Birds Do It, Bees Do It is a 1974 documentary film

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 covering sexuality in the animal kingdom

Animal sexuality

Animal sexual behaviour takes many different forms, even within the same species. Among animals other than humans, researchers have observed monogamy, promiscuity, sex between species, sexual arousal from objects or places, sex apparently via duress or coercion, copulation with dead animals,...

. It was directed by Nicolas Noxon (a regular crewmember for National Geographic's early television specials) and Irwin Rosten

Irwin Rosten

Irwin Rosten was an American documentary filmmaker who also produced several hour-long documentaries for television. He is best known for his 1975 film The Incredible Machine. He was twice nominated for an Academy Award and won an Emmy Award for the documentary Mysteries of the Mind.Rosten was...

, and co-produced by David L. Wolper

David L. Wolper

David Lloyd Wolper was an American television and film producer, responsible for shows such as Roots, The Thorn Birds, North & South, L.A. Confidential, and the film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory...

.

Thanks to its copulation scenes, the film was marketed with the tagline "So real it will never be shown on TV". The same scenes initially earned it an R rating

MPAA film rating system

The Motion Picture Association of America's film-rating system is used in the U.S. and its territories to rate a film's thematic and content suitability for certain audiences. The MPAA system applies only to motion pictures that are submitted for rating. Other media may be rated by other entities...

 from the Motion Picture Association of America

Motion Picture Association of America

The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. , originally the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America , was founded in 1922 and is designed to advance the business interests of its members...

; after a brief discussion between Wolper and then-MPAA chairman Richard Heffner

Richard Heffner

Richard Douglas Heffner is the creator and host of The Open Mind, a public affairs television show first broadcast in 1956. He is a University Professor of Communications and Public Policy at Rutgers University and also teaches an honors seminar at New York University...

, a few changes were made to ensure the eventual PG rating.

Birds Do It, Bees Do It received a nomination for Best Documentary at the Golden Globes. Gerald Fried

Gerald Fried

Gerald Fried is an American musician, well known for his compositions in film and television.Born and raised in the Bronx, New York City, Fried attended Juilliard School of Music...

's music earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score

Academy Award for Best Original Score

The Academy Award for Original Score is presented to the best substantial body of music in the form of dramatic underscoring written specifically for the film by the submitting composer.-Superlatives:...

. The film was screened at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival

1974 Cannes Film Festival

- Jury :*René Clair *Jean-Loup Dabadie *Kenne Fant *Félix Labisse *Irwin Shaw *Michel Soutter *Monica Vitti *Alexander Walker *Rostislav Yurenev -Feature film competition:...

, but did not enter the main competition.