[dramatic music plays]
[squawking]
[dramatic music continues]
[Anthony Mackie] Rulers of the sky.
[dramatic music continues]
Symbols of freedom.
Unrivaled hunters.
[dramatic music continues]
We think of birds of prey
as ruthless killers.
[squawking]
But there's another side to their story.
[chirping]
Unexpectedly smart.
Surprisingly adaptable.
[sirens wail]
And more caring
than you ever imagined.
[dramatic music continues]
[tranquil music plays]
Deep winter.
This female bald eagle is having contractions.
[bird chirps]
Her eggs take 35 days to hatch.
[chirping]
To be ready for spring…
[chirping]
…she has to lay now.
[chirping]
But at this time of year,
the weather can quickly turn.
[tranquil music plays]
Exposed, her eggs would freeze in minutes.
But bald eagles are tough.
She'll do whatever it takes
to protect them.
[tranquil music plays]
[chirping]
And it's not just Mom.
[chirping]
[tranquil music continues]
Her lifelong mate.
A pair devoted to raising the next generation of aerial hunters.
[tranquil music continues]
[tranquil music fades]
Around the planet,
there are over 300 kinds of birds of prey.
From the biggest in the world, with a nine-foot wingspan,
to the smallest,
no bigger than a butterfly.
Wherever they live, they control the skies.
[dramatic music plays]
From dense jungles
to the frozen Arctic.
Arid deserts…
to towering mountains.
All of them are meat eaters
equipped with the same weaponry.
[dramatic music continues]
It's what and how they hunt
that's created such an amazing cast
of aerial assassins.
No open flight lines
and too many places to hide
make hunting almost impossible for a raptor.
-Unless it's the woodland master. -[bird screeches]
[air rushing]
The goshawk.
[screeching]
[tense music plays]
Armed with all the tools of the trade.
Acute binocular vision,
a sharp, hooked beak for ripping into flesh,
and large, curved talons
for grasping prey.
[tense music continues]
That's standard issue.
What makes her exceptional
is how she chases down her prey.
[screeching]
In a few wingbeats,
she hits 32 miles per hour…
the fastest acceleration of almost any raptor.
[tense music plays]
Using her tail as an air brake,
she turns on a dime.
[chirping]
Shortened wings
contort to the smallest gap.
She needs to hit her target before it reaches cover.
[chirping]
[tense music plays]
Hugging the terrain conceals her approach.
[tense music continues]
And if it doesn't work the first time…
goshawks are not just agile.
They're patient too.
[tense music plays]
[tense music fades]
[tense music crescendos]
[squealing]
Found in woodlands across the northern hemisphere,
the goshawk's success is down to its amazing agility.
But when it comes to pure speed…
another raptor
is unbeatable.
The fastest animal on Earth.
The peregrine falcon.
[dramatic music plays]
Top speed over 240 miles an hour
in a stoop.
Peregrines are so successful,
they're found all around the world.
[squawking]
Cliffs are their favorite habitat.
They provide a vantage point to scope for food.
[tense music plays]
And create updrafts
that peregrines use to gain height
before they strike from above.
-[tense music crescendos] -[birds thud]
[squawking]
The success of most birds of prey
depends on a mastery of flight.
But there's always one that bucks the trend.
[jaunty music plays]
Meet the secretary bird.
Not your typical bird of prey.
[jaunty music continues]
She's a raptor
on stilts.
About the height of a seven-year-old child.
[jaunty music continues]
And while she can fly,
she'd rather go by foot.
Up to 18 miles a day.
[jaunty music continues]
Those long legs aren't just for walking.
They help see into the tall grass.
[jaunty music fades]
They look a little ungainly…
but don't be fooled.
[suspenseful music crescendos]
[thudding]
That kick is lethal…
unleashing 44 pounds of force
faster than a blink of an eye.
And she needs to move fast.
This living velociraptor
is also a mom.
Two chicks, almost fully grown.
Always hungry.
Parenting duties are also stepping up a gear
at the bald eagle nest.
[tranquil music plays]
[chirps]
As soon as the snow's melted,
the magical moment arrives.
Two chicks, freshly hatched.
[chirping]
[tranquil music continues]
[rain pitter-patters]
In any weather…
[thunder rumbles]
…at any time…
Mom protects them the best she can.
But with those talons,
she must tread carefully.
Both adults take turns brooding
and fetching food.
Tag-team parenting gives their young the best possible start.
[chirping]
Four days later,
the last egg hatches.
The oldest chick is already twice its weight.
Unless the parents can provide an exceptional amount of food,
the smallest sibling won't last long.
[chirping]
Birds of prey are most vulnerable in the nest.
Chicks would soon perish in this baking desert…
unless they have shelter from the sun.
Sociable weavers
build huge communal nests.
Inside, it's up to nine degrees cooler.
The weavers aren't the only ones who benefit.
Their nest has attracted a pair of pygmy falcons.
Among the smallest raptors on Earth,
these unlikely squatters
take advantage of the weavers' hard work.
[jaunty music plays]
Sometimes,
they even eat them.
[jaunty music continues]
But when it comes to neighbors from hell,
weaver birds have even bigger problems.
This hive of life
attracts all sorts of predators.
[suspenseful music plays]
The weavers appear defenseless,
but they have a security force…
[suspenseful music continues]
…ready to fend off any attack.
[suspenseful music continues]
[squawking]
[suspenseful music continues]
Only the size of your fist,
but the falcons pack a punch.
[suspenseful music continues]
[suspenseful music stops]
[chirping]
And thankfully,
these fierce little fighters show some restraint.
They only take a few weavers each season.
Most of the time, there's plenty of other prey around.
For the weavers, it's a case of "better the devil you know."
And for the little falcons,
it's a one-stop solution
to finding food and shelter in the barren desert.
[tranquil music plays]
In this remote corner of South America…
life is so abundant,
every creature needs its niche.
[tranquil music continues]
-[screeching] -[squeaking]
Perching at the top of the food chain, the 15-pound harpy eagle.
But another bird of prey here
does things a little differently.
[cawing]
The red-throated caracara.
[birds caw]
When caracaras sense a threat,
they let everybody know.
[cawing continues]
It's enough to put the top predator
off its game.
[caws]
[distant cawing]
Caracaras are considered the world's most social and most intelligent raptors.
[cawing]
A winning combination that means they can tackle prey
even a harpy wouldn't touch.
Wasps.
[suspenseful music plays]
Usually best left alone.
[suspenseful music continues]
But working together,
the caracaras figure out a plan.
[cawing]
First, the direct approach.
[suspenseful music continues]
[wasps buzz]
But once the nest is stirred…
-[cawing] -[buzzing]
…those little stingers get everywhere.
[wasp buzzes]
Next, a smash-and-grab.
[suspenseful music continues]
It takes guts to pull it off.
[wasps buzz]
But a little courage
gets the job done.
[caracara caws]
If one caracara can take the pain,
eventually the wasps abandon the nest.
[wasp buzzes]
These paper-like constructions are as nutritious as cardboard…
but hidden away in the combs
are plump, juicy grubs.
One caracara's bravery benefits the whole team.
Once she's taken her fill, the rest share the spoils.
Served up just in time.
[thunder rumbles]
[rain pitter-patters]
Life in the rain forest is tough.
[distant cawing]
But caracaras keep ahead of the game
thanks to tenacity and teamwork.
Most birds of prey aren't so cooperative.
[birds twittering]
Even in the nest, competition is fierce.
[tranquil music plays]
New bald eagle chicks can grow 20% bigger each day.
[tranquil music continues]
But the youngest is struggling to keep up.
[chirping]
Every feeding time,
he's at the back of the line.
[chirping]
In a little over two months,
these chicks need to be ten times larger
and ready to fly.
[chirping]
But if there's not enough food,
older eaglets will turn on their smaller siblings.
[chirping]
It's rare for three chicks to survive.
The parents are working hard
to keep all of their young alive.
[chirping]
Finding enough food is a constant struggle for all birds of prey.
Though some make it seem effortless.
[tranquil music plays]
Vultures use thermals,
columns of rising warm air,
to gain altitude.
[tranquil music continues]
Once high enough, some soar over 100 miles
without a single beat of their wings.
[tranquil music continues]
Along the way,
they use their telescopic vision to scan for food.
[tranquil music continues]
Vultures are scavengers.
[tranquil music continues]
Feasting on the dead has given them a bad name,
but they're the only birds of prey
that never kill.
And they do essential work as nature's cleanup crew.
It may look chaotic,
but there's a pecking order.
Nine different species of vulture live in Southern Africa alone,
and each has its own role.
First, the middleweights.
White-backed vultures.
[squawking]
In large numbers, they devour the bulk of the carcass,
the internal organs, and flesh.
[squawking]
Next, the heavyweights.
At over 15 pounds,
lappet-faced vultures are one of the biggest in Africa.
When they move in,
everyone steps aside.
[squawking]
Their powerful beaks rip through ligaments and hide,
opening up new parts of the carcass
for the last in line.
The lightweights.
Hooded vultures stick to the sidelines,
stealing scraps where they can,
patiently waiting their turn.
Once everyone else is done,
their small beaks pick the bones bare.
[tranquil music plays]
Vultures do the dirty work in keeping our planet clean.
Stomachs as acidic as car batteries
destroy any bacteria and viruses they eat.
And they deny disease-spreading insects
a place to breed.
[tranquil music continues]
[tranquil music fades]
We need vultures,
but their numbers are plummeting.
In just 15 years,
97% of India's vultures were killed,
poisoned by feeding on the carcasses of cattle
treated with a drug called Diclofenac.
[melancholy music plays]
When feral dogs took their place as scavengers,
it led to a rise in rabies,
TB, and anthrax.
[melancholy music continues]
Other raptors have suffered a similar fate.
In the 1950s,
DDT was a freely used insecticide.
But it had a devastating effect on bald eagles' eggs
and nearly wiped out this iconic species.
[melancholy music continues]
Once people realized its impact, DDT was banned.
Within 50 years,
bald eagle numbers increased sevenfold.
[melancholy music continues]
Many birds of prey are still under pressure.
Seen as a threat to livestock and game,
they are persecuted.
And when habitat is destroyed,
they lose food and shelter.
But not all are faring so badly in the modern world.
[sirens wailing]
This might look like the last place a raptor would thrive…
[tense music plays]
…but for those that can adapt,
it's a world of opportunity.
[tense music continues]
In the heart of the city,
Battersea Power Station's iconic chimneys stand over 300 feet high.
They're home to a pair of peregrine falcons.
[tense music continues]
They use the concrete walls like cliffs.
[tense music continues]
City life has its advantages.
[tense music continues]
There's so much light here,
the peregrines can hunt at night.
[tense music continues]
The pair splits up to cover more ground.
[tense music continues]
The female falcon is the bigger,
more experienced nocturnal hunter.
[tense music fades]
Her vision is more than twice as sharp as ours,
thanks to eyes so large
they touch inside her skull.
[tense music plays]
By bobbing her head, she triangulates her target.
But pursuing pigeons in the city
has risks.
This many buildings make it dangerous to stoop.
[tense music continues]
It forces urban peregrines to hunt the hard way.
[tense music continues]
The level chase…
where predator and prey are more evenly matched.
[tense music continues]
But even without stooping,
even at night…
nature's top gun is rarely outmaneuvered.
[squawking]
Peregrine falcons have spread to cities around the world,
from New York to Sydney.
And with every breeding season, their numbers continue to rise.
[chirping]
At the bald eagle nest,
the chicks have come a long way.
All three of them.
[chirping]
All growing strong.
And finally developing their flight feathers.
The chicks' survival is a testament to Mom and Dad.
[uplifting music plays]
They've worked tirelessly for six months.
[squawking]
But now they're bringing in less food…
hinting to the eaglets
it's time to fly the nest.
[uplifting music continues]
The art of flying takes practice.
[uplifting music continues]
And conditions have to be right.
[thunder rumbles]
Once the weather clears, they're more determined than ever.
[uplifting music continues]
[uplifting music crescendos]
But the outside world is new and confusing.
[tense music plays]
Other birds are hostile towards predators.
It's scary to venture far from family.
And it takes time
to find your feet.
[tense music fades]
[squawking]
This is just the beginning of the long journey to adulthood.
[uplifting music plays]
Thankfully,
Mom and Dad will watch over them for a while.
[uplifting music continues]
Birds of prey aren't natural-born killers.
They need time to perfect their skills.
[tense music plays]
For three months, the secretary bird chicks
have had everything provided by their parents.
Now they must start fending for themselves.
[tense music continues]
One chick leads the charge.
When its sibling follows,
the hunt is on.
[tense music continues]
Finding prey takes a keen eye,
and a lot of walking.
[tense music continues]
Catching it doesn't come easily.
[thudding]
-[squeaking] -[squawking]
[croaking]
[suspenseful music crescendos]
Success at last.
But one small lizard is barely a snack.
Luckily, Mom's on the case.
[dramatic music crescendos]
She'll keep feeding her young for another two months…
[squawking]
…as the awkward youngsters
learn to be deadly assassins,
just like Mom.
[uplifting music plays]
[squawking]
Few other birds make such devoted parents.
[uplifting music continues]
Raptors spend much of their lives rearing their young.
[uplifting music continues]
Providing protection
and hard-won meals
to ensure that one day
their chicks will be able
to survive on their own.
[uplifting music continues]
Late fall.
[uplifting music fades]
Hundreds of bald eagles have traveled from far and wide…
to hunt migrating waterfowl.
[squawking]
Young eagles need to build their strength.
[tranquil music plays]
They won't get any more handouts from Mom and Dad…
so they need to watch and learn.
[tranquil music continues]
Gliding into the wind,
an adult chooses its moment to strike.
Coots are quick to get out of the way…
[dramatic music plays]
…but can't stay under for long.
[dramatic music continues]
Catching prey is hard.
Keeping hold of it is even harder.
[squawking]
[dramatic music continues]
Better to give it up than risk a fight.
[dramatic music continues]
It's time to put what he's seen into practice.
[dramatic music continues]
[squawking]
The trick is to catch one off guard.
Easier said than done.
[dramatic music continues]
With every failed grab…
with every one that gets away,
he refines his timing
and angle of attack.
[tense music plays]
At last.
[tense music continues]
But he's so focused on getting away,
he drops the ball.
And now,
he's got competition.
[tense music continues]
The youngster is determined to reclaim his prize.
[tense music crescendos]
But this just isn't his day.
And days are running short.
As temperatures drop, eagles need more energy to keep warm.
But still no kill.
Less than half of all young eagles survive their first winter.
[tense music plays]
It's now or never.
[tense music continues]
[uplifting music plays]
And this time…
he doesn't let go.
[uplifting music continues]
Just months ago,
these new eagles entered the world as helpless chicks.
Thanks to their killer instinct and their parents' incredible devotion,
they've become fully-fledged birds of prey.
[tranquil music plays]
They won't develop their white head until they're five years old.
Only then will they be ready to raise a family of their own…
and pass on their skills…
to the next generation.
[tranquil music continues]
[dramatic music plays]