The Messenger

In recent years, I’ve noticed that the birds that I used to see and hear are no longer with us. At first, I rationalized my thinking and concluded that I was too busy or that it was an emotive, maybe nostalgic, perception all of my own. Then I happened to read Bridget Stutchbury’s Silence of the Songbirds and I realized the problem wasn’t me. Songbirds really are disappearing and we are losing them faster than in any other period in human history. To understand why this is happening and, above all, what we can do about it, I decided to set out on a journey. In the course of a year, following the seasons and the birds’ movements, our crew filmed on three continents.

We discovered that there are many causes for their “silence” and that every species has a different story to tell. We explored our deep connection with birds with the clear realization of how their uncertain destiny reflects our own. This is one of the reasons why everywhere we went, we met people who are working for change, seeing the destiny of birds as that of the whole planet. Human beings share a timeless bond with birds and their song, and their presence persists in our lives. In the past, human beings watched their flight and listened to their singing to predict the future. Today birds have something to tell us again.