 7/10 · 28 December 2023]

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.