A Rare Bird is the eighth episode of the fourteenth series of Midsomer Murders and was originally aired on 11th January 2012.
DCI Barnaby and DS Jones investigate the murder of Patrick Morgan, president of the Midsomer-in-the-Marsh ornithological association. Morgan wasn't very likeable and was downright nasty to people, including his wife Nina. He suspected her of having an affair after she announced she was pregnant - he knew he could not be the father as he had a vasectomy some years ago. He had also challenged Ralph Ford's claim of having seen a blue-crested hoopoe, a bird that is native to Uganda and had threatened to sue local farmer George Napier if he went ahead with a drainage project. Nina was a former prima ballerina and with former professional musician Michael Hipsman, now a bookshop owner and member of bird-watching society, teaches ballet classes locally. Nina hasn't been truthful with the police and finally tells them who fathered the child she is carrying. When he too is killed, the police have to look elsewhere for the culprit.
Tropes:
- Cat Scare: Happens while Jones is searching a taxidermy studio. One cat turns out to be alive and makes Jones jump when it moves.
- Inescapable Net: The killer uses birding nets to entangle his first two victims before killing them. Justified as birding nets have a very fine, almost unbreakable mesh, and the killer only needs them to hold long enough for him to deliver the killing blow/shot.
- Stalker Shrine: Revealed just before the climax.
- Taxidermy Is Creepy: One of the suspects, Ralph Ford, is a vegetarian taxidermist. He regards his work as giving animals a second life.
