Stephen Moss

For other people named Stephen Moss, see Stephen Moss (disambiguation).

Stephen Moss (born in 1960) is a British natural historian, birder, author, and television producer.

Stephen Moss
Moss in 2018
Born	(1960-04-25)25 April 1960
Known for	Wildlife documentaries; accompanying books
Awards	Dilys Breese Medal

Early life

Moss gained an honours degree in English Literature from the University of Cambridge.

Career

Moss is best known for producing wildlife series for the BBC, many of them presented by Bill Oddie, including:

• Birding with Bill Oddie (three series, 1997, 1998, and 2000)

• Bill Oddie Goes Wild (three series, 2001, 2002, and 2003)
• Wild in Your Garden (2003)
• Bill Oddie's How to Watch Wildlife (2004)
• Springwatch with Bill Oddie (2005)
• Birds Britannia (2010)

For some of his series, Moss also authored accompanying books. He left the BBC in 2011 to work as a freelancer. He lectures at Bath Spa University and is a visiting professor at the University of Nottingham.

In 2009, Moss was one of the first recipients of the British Trust for Ornithology's Dilys Breese Medal, at a ceremony at the House of Lords.

One of his works, The Accidental Countryside, was included in the 2025 AQA English Language Paper 2 GCSE exam.

Personal life

Moss is married, with five children, and lives in Somerset, having moved there from West London.

Radio programmes

• A Guide to Garden Birds

Bibliography

• BBC Weather Watch (BBC Books 1992), ISBN 0-563-36486-6, with Paul Simons
• Birds and Weather: A Birdwatchers' Guide (Hamlyn 1995), ISBN 0-600-58679-0
• The Complete Garden Bird Book: How to Identify and Attract Birds to Your Garden (New Holland 1996), ISBN 1-85368-580-1, with Mark Golley
• Birding with Bill Oddie (BBC Books 1997), ISBN 0-563-38748-3, with Bill Oddie
• Attracting Birds to Your Garden (New Holland 1998), ISBN 1-85368-569-0
• Gardening for Birds: How to Help Birds Make the Most of Your Garden (HarperCollins 2000), ISBN 0-00-220168-2 (repr. 2004 as Bird-friendly Garden)
• Bird Boxes and Feeders: Featuring 11 Step-by-step Woodworking Projects (New Holland 2001), ISBN 1-85974-175-4, with Alan & Gill Bridgewater
• The Garden Bird Handbook: How to Attract, Identify and Watch the Birds in Your Garden (New Holland 2003), ISBN 1-84330-124-5
• Understanding Bird Behaviour (New Holland 2003), ISBN 1-84330-151-2
• How to Birdwatch (New Holland 2003), ISBN 1-84330-154-7
• Blokes and Birds (New Holland 2003), ISBN 1-84330-484-8 (ed.)
• Garden Birds (HarperCollins 2004), ISBN 0-00-717614-7
• A Bird in the Bush: A Social History of Birdwatching (Aurum 2004), ISBN 1-85410-993-6
• Everything You Wanted to Know About Birds… But Were Afraid to Ask! (Christopher Helm 2005), ISBN 0-7136-6815-6
• Bill Oddie's How to Watch Wildlife (HarperCollins 2005), ISBN 0-00-718455-7, with Bill Oddie and Fiona Pitcher
• This Birding Life: The Best of The Guardian's "Birdwatch" (Aurum 2006), ISBN 1-84513-180-0
• The Private Life of Birds (New Holland 2006), ISBN 1-84537-422-3
• Birder's Companion (Firefly 2007), ISBN 978-1-55407-212-5
• The Bumper Book of Nature (Square Peg), ISBN 978-0-224-08616-5
• A Sky Full of Starlings: A Diary of a Birding Year (Aurum 2008), ISBN 1-84513-353-6
• Wild Hares and Hummingbirds: The Natural History of an English Village (Square Peg, 2011), ISBN 9780099552468
• Wild Kingdom: Bringing Back Britain's Wildlife (Square Peg, 2016),(ISBN 9780099581635)
• The Robin: A Biography (Square Peg, 2017) ISBN 9781910931318
• The Wren: A Biography (Square Peg, 2018) ISBN 9781910931936
• Mrs Moreau's Warbler: How Birds Got Their Names (Guardian Faber, 2018) ISBN 9781783350902
• Dynasties: The Rise and Fall of Animal Families (BBC Books, 2018) ISBN 978-1785943010 with David Attenborough
• The Accidental Countryside: Hidden Havens for Britain’s Wildlife (Guardian Faber, 2020) ISBN 978-1783351640
• The Swallow: A Biography (Square Peg, 2020) ISBN 9781529110265
• Skylarks with Rosie: A Somerset Spring (Saraband, 2021) ISBN 978-1913393045
• The Swan: A Biography (Square Peg, 2021) ISBN 9781529110371
• The Owl: A Biography (Square Peg, 2023) ISBN 9781529908268
• The Starling: A Biography (Square Peg, 2024) ISBN 9781529908282

External links

• Mabbett, Andy. "Review of Blokes and Birds". Archived from the original on 8 January 2009.
• The Official "The Bumper Book of Nature" website with podcasts, quizzes and a blog by Stephen Moss