Flying Colours

NEW BIRD COLLABORATION TO INTRIGUE AND INSPIRE

How well do you really know our feathered friends? Birds may have been around for millions of years, in a variety of shapes and sizes, colours and hues, live in all parts of the world and have survived the mass event that wiped out all other types of dinosaurs, but they are currently facing many threats worldwide. A new exhibition explores them like never before, revealing the secrets of their survival thus far and their incredible evolution into over 11,000 distinct species!

'Birds: Brilliant and Bizarre', a collaboration between The Natural History Museum (NHM) and the RSPB, which opens on 24th May 2024 in the NHS's Waterhouse Gallery in South Kensington and runs through until 5th January 2025 - is set to be a fascinating, uplifting and 'tactile' family day out. Through installations and hands-on experiences, you can trace their changes over the past 150 million years and swirl around with a murmuration, sniff the oil used by one bird to protect her eggs, see life through a birds' eyes or feel how fast a hummingbird's heart beats in flight.

You can also delve into the mystery of migration and the hardiness of some birds with specimens on display including the 'Wonderchicken' the oldest known fossil of a modern bird which survived the mass extinction 66 million years ago.

Given the impact of humans on our planet, the interactions between birds and human culture are explored and the organisers hope this exhibition will inspire individual positive action from all those that visit. "As the effects of a changing world come home to roost, can we find a way to take them under our wing and create a future where they can soar once more?" A vision of bird life in 50 years suggests we can with the sound of a reinvigorated dawn chorus showing the possibilities of a future where people and planet thrive.

For more information and to book tickets click HERE. (If you're an RSPB member you'll receive a 20% discount on ticket prices!)