Bird is noted for improvising and reworking his songs during live performance, as can be seen in his series of self-released live compilations entitled "Fingerlings", "Fingerlings 2", "Fingerlings 3", and "Fingerlings 4", the first of which was released in 2002. Each "Fingerlings" EP was released prior to a studio album, and presented a mixture of live performances from different shows, including old tracks, covers, and previously unreleased songs, some of which have since appeared on studio albums. "Fingerlings 3", released in October 2006, also featured studio outtakes. Fingerlings 2 provided Bird with an unexpected boost in recognition in 2004 when it was named album of the month by "Mojo".