Bill Oddie was at London Zoo today for a day of bird themed activity on Twitter to highlight the busiest month in the bird-watching calendar. Picture: Jeff Moore

Bird expert Bill Oddie translated the tweets of real-life birds for Twitter at London Zoo today.

Bill Oddie listens for birds' tweets. Picture: Jeff Moore

Oddie was joined by the zoo’s head bird-keeper, Adrian Walls, in the tropical aviary early where the pair translated the early morning tweets of tropical birds, publishing the results as Tweets on Twitter, 140 characters at a time.

Ornithologist Oddie also shared top tips on bird watching, facts and stats, and exclusive pictures from the Blackburn Pavilion at London Zoo to fans following the hashtag #BirdsThatTweet.

Twitter users were also able to ask Oddie questions about their own birdwatching experiences, and Twitter set up a dedicated page for fans to find interesting and relevant accounts to follow for the latest updates from the birding world.

Oddie said: “I jumped at the chance to take part in this activity, what better way to bring Twitter to life for the bird watching community than translating the tweets of birds, live on Twitter? It has been a fantastic day and I’ve had some interesting questions thrown at me over Twitter!”

The event came during one of the busiest months in the UK birding calendar as the migration season takes flight. In the last month Twitter has seen more than 31,000 mentions of birdwatching-related terms.

Head bird-keeper Adrian Walls added: “It was fascinating to watch Bill talk, translate and Tweet what our birds were tweeting, plus it was a rare opportunity for people to hear what happens in the aviary before the zoo opens. Lots of our visitors wish they could converse with the animals, but Bill actually can and it was great to watch that play out over Twitter.”