The white stork is the only large European bird that has attached itself to humans. These elegant-looking birds build their nests on roofs and chimneys and are said to be lucky and bring babies. People generally like storks. They have a strangely magical presence that attracts visitors – and the village of Rühstädt, known as “Europe’s Stork Village”, profits from bird-loving tourism. But the struggles of stork life largely go unnoticed by tourists.
Birds of prey make some of the most impressive appearances in the sky. But eagles and hawks aren’t the typical hunters circling around fields: kites and harriers are the most fascinating. With acrobatic aerial plays, they look for partners. And sliding calmly over open areas, they go hunting. Human-made landscape changes, and hence declining numbers of mice and hamsters, put their mesmerizing aerial performances at risk. Yet, thanks to remarkable adaptability, they are once again on the ascent.
Based on an essay written by noted best-selling novelist Jonathan Franzen for The New Yorker, ‘Emptying the Skies’ chronicles the rampant poaching of migratory songbirds in southern Europe. Songbird populations have been drastically declining for several decades, and a number of species face imminent extinction. The film explores the wonder of these tiny globe-flying marvels, millions of which are unlawfully slaughtered each year for large sums on the black market.
These child prodigies of the animal kingdom have feathers and beaks – and very special skills! The Keas of New Zealand like testing their brains and challenging tourists: they unscrew bottle-tops and tear open rucksacks. In New Caledonia crows are able to produce a whole set of tools, each designed for a particular purpose – the most intricate tool culture in the animal kingdom! These high flyers compete against each other: Keas vs Crows - the ultimate avian I.Q. test, with surprising results.
The Antarctic region is undoubtedly one of the most remote and inhospitable, yet one of the most beautiful landscapes of the world. This documentary takes us on a journey to the stormy isolated islands of the Southern Ocean. Seals, penguins, seabirds and other animals live and breed in this hostile environment and harsh climate. Only by an icebreaker can we reach the remote coasts of the Antarctic continent where Emperor Penguins defy the life-threatening environment at the end of the world.
