Hannah Bourne-Taylor, the bird expert and wildlife conservationist featured on Clarkson's Farm, famously allowed a bird to nest in her hair for 84 days. Known as the 'bird lady', she left Jeremy Clarkson stunned with her dedication.
A Life Devoted to Birds
Clarkson's Farm has returned to Prime Video with its fifth season. In a lighter moment away from his prostate cancer diagnosis, Jeremy Clarkson revealed his lifelong passion for birds and his desire to protect them on Diddly Squat Farm. He consulted Hannah Bourne-Taylor, a local expert from a neighbouring village, to evaluate the farm.
Hannah's enthusiasm for birds was immediately apparent as she bounced with excitement at the sight and sound of rare species. She left Jeremy utterly astonished when she disclosed that she had let a bird nest in her hair for 84 days.
Her Extraordinary Experience
Hannah explained: "I spent a long time living on my own in the bush in Africa, where I had no friends, and I had birds living in my hair. I just tuned in to all the birds. I found a little nestling bird whose nest had been blown down; his whole flock had abandoned him. He would have died otherwise, so I thought, okay, fine, I'll try to be a surrogate mother to this tiny little finch."
She continued: "It worked, but it meant I was his whole world. He lived on my body for all of his time awake, and when he went to sleep and napped, he would make nests out of my hair. This went on for three months, so I hung out with this little bird in my hair."
Campaigning for Nature
Hannah is a passionate campaigner and author of Nature Needs You and Fledgling. With over 30,000 followers on Instagram, she keeps her fans updated on her campaigns. One eye-catching campaign saw her pose naked in the street, with only bird-shaped silhouettes preserving her modesty.
Reflecting on the daring stunt, she wrote on her website: "I launched the ongoing national swift brick campaign in 2022, almost naked, as a solo, unfunded campaigner with a petition that ended up being the fastest growing government petition at the time, accumulating almost 110,000 signatures."
Her author biography in Nature Needs You describes her as a conservationist, bird lover, and author of the acclaimed nature memoir Fledgling (2022), described by The Observer as 'intelligent, poetic and moving'. Dubbed 'a voice for nature' by the RSPB, she has a loyal following on X for #firstbirdofmyday. She is an award-winning nature campaigner, named on the Ends Report green policymaking 2024 Power List.
She lives in Oxfordshire with her husband and their two Ghanaian rescue dogs.
Her Appearance on Clarkson's Farm
Following her appearance on Clarkson's Farm, she shared a photograph with Jeremy Clarkson, captioning it: "Delighted to be a small birdy part of Clarkson's Farm, banging on about the coolest things in the universe: birds."
The specialist is available for avian surveys, conservation advisory services, and public presentations on conservation matters. Clarkson's Farm season 5 is available on Prime Video.
