Original subtitles

Animals are perfectly adapted to thrive

in their environments.

Aquatic creatures are usually designed

with streamlined bodies and have enhanced

electromagnetic receptors to help them navigate effectively

through their water ecosystems.

Land dwelling creatures on the other hand,

often rely on their appendages for navigation.

Some have four legs, some have 100 legs

and others don't have any legs at all.

Today we are going to focus on a class of animals that transcend

almost all other species when it comes to both navigation

and locomotion.

Birds.

It's no secret that birds have been notoriously

difficult to feature on the channel

because unlike most animals we get up close for the cameras,

they are nearly impossible to catch.

And while we do occasionally see them from a distance,

most of the avian species we have encountered

were birds living or being rehabilitated

at wildlife sanctuaries.

The Coyote pack has been asking for more bird episodes.

So we thought maybe it was time to count down

our top five feathered friends.

Coming in at number five, these birds might not be the biggest.

What they lack in size, they definitely

make up for with speed.

So excited.

I absolutely love hummingbirds.

All right.

Let's head into the aviary, you got to move quick.

We've got to go through a set of double doors.

And you go.

Go, go, go.

Get that door closed and into the apiary we go.

Shawnee.

Hi, how are you?

Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you too.

OK.

So let's talk about wind speed.

There's one incredible trait that the hummingbird has.

It's the fact that its wings can go so fast.

Now how many strokes can that hummingbird do this a minute?

Almost 4,800.

Wow, 4800 strokes in a minute.

Can you imagine?

I mean, I'm sure if I sat here and did this,

it would take me half a day and I'm not

going to lift off the ground.

And these hummingbirds, I mean, I'm watching them.

Look at this, they're just flying back and forth hovering

and they can move forward backwards up and down.

That's crazy.

That's great, yeah.

Now your heart rate must be going pretty quick

if you're flying that fast.

How fast are their heart rates?

Over 1,200.

This is one impressive little animal, that is for sure.

All of that power packed into--

I mean, these guys are tiny.

They're like that.

Yeah, about 3 grams.

So that's about the weight of a penny.

Wow.

So you're telling me that a bird this size, I mean, he is tiny

but he only weighs as much as a penny?

Yeah.

That is impressive.

And Shawnee, what I love so much about this aviary

is that it feels like we're out there in the wild

now you do have the enclosure over top,

but you barely notice it and you can get so incredibly

close to these hummingbirds.

I know.

It's a terrific experience.

Oh jeez, look how close this one is right here.

Absolutely.

Look at that.

Look at how comfortable he is getting that close to us.

Wow.

The Arizona Sonora Desert Museum is one of my favorite places

to visit.

And their hummingbird aviary is guaranteed to get you up close

with these speedy little birds.

Up next is another teeny tiny species,

only instead of feasting on nectar,

this one is a voracious predator.

Coming in at number four on our feathered favorites countdown,

get ready to meet the schoop sound.

Are you ready to meet the smallest owl ever?

Get ready to meet tiny, the African scallops owl.

So cute.

This one's like pocket size.

I wish I could fit a right into my jacket, but--

She likes hiding behind it, but I don't think she'd actually

want to go on a pocket.

Look at the claws.

Those talons are razor sharp.

I was just trying to look at your talons.

Razor sharp talons.

You notice, I'm trying to talk very quietly next to the owl.

I don't want to scare it don't want to stress it out.

They have incredible hearing so me

shouting next to the owl it's going to not be good for it.

All owls are lightweight.

They're mostly feathers.

And as we know, they have hollow bones.

But this owl right here weighs about 100 grams.

That's it.

It's one tiny little bird of prey.

Look at how big those eyes are.

Yes, very cute.

You see just blinking at me.

Now as we know owl species are nocturnal and have incredibly

efficient vision in the dark.

So Tiny is a female.

Now when they lay a clutch of eggs,

it's somewhere between two and four eggs and the mother

and the father both take care of the babies.

Oftentimes the mother will stay in the nest

while the father goes out and hunts, bringing that food back

to the nest for the mother.

And once the chicks hatch, they then also

reap the benefits of that prey.

I got an idea.

You know what I've got right over here?

Mealworms.

So not cookies.

These are considered cookies for an owl though.

Not these little tiny mealworms and let's see.

This is me feeding a teeny tiny owl.

There you go.

That's good.

Delicious, right?

Dude, what's up?

Oh, she pooped all over my jacket.

That mean she likes you.

Tiny.

Oh, it smells like rotten eggs.

South Africa's adventures were sure filled with poop from dung

beetles to poop tracking.

And then, of course, the incident with Tiny.

But even with her bites and poos,

this fossil was a ton of fun to work with.

Flying into our number three slot

is a bird that was much more squeaky but no less messy.

If you enjoyed watching me trying to feed Tiny,

you're going to love our next star, the baby toucan.

This is the real fruit loops right here.

This is fresh cut fruit and when I'm about to do

is feed it to a baby toucan.

It smells really good.

This looks like something that I would eat for breakfast.

So I have a feeling that this toucan

is absolutely going to love it.

OK.

Oh boy, here he comes.

Oh look at that.

That is a baby toucan.

I have never seen one of these before.

That is so amazing.

You look like a little dinosaur.

Look at that curious head.

Look what I've got now if I was a mama toucan,

would come in with some fruit just like this.

There you go.

Oh, he's eating the spoon.

Look at that beak like the chopper.

There you go.

Coming in, coming in hot.

There we go.

And although it's a juvenile, that beak

could still give me a pretty good chomp

so I want to keep my fingers away from there

that's why I'm using a spoon.

You go.

Look at those eyes.

Look at how big and buggy his eyes are.

And without the feathers fully developed on the neck,

you can see the curve of that vertebrae.

Look at the feet.

You see that?

It looks like--

Reminds me of a baby pterodactyl.

And a baby toucan of this size, obviously up in the trees,

it's very important if he uses these cross

to keep himself in the nest and on the tree branches.

Now this baby toucan eats four times a day

and quite a bit of food.

I know.

I hear you.

More, more, and more, he says.

You are one sloppy eater, you know that?

He is a sloppy eater.

I think you're getting more of this fruit

on the log than the mouth.

We featured a plethora of cute animals

at the Alturas Wildlife Sanctuary,

but nothing was more adorable than that noisy little toucan.

The next bird encounter is actually

the only one on the list that took place in the wild.

And boy was it a challenge to track

down these majestic creatures.

Soaring in at number two it's the bald eagle.

So just up here to my left, we've got two

eagles right on the shoreline.

Filming eagles is not easy they can be very skittish.

You want to move as slow as you possibly can,

stay stealthy, set up to 600 millimeter lens

and try to get this shot.

We've been on the river for hours

looking for this one opportunity to actually film these eagles.

I think this is it.

I'm so excited.

So right now we're trying to sneak in close on eagles.

Mark has got the 600 milimeter.

We're trying to stay in a straight line

so that the animals only think it's

one human sneaking up them.

Careful not to sink Mark.

Oh, that's cool.

Now the two eagles that we're looking at,

that is pretty much the king and queen of what's considered

the eagle council grounds.

And in the winter, there will be over 1,000 eagles

right here with these two rivers converge.

The water doesn't actually freeze

so it's like an eagle buffet line

of eating all these salmon that are still swimming upstream.

OK.

So right now we're going to slowly try to move

in and get an even better shot.

OK.

So we're changing up the strategy, just to touch here.

Mark is going to be up front operating the 600 millimeter

from the front of the raft.

We've got an eagle up here in the trees.

We're going to try to do a drift by and get an epic shot.

Are you ready for this?

All right, load it up.

We've got a mature eagle up in the tree.

So we're going to try to just drift by and get a shot.

Maybe it'll fly just as we're passing underneath it.

It's the closest we've been to a bird all day long.

Mark's perched up on this log, and he's getting the shot.

Got it.

Well, one day we hope to return to Alaska with the goal

of getting an even closer look at these iconic birds and maybe

even hands on with one at an eagle sanctuary.

Well, we started small and seemed

to be working up in size.

Next on our list is the largest bird we have ever

had the chance to work with.

It also happens to be the world's most dangerous

bird and a true avian dinosaur.

Look at how ancient looking at face and coloration

in the skin.

The crest of the head.

Well, the crest is a lot bigger than I imagined it to be.

And that's hollow, right?

It is hollow.

But it's real fibrous, right?

Very fibrous.

Just grab me in the face with it,

so I definitely have to be careful.

It's very similar in density to a beak.

OK.

So she's running through the environment,

she can kind of just keep her head down and break

through all the underbrush.

Definitely.

What they do is they stretch their neck out

real long which will extend a few feet in front of their body

as they're running.

That'll help push the branches away from the rest of her body

as she runs.

And I'm not sure if you notice this,

but if you look around the side here,

you're going to see these wings.

Yes, little tiny wings.

Yeah and they have really stiff quills.

Oh, look at that.

Almost looks like a porcupines quilt. Look at the size

of this bird's legs.

Look at all the scales. .

This bird weighs about 130 pounds

that is a massive animal.

This is the second largest species of bird in the world,

second only to the ostrich.

And they're incredibly fast.

They're extremely fast.

They can run around 30 miles per hour through jungle underbrush.

I would say that the only thing this bird is missing

is a tail.

And if it had one, it really would be a dinosaur.

Hey.

There you go.

Look at the skin.

You wouldn't expect a bird to have

bright blue skin like that.

It's so beautiful.

And here's something you might not know that the entire bird's

body is blue.

If I just fold back those feathers a tiny bit,

look at that.

Blue all the way through.

Their feathers are incredibly coarse.

These ones on the outside here almost feel like horse hairs

and then underneath, she's really soft and downy.

When you look at the feet of this bird, look at those scales

and look at the claws, it looks just like the foot

of a velociraptor.

And that claw on the inside edge of the foot, razor sharp.

Now if this bird was out in the wild,

it would actually be a couple inches longer and sickle shaped

just like a raptor.

And these birds are capable of jumping almost six

feet in the air and I can't even imagine how terrifying it would

be to be out there in the jungle have one of these cut

through the underbrush run at you, leap

and you take one of those claws to the face.

And when you look down the length of that beak

and into those eyes, you transcend back 65 million years

into the past and you feel as if you were

looking straight at a dinosaur.

That is intimidating right there.

Everyone knows how much I love dinosaurs.

And my interaction with the cassowary

was about as close as I'll ever come to staring down the snout

of a prehistoric creature.

Birds are one of the most unique species on our planet

and we do plan to feature more of them in the near future.

To encounter a California condor soaring wild today,

hear the rush of wind as it effortlessly glides by,

follow the shadow it casts on the landscape of its nine foot

wingspan and be reminded that at one point not too long ago,

a sight like this would have been impossible

for the California condor almost crossed

an irreversible threshold that all species dread.

Extinction.

To learn about the plight of the largest flying

land bird in North America, we're heading

to the state of California.

The namesake of the species, our adventure

starts in the bustling city of Los Angeles.

This landscape is vastly different than what

the condors used to see when it used to fly in this habitat.

This was their former range.

Now, it is what you see in front of us.

It is a city of 4 million people.

And of course, people, skyscrapers, urban sprawl

does not mix with a prehistoric bird

like the California condor.

As we navigate the traffic and congestion of the city,

it's hard to imagine how vastly different

this landscape once was.

If we go back in geological time to the late Pleistocene,

the cars would be replaced with herds of mammoths

that were stalked by saber toothed tigers

and short faced bears.

And looking down on this scene would have

been the California condor.

In order for the condor to thrive today,

it requires vast open expanses, nesting cliff

faces and of course, food in the form of large carcasses.

As time has passed, the resources in this area

have decreased due to high demand

for agricultural and land development, which ultimately

led to the steep population declines

of these prehistoric birds.

We are on our way to meet up with US Fish and Wildlife

Service biologist, Molly Estell who is working at the Bitter

Creek National Wildlife Refuge on the California

Condor Program.

We're going to be helping Molly and her team

work up some of these condors that they

actually have in flight pens.

The program that we're going to be working with today

is responsible for saving the species.

So what does the term workup mean?

I will help catch a number of different condors, assist

in pulling biometric data.

And lastly we will do an overall health

assessment before the birds are released back into the wild.

And we have arrived at the Bitter

Creek National Wildlife Refuge.

After meeting Molly, I immediately

noticed a large flight pen and that is

when I spotted my first condor.

This is officially the moment where I've seen

my first California condor.

The flight pen is a structure that biologists

use to safely trap birds and temporarily house them

while doing important checkups.

With several birds in the flight pen needing

to be worked up and released, Molly

had to give me a crash course in the proper handling

technique of condors.

And then I was ready to enter the flight pen.

We immediately became engulfed in a frenzy of condors

as they flew over us swiftly avoiding capture.

It's a huge bird.

Every time it flaps, you could just hear the wind and noise,

picks up the dirt.

Whoa, whoa.

Did you see that?

Just flew right over my head.

It's huge.

You got to keep your head on a swivel.

They're just flying everywhere.

It might look chaotic but the team paid close attention

to the birds and worked fast and efficiently

to reduce any stress.

OK, we got one condor.

They're huge.

Molly quickly netted the first bird

and then got it ready for me to hold.

Here you go.

The condor was free of the net.

Let me go over to the chair and I'll

hand this guy over to you.

All right.

The next step is I'm actually going

to be holding this condor as we actually do the work

ups I'm taking off this GoPro.

All right.

So like this? - Yep.

There you go.

There we go.

You're solid.

I'm holding a California condor, it is a solid bird.

Right now my left hand is holding the head secure.

What's very noticeable on this condor

is that large number tag that's on the wings

and that's very distinct in order for the biologists

to get a quick look and know exactly what

condor they are looking at.

With the bird in hand it was time to collect the biometrics.

It appears healthy, which means it's ready to be

released back into the wild.

All right, here we go.

The condor was considered functionally

extinct in the wild when biologists captured

the last remaining bird in 1987 to bring

into captivity for an intensive breeding program.

The world population at the time was only 22 California condors.

Today, thanks to the management efforts, the total number

is rising, with close to 500 condors in existence.

However, the species still faces several challenges

and remains critically endangered.

One down and several more condors to go.

So we're going to put this GoPro back on

and we're going to go ahead and get our next vulture

for the workup.

Each time a condor was worked up,

it allowed us the opportunity to get

a closer look at the amazing features

of these prehistoric birds.

So looking at the feet of the condor,

you'll notice that the talons are not super sharp.

This is not a bird that actually has to grip prey items.

So actually they're used more for walking

and stabilizing the bird.

You guys can see the tongue.

Can you see those barbs on it at all?

Yeah, we can.

So it kind of like grabs the meat with that

and then it pulls its tongue in kind of like ratcheting

that meat in.

It's really cool.

Yeah.

Flesh.

Rotting flesh and just swallowing it down.

Oh wow.

So birds have what's called a crop.

And that's an area where they could actually kind of store

food that are just like gorging themselves without actually

fill up with food.

Each bird is fitted with both GPS and VHF transmitters.

Now the transmitters over the years.

I'm sure they've become more advanced.

Pretty much every bird with this

has their own cell phone number.

During the workout process each bird

receives a full health assessment and an assortment

of biometrics are taken.

3, 2, 1.

Everything looks good.

Got a nice tail feathers.

Got nice tail feathers.

Our ladies are going to be looking at your tail feathers.

Don't lose them.

I lose my tail feathers sometimes.

Actually, I lost my head feathers.

That's why I wear a hat.

Yeah.

OK.

So I would say the easy part is holding the bird.

Now I'm going to participate in taking blood from the bird.

We're going to poke this bird.

I apologize if he gets angry.

But there is a process we're going to, of course,

take a blood sample because this is the most important part

of this workup, is getting that blood

sample to determine if there are any high or elevated levels

of lead.

High levels would indicate the bird

is ingesting lead contaminants from the environment.

One of the most common ways of ingestion

is from the presence of spent ammunition

fragments found in the carcasses left behind by hunters.

The birds utilize this easy food source and over time,

develop lead poisoning, which can have deadly results.

All right.

Thank you, sir.

With several birds successfully released,

Molly assigned me a final task.

Net one of the last birds on the list,

an adult male that was known to be a bit feisty.

If you're think I'm ready, I'm going to give it a shot.

I think you're up for it.

All right, let's go in there get the last bird.

It's an adult?

It's an adult.

All right, I think I'm ready.

740 is the last one for us to capture.

He knows what's up, he keeps going up avoiding Dave.

Get ready, Mario.

You got him.

All right, we got 740.

We got the bird in the net.

Then we got to get the bird out of the net.

Yeah and you can start by getting that tail out.

Cool.

That's a great start.

I'm going to go underneath the net

there and take over on the beak.

How's that?

That looks awesome.

And you're going to go over that leg.

Perfect.

And then grab that other drumstick.

OK, you got the bird.

Oh, boy.

Nice.

So there you have it, number 740.

We finally got him.

The last bird we needed to work up and it's an adult.

The way we know it's an adult is look at that head,

look at that striking coloration.

And of course, that bald head.

The juveniles have some feathers on the head.

But as they mature, they lose all the feathers

and they get this nice pinkish orange

coloration to them which is the classic California condor look.

And the eye is red.

And around the eye, you've got that beautiful yellowish hue

to the skin.

Very striking coloration.

It's definitely distinct looking into the eyes

of a California condor.

All right, Molly. - Cool.

Let's get going with the processing, right?

Good. Yeah.

OK.

After completing the workup and determining that this bird was

healthy, the next step was to release this big male back

into the wild.

As I prepare for the release, I could

feel an incredible anticipation, both in myself and in the bird.

The condor tensed up and began to flex

its wings ready to take off.

And as I let go, a few large flaps

launched it up into the air.