BBC - Secret Life of Birds (2012)
InformationSecret Life of BirdsTravelling
from wild coastlines to urban habitats, this fascinating natural
history series from the BBC explores the behaviour of birds, revealing
all aspects of their lives, from surviving harsh winters and avoiding
predators to living alongside us in towns and cities. Host and wildlife
expert Iolo Williams discovers how birds have adapted to changing
landscapes, studying their ability to fly and how their unique design,
colour and camouflage enables them to live in many habitats, as well as
uncovering their courtship and nesting rituals and finding out how and
why they communicate. Offering a visual treat of stunning landscapes and
captivating wildlife behaviour, The Secret Life of Birds provides
perfect family entertainment educating and enthralling in equal measure.
Part 1: Dawn ChorusIn
this first episode, he investigates how and why birds communicate,
looking at the reasons snipe use their tail feathers to make a very
distinctive noise and what's happening when thousands of starlings
participate in stunning aerial displays in Aberystwyth.
Part 2: Feathering the NestIn
this episode, Iolo investigates the courtship and nesting behaviour of
birds, including the amazing courtship display of great crested grebes
at a reservoir near Pontypool, the impressive sky dance of hen harriers
in the dramatic Cambrian Mountains, how nuthatch use mud like cement to
prepare their nest in a woodland near Harlech, and why long-tailed tits
near Newtown are exceptional nest builders. On the Lleyn Peninsula near
Trefor, he looks at why one colony of shags nest earlier than any others
in Wales, and in Pembrokeshire he finds out where house martins nested
before they used our buildings. Iolo also looks at the variety of places
birds like to nest, from little ringed plovers on shingle banks along
the River Tywi to puffins underground on Skomer.
Part 3: Living on the EdgeToday,
Iolo discovers the difficulties birds face in order to stay alive, and
the programme includes a dramatic scene in which a sparrow hawk seizes
the moment to attack a woodpigeon nest.
Part 4: Living with UsIn
this fourth episode, Iolo Williams explores how birds in Wales have
adapted to living alongside us, making use of our buildings, parks and
gardens and even the waste we throw away. One of the most notorious
urban birds is the gull and Iolo explains why these very adaptable and
intelligent birds are doing so well in Cardiff
Part 5: Designed for a Welsh LifeIn
this final episode, Iolo explores bird design - from their ability to
fly to the way that their beak design, colour and camouflage enable them
to live in the many habitats Wales has to offer. Using ultra-slow
motion photography, Iolo looks at how garden birds have such control
over take off and landing, and explains why fulmars are one of our most
supreme fliers.
Further Information
Related Documentaries
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Technical SpecsVideo Codec: XviD ISO MPEG-4
Video Bitrate: 1731
Video Resolution: 720 x 416
Video Aspect Ratio: 1.731 (16:9)
Frames Per Second: 25
Audio Codec: 0x2000 (Dolby AC3)
Audio Bitrate: 192 kb/s AC3 48000 Hz
Audio Streams: 2
Audio Languages: English
RunTime Per Part: 30.Mins
Number Of Parts: 5
Part Size: 349 MB
Encoded by: Harry65
Source: DVD