The Falconer

The Owls and the Orchard

2005

A devoted pair of little owls set up home in an old orchard in rural Herefordshire. From spring blossom to autumn apples, a year in the life of the parent birds, their baby owls and the old fruit trees.

Suspense Story: Nat'l Press Club Hears Hitchcock

1963

National Press Club hears a speech from Alfred Hitchcock.

The Gulls

1944 · ★ 7.5

Arne Sucksdorff’s short documentary observes gulls raiding nests and stealing eggs with ruthless persistence. Though presented as pure nature study, the film was widely read as an allegory of Nazism—a symbolic parable of predation and violence during wartime. Sucksdorff himself denied such intent, but remarked that “a film that is not open to interpretation is a dead film.”

Beak & Brain - Genius Birds from Down Under

2013 · ★ 8.1

Whoever came up with the term 'bird brain' never met these feathered thinkers, who use their claws and beaks to solve puzzles, make tools and more.

H Is for Hawk: A New Chapter

2017 · ★ 4

Helen Macdonald's bestseller H Is for Hawk told the story of a grieving daughter who found healing in training a goshawk. The goshawk is one of Mother Nature's own fighter jets, capable of finding and killing its prey with the speed of a lightning bolt. Now Macdonald digs deeper into the world of these raptors by following a family in the wild while raising and training a new goshawk of her own.

How It Breathes

2024

Elijah Jamal Balbed grew up in Washington DC in the midst of one of its most difficult eras, as its identity was being tested. As the city changed around him, his budding career as a musician exposed him to the people and music providing a voice and an outlet to the people of DC. Now tasked with preserving and sharing that tradition, Balbed reflects on balancing that responsibility with creating a musical identity of his own.

To the Ends of the Earth: Birds of East Africa

★ 9

Introduced by esteemed conservationist Jane Goodall and narrated by National Geographic's Bill Jones, this documentary focuses on what humanity has in common with other species. Wildlife photographer Todd Gustafson captures stories of competition, courtship, family, hunting and flight to illustrate the hidden life of East African birds.

Kea - Mountain Parrot

This documentary tells the story of the inimitable kea. The 'Clown of the Alps' is heralded as the world’s smartest bird (its intelligence rivals a monkey’s). Kea are famous on South Island tracks and ski fields for their insatiable (and destructive) inquisitiveness. Curiosity almost killed the kea when it was labelled a sheep killer, and tens of thousands were killed for a bounty. After shots of baby kea being fed, there is extraordinary night footage in clip four of the 'avian wolf' in action. The award-winning film makes a compelling case for the charismatic kea as a national icon.

Eagles: Queen of the Skies

2015 · ★ 5

The eagle is widely regarded “the Queen of the skies”. But what makes the Eagle the Queen of the Sky? Well, a National Geographic documentary takes a look at the life of the eagle. The documentary follows the life of one individual eagle from hatching, to leaving the nest, and then setting up a home on her own. Look at the journey and the fight for survival, revealing what it really takes to become a queen of the sky for one eagle. In total, there are more than 60 members of the eagle clan. National Geographic explores their world, showing the majestic Harpy Eagle o the Amazon. The documentary features slow motion scenes, revealing the true skill of the eagle and how it catches prey from the water’s surface. In winter, on the other hand, when food is hard to find, some eagles hunt around ice floes. And that is where eagle battles occur.

Woodpeckers: The Hole Story

2022 · ★ 7

Go deep into the woods to explore the lives of a unique avian family. Woodpeckers come in 239 species and live on every continent except Antarctica and Australia, playing a powerful role in every ecosystem they inhabit. They come in all shapes and sizes, each uniquely engineered for their particular lifestyles.

Attenborough's Big Birds

2015 · ★ 8.5

Meet the big birds, a feathered family who have never flown a day in their lives! From ostriches to kiwis, these bizarre birds appear to be nature's greatest novelty act. How they came to be and how they continue to survive is a fascinating tale that has long captivated Sir David Attenborough. It is a story of dedicated dads, enormous eggs and a serious need for speed. And far from being the court jesters of the animal world, these flightless curiosities once nearly ruled the land.

Popular Science J-0-1

1940

A disaster truck, which is equipped to meet practically any emergency that arises in the community; In Oklahoma a breeder of under-slung cattle, making possible smaller grazing areas for milk herds; a deburping machine, of all things.