Bird tweets translated live for Twitter at ZSL London Zoo
Thursday 13 September 2012
Bill Oddie and ZSL London Zoo team up to bring you the UK’s first tweeting birds
There are over 400 million tweets sent every day on Twitter, but next week, for one day only, the social media platform is set to come alive with a different kind of tweet altogether.
To highlight the busiest month in the birding calendar, Twitter and ZSL London Zoo are teaming up, along with the UK’s favourite bird expert, Bill Oddie, for a day of ornithological chatter on Twitter.
On Tuesday 18 September, Oddie will be joined by the zoo’s head bird-keeper, Adrian Walls , in the tropical aviary, where the pair will attempt to translate the early morning tweets of tropical birds, publishing the results on Twitter, 140 characters at a time, between 7.30am and 8am.
Oddie and head bird-keeper Walls will then give a guided tour of the aviary at the world's most famous zoo using the hashtag #BirdsThatTweet and sharing bird-related facts, stats, links and popular resources on Twitter.
Oddie will also be hosting a live Q&A session over Twitter on the day between 1-2pm for bird lovers to ask him any questions they may have about their own bird watching experiences. Simply log on to Twitter and follow @BillOddie and the hashtag #BirdsThatTweet to get involved.
Bill Oddie said: “Twitter is a great resource for anyone interested in ornithology. Whether you’ve snapped a picture of a bird you’re struggling to identify, you’ve seen something amazing take place you just have to share, or you have a question you can’t find an answer to, there’s no better way to communicate with fellow enthusiasts.
“What better way to bring Twitter to life for the bird watching community than translating the tweets of birds, live on Twitter? I don’t think anyone’s ever attempted it before, so it’s going to be an interesting morning, that’s for sure!”
Head bird-keeper Adrian Walls added: “We are all, birds included, very excited to be welcoming Bill Oddie to the Blackburn Pavilion at ZSL London Zoo.
“It will be fascinating to watch Bill talk, translate and Tweet what our birds are tweeting, plus a rare opportunity for people to hear what happens in the aviary before the zoo opens.
“Lots of our visitors wish they could converse with the animals, but Bill actually can and it’s going to be great to watch that play out over Twitter. I’m also looking forward to his live Q&A - Bill has many valuable years of experience in the field of ornithology and I am sure will have many great nuggets of information to share.”
