Bill Oddie

William Edgar (Bill) Oddie, OBE, MA (Cantab.) (born on July 7, 1941 in Rochdale (then in Lancashire)) is a comedy writer and performer, author, composer and musician. A birdwatcher since his childhood in Birmingham, Oddie has now established a reputation for himself as an ornithologist, conservationist and television presenter on wildlife issues. Some of his books are illustrated with his own paintings and drawings.

Conservation and birdwatching

Oddie's first published work was an article about Birmingham's Bartley Reservoir in the West Midland Bird Club's 1962 Annual Report. He has since written a number of books about birds and bird watching, as well as articles for many specialist publications including British Birds, Birdwatching Magazine and Birdwatch. He became president of the West Midland Bird Club in 1999, having been Vice-President since 1991 and is a former member of the council of the RSPB.

Related Topics:
Bartley Reservoir - West Midland Bird Club - 1962 - ''British Birds'' - Birdwatch - 1999 - 1991 - RSPB

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He has hosted a number of very successful nature programs for the BBC, many produced by Stephen Moss, including:

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• The Great Kenyan Bird Safari
• Favourite Walks
• Wild Weekends
• The Bird Business
• Flight to Eilat
• The Big Bird Race
• Oddie in Paradise (1993)
• Bird in the Nest (two series)
• Birding with Bill Oddie (three series, 1997, 1998 and 2000)
• Bill Oddie Goes Wild (three series, 2001, 2002 and 2003)
• Wild In Your Garden (2003)
• Britain Goes Wild (2004)
• Bill Oddie's How to Watch Wildlife (2005)
• The London episode of Seven Natural Wonders (2005)
• Springwatch with Bill Oddie (2005)
• The Truth about Killer Dinosaurs (2005; also on DVD)

On its first evening of broadcast, Britain Goes Wild set a record for its timeslot of 8pm on BBC Two of 3.4 million viewers, one million more than the Channel 4 programme showing at that time. It also created a run on nest boxes for and bumble bees, bird baths and bird feed from suppliers, likened to the Delia power phenomenon created when Delia Smith mentioned the tools and ingredients she was using on her cooking programme Delia's How to Cook. Oddie presented an update later in 2004.

Related Topics:
BBC Two - Channel 4 - Nest box - Bumble bees - Bird bath - Delia Smith

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Most of the recent series have been produced by Stephen Moss.

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