Tim Birkhead
Tim Birkhead is a biologist, professional ornithologist and award-winning author. In 2008 he published The Wisdom of Birds, the culmination of 30 years of studying the extraordinary history of birds. His birding knowledge is unsurpassed – from introducing the topic of sperm competition in birds to the history of ornithology – and we look forward to hearing his contribution to The Bird Effect conversation.
Tim was a fanatical naturalist as a child and kept birds in his bedroom and spent countless days bird watching. He raised magpies, rooks, tawny owls and starlings and had an aviary in the garden filled with foreign birds. During a family holiday in North Wales when he was 12, he saw a young man sitting with a telescope and a notebook studying birds. His father told him, “You could do something like that”, little realising how significant his comment was.
Tim teaches animal behaviour and the history of science at the University of Sheffield. His passion for ornithology has taken him all over the world in the quest to understand the lives of birds. He has written for The Independent, New Scientist and BBC Wildlife. His books include Promiscuity (2000), Great Auk Islands (1993), The Cambridge Encyclopaedia of Birds (1991), which won the McColvin medal and The Red Canary (2003), which won the Consul Cremer Prize.
“A fascinating, intriguing and enlightening book.”
Bill Oddie
“You would have to be bird-brained not to fall for this history of twitchers and naturalists.”
The Telegraph
Links:
- Review of Tim Birkhead in The Guardian
- Review of Tim Birkhead in The Telegraph
Video:
Tim Birkhead Video
