"No sooner has one been pushed out of the nest then a second will follow, until there is only one left. And thats what happens nearly always in a pelicans nest. That being the case, it seems rather inefficient, not to say heartless, that the pelican should always lay three eggs. But the reason is that its partly an insurance policy, in case something terrible happens to one or two of the chicks, theres always a third left to carry on. And partly because, very rarely, when the fishing is very good, it is possible to raise more than one chick."
Sir David Frederick Attenborough is an English broadcaster, natural historian, conservationist, writer, producer and narrator. His presenting career began as host of Zoo Quest in 1954, and has spanned eight decades; it includes the nine documentary series forming The Life Collection, Natural World, Wildlife on One, the Planet Earth franchise, The Blue Planet and Frozen Planet. He is the only perso
Sir David Frederick Attenborough is an English broadcaster, natural historian, conservationist, writer, producer and narrator. His presenting career began as host of Zoo Quest in 1954, and has spanned eight decades; it includes the nine documentary series forming The Life Collection, Natural World, Wildlife on One, the Planet Earth franchise, The Blue Planet and Frozen Planet. He is the only perso
View all quotes by David Attenborough"Penguins underwater look somewhat like dolphins, and indeed the two families have similar evolutionary histories. Dolphins are descended from air-breathing land animals, just as penguins are descended from air-breathing flying animals. Both subsequently took to swimming for their food. They became beautifully adapted and streamlined. And now, both are superlative swimmers and highly accomplished fishermen."
David Attenborough"Ill bet when our prehistoric ancestors first dug for tubers and planted seeds in Europe, one of these little robins appeared within a couple of days. Other animals must have done the same job for them before human beings did. Once, not so long ago, wild pig were common all over Europe, and theyre great diggers and rootlers. So maybe the robins boldness and friendliness with other kinds of animals started in prehistory, even before human beings arrived in Europe."
David Attenborough"In moments of great grief, thats where you look and immerse yourself. You realise you are not immortal, you are not a god, you are part of the natural world and you come to accept that."
David Attenborough"I often get letters, quite frequently, from people who say how they like the programmes a lot, but I never give credit to the almighty power that created nature. To which I reply and say, "Well, its funny that the people, when they say that this is evidence of the Almighty, always quote beautiful things. They always quote orchids and hummingbirds and butterflies and roses." But I always have to think too of a little boy sitting on the banks of a river in west Africa who has a worm boring through his eyeball, turning him blind before hes five years old. And I reply and say, "Well, presumably the God you speak about created the worm as well," and now, I find that baffling to credit a merciful God with that action. And therefore it seems to me safer to show things that I know to be truth, truthful and factual, and allow people to make up their own minds about the moralities of this thing, or indeed the theology of this thing."
David Attenborough"If we [humans] disappeared overnight, the world would probably be better off [making the point that the reverse is not true]."
David Attenborough"All over the world, birds [...] manage to survive in the most hostile of places. A century ago, a completely new kind of environment appeared on Earth. Nothing like it had faced birds before in their entire 200 million year history. Yet some species began to adapt to it almost immediately... The modern city."
David Attenborough