By . Simon Cable Showbusiness Correspondent . PUBLISHED: . 17:28 EST, 9 May 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 17:28 EST, 9 May 2013 . Veteran: Wildlife expert David Attenborough is one of the show's hosts . There's nothing quite like a tweet from a celebrity to boost sales of a product - and it seems it doesn't even have to be on Twitter. David Attenborough's Tweet of the Day programme - a radio broadcast of birdsong - has proved such a hit with listeners that retailers are reporting a surge in sales of bird-related items. The veteran wildlife expert is one of the hosts of the BBC Radio 4 series, which features a 90-second recording of a different bird each day. And it emerged yesterday that retailer Waterstones has seen sales of bird books double since the programme was first aired on Monday morning. It has also been noted that the RSPB Pocket Guide to British Birds is selling nearly twice as fast as last week. Meanwhile, internet retailer Amazon revealed that their two best-selling products in the bird category were birdsong audio CDs. Sales of British Birdsounds on CD and Dawn Chorus: A Sound Portrait of a British Woodland at Sunrise have surged over the past five days. Tweet of The Day is set to run for 265 episodes, with each one being accompanied by a short narration related to the different species. The five episodes so far have featured the Cuckoo, the Song Thrush, the Swift and the Wood Warbler. This morning (Fri) listeners heard the sound of the Nightingale. The series, which has been made by the BBC’s Natural History Unit, is being broadcast every weekday morning at 05.58am, just before the flagship current affairs show, the Today programme. Waterstone’s spokesman Jon Howells, said yesterday: ‘It’s Spring and we traditionally see good sales of books about birds at this time. However, we have indeed noticed increased sales since Radio 4s Tweet of the Day started earlier this week – our top selling bird book, the RSPB Pocket Guide to British Birds is selling nearly twice as fast as last week. ‘Currently, 11 of our top 20 natural history titles are bird books, which is about double what it would usually be. Tweet of the Day shows every sign of being one of those ‘out of nowhere’ things that sparks people’s interest and could indeed lead to lots more interest in birds, and bird books.’ The retailer explained that the increase in sales were mostly restricted to physical copies of the books, rather than ebooks, as customers wanted to see the pictures and illustrations of the different birds. Birdsong: The nightingale (pictured) was one of the first birds to be featured on Tweet of the Day . Scripted by BBC presenter and wildlife expert Brett Westwood, each episode of Tweet of the Day features information about each particular bird’s behaviour and habits, as well as its literary and folklore associations. A spokesman for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said last night: ‘There is a real appetite for birdsong, and it is been a hugely popular topic among many of ourmembers in recent days, which may be a result of the Tweet of the Day feature on Radio 4. ‘There appears to be a huge buzz around this and we’ve noticed many more birdsong enquiries over the past few days.’ Listeners have flooded social networking site Twitter to discuss the programme in recent days. Tom Colvin wrote: ‘Loving David Attenborough’s Tweet of the Day. Perfect early morning radio.' Oliver Emanuel added: ‘This is my new favourite thing.’ Chris Wing said: ‘Really enjoying tweet of the day so far. I have been meaning to learn my birdsong for ages.’ Toby Clark wrote: ‘Cuckoo, song thrush, and now swift. Loving BBC Radio 4 Tweet of the Day.’ Tweeters: The cuckoo (left) and the song thrush (right) have already featured on the popular programme . The programme comes four years after a cult radio station, which broadcast nothing but the sound of birdsong, was axed, prompting an outcry among fans. Birdsong Radio had attracted an estimated 500,000 listeners, including the author Sir Terry Pratchett. It played a 20 minute-long recording of birds singing in chorus, which was repeated on a continuous loop from 6am every day until midnight. However, it was cancelled in 2009 to make way for Amazing Radio, a station which plays a mix of indie, urban, rock and jazz music by unsigned artists. The decision caused outrage among its fans, who flooded forums and websites calling to have the programme reinstated.
BBC Radio 4 programme hosted by Attenborough hugely popular .
Bird book sales doubled since programme started this week .
By . Simon Cable Showbusiness Correspondent . PUBLISHED: . 17:28 EST, 9 May 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 17:28 EST, 9 May 2013 . Veteran: Wildlife expert David Attenborough is one of the show's hosts . There's nothing quite like a tweet from a celebrity to boost sales of a product - and it seems it doesn't even have to be on Twitter. David Attenborough's Tweet of the Day programme - a radio broadcast of birdsong - has proved such a hit with listeners that retailers are reporting a surge in sales of bird-related items. The veteran wildlife expert is one of the hosts of the BBC Radio 4 series, which features a 90-second recording of a different bird each day. And it emerged yesterday that retailer Waterstones has seen sales of bird books double since the programme was first aired on Monday morning. It has also been noted that the RSPB Pocket Guide to British Birds is selling nearly twice as fast as last week. Meanwhile, internet retailer Amazon revealed that their two best-selling products in the bird category were birdsong audio CDs. Sales of British Birdsounds on CD and Dawn Chorus: A Sound Portrait of a British Woodland at Sunrise have surged over the past five days. Tweet of The Day is set to run for 265 episodes, with each one being accompanied by a short narration related to the different species. The five episodes so far have featured the Cuckoo, the Song Thrush, the Swift and the Wood Warbler. This morning (Fri) listeners heard the sound of the Nightingale. The series, which has been made by the BBC’s Natural History Unit, is being broadcast every weekday morning at 05.58am, just before the flagship current affairs show, the Today programme. Waterstone’s spokesman Jon Howells, said yesterday: ‘It’s Spring and we traditionally see good sales of books about birds at this time. However, we have indeed noticed increased sales since Radio 4s Tweet of the Day started earlier this week – our top selling bird book, the RSPB Pocket Guide to British Birds is selling nearly twice as fast as last week. ‘Currently, 11 of our top 20 natural history titles are bird books, which is about double what it would usually be. Tweet of the Day shows every sign of being one of those ‘out of nowhere’ things that sparks people’s interest and could indeed lead to lots more interest in birds, and bird books.’ The retailer explained that the increase in sales were mostly restricted to physical copies of the books, rather than ebooks, as customers wanted to see the pictures and illustrations of the different birds. Birdsong: The nightingale (pictured) was one of the first birds to be featured on Tweet of the Day . Scripted by BBC presenter and wildlife expert Brett Westwood, each episode of Tweet of the Day features information about each particular bird’s behaviour and habits, as well as its literary and folklore associations. A spokesman for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said last night: ‘There is a real appetite for birdsong, and it is been a hugely popular topic among many of ourmembers in recent days, which may be a result of the Tweet of the Day feature on Radio 4. ‘There appears to be a huge buzz around this and we’ve noticed many more birdsong enquiries over the past few days.’ Listeners have flooded social networking site Twitter to discuss the programme in recent days. Tom Colvin wrote: ‘Loving David Attenborough’s Tweet of the Day. Perfect early morning radio.' Oliver Emanuel added: ‘This is my new favourite thing.’ Chris Wing said: ‘Really enjoying tweet of the day so far. I have been meaning to learn my birdsong for ages.’ Toby Clark wrote: ‘Cuckoo, song thrush, and now swift. Loving BBC Radio 4 Tweet of the Day.’ Tweeters: The cuckoo (left) and the song thrush (right) have already featured on the popular programme . The programme comes four years after a cult radio station, which broadcast nothing but the sound of birdsong, was axed, prompting an outcry among fans. Birdsong Radio had attracted an estimated 500,000 listeners, including the author Sir Terry Pratchett. It played a 20 minute-long recording of birds singing in chorus, which was repeated on a continuous loop from 6am every day until midnight. However, it was cancelled in 2009 to make way for Amazing Radio, a station which plays a mix of indie, urban, rock and jazz music by unsigned artists. The decision caused outrage among its fans, who flooded forums and websites calling to have the programme reinstated.
since Radio 4s Tweet of the Day started earlier this week – our top selling bird book, the RSPB and now swift. Loving BBC Radio 4 Tweet of the popular programme . The programme comes four