A nature show about birds is taking the world by storm. With almost 1 million viewers in 164 countries, the Piip-Show is another kind of bird watching. In a diorama bar set up in a forest outside of Oslo, this webcam show is the most popular program on Norway’s NRK station. A pioneer in “slow TV,” the Piip-Show has a clever cast of characters who do whatever they want, whenever they want. There’s a pushy red robin fighting for food, a group of blue tits invading the bar and a squirrel – who scares off everyone. With no script and an endless supply of nuts, the show has a new birdhouse, home to a family of blue tits laying eggs that were hatched a couple of weeks ago. There’s also a second new birdhouse, which recently opened.
If you think that one stationary camera filming of wildlife sounds boring, you’re wrong. Named the ‘peep show’ (Norwegians spell it with an ‘i’) that refers to birds’ tweets, the show was co-founded by Norwegian photographer Magne Klann and model-maker Lars Aurtande. They met in school and started it as a still photography project. It then evolved into a much-hyped experiment – a reality TV show (they’ve even had shout-outs from Norway’s Crown Princess, Mette-Marit).
It wasn’t long since a broadcast of a new nest box opened with four cameras, watching a family of blue tits laying eggs, hatching them and watching the baby birds grow into this world. All this will happen over a three-month period. Their first book (in Norwegian) was recently released so I caught up with Magne and talked about how it all began and his favourite on-screen characters.
VICE: Did anyone realise Norwegian wildlife is so interesting? The success of the show took everyone off guard.
Magne Klann: Maybe. I’ve made it available for people and I think it’s surprising that so many people are tuning into it. One thing I think is a reason is that this isn’t a normal nature show, it’s not a wildlife BBC production. We have made sort of an absurd thing in a human-like environment. When the birds come into it, it looks very strange. When the squirrel comes in, it looks like a giant, on the one side its very cute, but it’s also big and scary. That’s how the birds see it as well, big and scary.
Did you have the idea that this might be kind of funny?
Yes, it started with the nest box. I’m a photographer and I started out making photos of different kinds of nest boxes. It was a series of photos with the same photo in a lot of different interiors that were supposed to describe something with identity and be transferable with humans. That was the start. I went to college in England and one of my fellow students is also Norwegian, Lars Aurtande. He is an illustrator who has made a few children’s books. I contacted him to take the Piip-Show idea one step further – to make a book. He came up with the idea of the bar and a story came out of that, this live show.
Videos by VICE
Your bar has a few regulars. Can you introduce us to some of them?
There are the blue tits. The bar and the house are quite close to each other. The two blue tits who live in the house are called Paul and Sylia. I know their names because we’ve made a book that is out now. The book is based on the series, focusing on the two places. It’s a book for children about a family of blue tits coming to life.
Wow.
It’s a love story where Paul and Sylia meet at the bar and move to the house. There are eggs on the way, chicks on their way, and in the end, they leave the house and go on into the world.
Have there been any bar fights, or was the biggest issue with the squirrels?
When the squirrels come in, the birds go flying everywhere. It’s not a real fight, but when the smaller birds come together, that’s when the fighting is happening. They have equal strength. But there are seldom fights. You might know about robin birds with red breasts, they are not so common in Norway but there are a few. They want to hang around the bar. They are tiny and shouldn’t be able to push their luck with grey tits and blue tits but they do. They’re kind of aggressive and they make their way.
First, there was the bar. Now there is the birdfeeder. What’s next?
There will be one more nest box. With one more species. The other seems to be occupied by a couple of grey tits but I am not sure if they have really moved in or if they’re just hanging around. We’ll look into that and start broadcasting soon.
How do you make sure you don’t scare the animals off? Do you leave the camera on?
I leave the cameras on all the time but I turn the lights off at night. This is intruding into wild birds lives and you’re not really allowed to do that. I am very careful when I do these things. If they seem to react okay to it, I continue. The birds don’t mind when there’s a camera there, what they mind is humans and if the place is insecure in some way. If the place is insecure they’ll just leave. They wouldn’t move into a nest box they didn’t like. I didn’t put the camera in until I saw they were attracted to the place. They are not there during the night. They didn’t seem to mind the light, so I use it.
Who is your favourite character and why?
I’m not really sure, it’s like picking favourites among favourites. We all have a weak point for the squirrels.
The squirrels eat the bar.
I thought that was funny at first, but it’s not funny anymore. I need to do some repair. We’re probably going to make some changes to the house, where the wallpaper is damaged.
Will there be a second season?
If we continue, we might make the second season somewhere else, in a different country. We’ll see what shows up.
Follow the Piip-Show on Facebook, watch it here, or get the book here (in Norwegian).
Tweet Nadja on Twitter.
