40 quotes
If we [humans] disappeared overnight, the world would probably be better off [making the point that the reverse is not true].
Right now we are facing a man-made disaster of global scale, our greatest threat in thousands of years: climate change. If we don’t take action, the collapse of our civilisations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon.
In moments of great grief, that's where you look and immerse yourself. You realise you are not immortal, you are not a god, you are part of the natural world and you come to accept that.
We must change our diet. The planet can’t support billions of meat-eaters.
Trade is a proper and decent relationship, with dignity and respect on both sides.
A Blank on the Map (1971)
Those that live in the air have to fight in the air.
The Life of Birds (1998)
It is that range of biodiversity that we must care for - the whole thing - rather than just one or two stars.
An understanding of the natural world and what's in it is a source of not only a great curiosity but great fulfillment, but also in the long run, essential to our future survival.
Each [pelican] has already survived many perils in its young life. As a chick, it fought battles with its brothers and sisters and won.
The Life of Birds (1998)
Were we and the rest of the back-boned animals to disappear overnight, the rest of the world would get on pretty well.
Birds are the most accomplished aeronauts the world has ever seen. They fly high and low, at great speed, and very slowly. And always with extraordinary precision and control.
The Life of Birds (1998)
A spider. Quite big enough and succulent enough to provide a snack for a Scops.
The Life of Birds (1998)
Living on the bodies of mammals, oxpeckers manage to get quite a varied diet. A maggot here, a tick there, a little sip of blood, perhaps a little tasty earwax.
The Life of Birds (1998)
The battle between cuckoos and other birds is a continuing one. The cuckoos developing new stratagems and perhaps finding new victims, and the victims finding new defences.
The Life of Birds (1998)
Mallards must be one of the most familiar birds in the world. Because of that, perhaps we tend to take ducks for granted. But in fact, they are a very varied family.
The Life of Birds (1998)
There are some four million different kinds of animals and plants in the world. Four million different solutions to the problems of staying alive. This is the story of how a few of them came to be as they are.
Life on Earth (1979)
The rest, from mice to whales, make up just 4%.
David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet (2020)
You might think that a hornbill would have the most powerful excavation tool of all, but in fact its huge beak is a relatively delicate structure and no use at all as a chisel.
The Life of Birds (1998)
I'm not an animal lover if that means you think things are nice if you can pet them, but I am intoxicated by animals.
But for Hatzegopteryx, the beach is a launching pad. Now his wings will carry him to yet another forest, where life proliferates more variously and more abundantly, than anywhere else on our prehistoric planet.
Prehistoric Planet (2022)