The Life of Birds is a BBC nature documentary series written and presented by David Attenborough, first transmitted in the United Kingdom from 21 October 1998.

A study of the evolution and habits of birds, it was the third of Attenborough's specialised surveys following his major trilogy that began with Life on Earth.

From the outset, the production team were determined that the sound of birds calling and singing would not be dubbed on to the filmed pictures afterwards: it would be recorded simultaneously.

For one particular sequence, Britain's dawn chorus, it was important that the movement of the beak and the expelled warm air was synchronous with the accompanying song.

A trick used to entice some of the animals near the camera was to play a recording of the same species in the hope that the target would not only answer back, but investigate its source as well.

Despite such fortuity, filming on the series was not all plain sailing: in "Finding Partners", Attenborough was chased by a capercaillie, which didn't even stop when the presenter fell over.

Pterosaurs were the birds' forerunners, some 150 million years after dragonflies developed the means of flight, but eventually became extinct together with the dinosaurs.

Getting into the air is by far the most exhausting of a bird's activities, and Attenborough observes shearwaters in Japan that have taken to climbing trees to give them a good jumping-off point.

Weight is kept to a minimum by having a beak made of keratin instead of bone, a light frame, and a coat of feathers, which is maintained fastidiously.

Conversely, the barn owl owes its predatory success to flying slowly, while the kestrel spots its quarry by hovering.

Blue tits and goldfinches have beaks akin to tweezers, with which to extract seeds, while the hawfinch's razor-like bill can deal with a cherry-stone.

Insects are also highly prized, and Galápagos finches are shown to possess some ingenuity as they not only strip bark, but also use 'tools' to reach their prey.

In South America, a cattle tyrant sits atop an obliging capybara and uses its vantage point to spot passing food that may be dislodged by its grazing partner.

In New Zealand, Attenborough observes keas, parrots that do not eat meat exclusively, raiding a shearwater's burrow for a chick.

Vultures are the exception, in that they eat what others have left, and once a carcass is found, so many birds descend on it that the carrion seems submerged beneath them.

By contrast, a shrike is not equipped with the requisite sharp beak and talons needed for butchery, and so dismembers its kill by impaling it on the thorns of acacias.

Waders, which specialise in feeding on mud flats at low tide, include avocets, godwits, dowitchers and sanderlings.

Attenborough visits Lord Howe Island, off Australia, and by imitating the calls of various birds, invites a group of curious Providence petrels — which are indigenous — to investigate.

Out on a seemingly empty area of ocean, the presenter is able to fill it with various sea birds within seconds, simply by throwing fish oil on to the water.

The nature of tropical rainforests means that their occupants tend to make much louder calls than those in other habitats, and several such species are shown.

Finally, Attenborough introduces the superb lyrebird as one of the most versatile performers: it is a skilled mimic, and this particular one imitates not only other species, but also cameras, a car alarm and a chain saw.

Competition among males can be fierce and in Scotland, Attenborough observes rival capercaillies engaging in battle — after one of them chases the presenter.

Avian polyandry is not widespread, but is illustrated by the superb fairy-wren, where the male's family can easily comprise young that it did not father.

Attenborough begins on an island in the Seychelles, where sooty terns, which have hitherto spent their lives on the wing, have landed to lay their eggs.

It is imperative that nests are kept as far away from predators as possible, and unusual locations for them are shown, such as: behind the water curtain of Iguazu Falls in South America (as chosen by swifts), cliffs on Argentina's coast favoured by parrots, an ants' nest occupied by a woodpecker, and a tree hole inside which a female hornbill seals itself.

A number of strategies are employed to deter the thieves, as illustrated by the yellow-rumped thornbill, which builds a decoy nest atop its actual one, and the plover, which distracts marauders by feigning injury.

Protecting a family is also a priority, and brent geese are shown nesting close to snowy owls as a means of insurance, but as soon as the eggs hatch, they and their young must flee to avoid giving their neighbours an easy meal.

The million or so sooty terns in the Seychelles prove that there is safety in numbers and the nearby predatory egrets have little success when attempting to steal.

The sandgrouse is a species that has adapted to desert living: its breast feathers are capable of absorbing water, which it can pass on to its young.

Attenborough highlights man's influence by describing the Pacific island of Guam, whose bird population was wiped out following the accidental introduction of brown tree snakes during the 1940s.