The Life of Birds — S01E04 — Meat-Eaters

00:00:37 Sparrows in South Africa.

00:02:19 The adults at the moment are out at sea fishing, but these are their burrows

00:04:03 and have no special adaptations to help them find their victims.

00:05:46 even through the Arctic winter, when it's dark for weeks on end.

00:07:50 During the breeding season, they feed mainly on young rabbits.

00:09:52 The kestrel, little more than half the size of the buzzard.

00:10:57 As a consequence, the kestrel knows just where to focus its attention.

00:13:31 As more birds glide down, their descent is noticed from miles away in all directions.

00:15:38 It was the sharpness of their vision that brought them here.

00:17:05 The meat I put down is directly under there.

00:19:01 Their beaks are quite adequate for tearing off strips of flesh,

00:21:51 Its mate joins it, and together they return to their nest.

00:24:40 Lake Bogoria in the African rift valley, a soda lake fed by hot volcanic springs.

00:26:41 But here they are very vulnerable.

00:29:08 Few hunters can have a greater concentration of prey continuously at their disposal

00:30:24 The Galapagos hawks know exactly when that is. It's the breeding season,

00:33:20 Wounded though it is, this one can still run.

00:36:02 It swallows its lizard whole.

00:37:49 A lammergeier, hefty though it is, has not got the beak or claws to do that job.

00:39:43 But getting it nonetheless demands not only skill but often a great deal of effort.

00:41:56 This time it wasn't quick enough to catch the bird community by surprise.

00:44:02 The peregrine starts its attack.

00:46:25 Your sibling's tail makes a good practice target.

00:48:02 as we will see in the next programme in The Life of Birds.