Glimpses of Bird Life

The Legend of Pale Male

2011

This is the true account of one of the most surprising and remarkable love stories in the history of New York. It begins in 1993, when a young man from Belgium looking to change his life has an unexpected encounter in Central Park. He meets a hawk. Not just any hawk, but a wild Redtail, a fierce predator that has not lived in the City for almost a hundred years. Compelled to follow this extraordinary creature, he buys a video camera and sets out to track the hawk.

It's Tough to Be a Bird

1969

Part cartoon and part documentary, this film offers a humorous look at birds and the ways people perceive them.

Attenborough and the Giant Egg

2011

David Attenborough returns to the island of Madagascar on a very personal quest. In 1960 he visited the island to film one of his first ever wildlife series, Zoo Quest. Whilst he was there, he acquired a giant egg. It was the egg of an extinct bird known as the 'elephant bird' - the largest bird that ever lived. It has been one of his most treasured possessions ever since. Fifty years older, he now returns to the island to find out more about this amazing creature and to see how the island has changed. Could the elephant bird's fate provide lessons that may help protect Madagascar's remaining wildlife? Using Zoo Quest archive and specially shot location footage, this film follows David as he revisits scenes from his youth and meets people at the front line of wildlife protection. On his return, scientists at Oxford University are able to reveal for the first time how old David's egg actually is - and what that might tell us about the legendary elephant bird.

Albatross

2013

A powerful visual journey into the heart of a gut-wrenching environmental tragedy, while delivering a profound message of healing and renewal.

Wild Hungary – A Water Wonderland

2011

The recurring protagonists of the movie is an osprey family and a young otter. Through their story, the animals living in the wetlands of the Carpathian Basin and their rarely seen behaviour are presented. Deers, Hungarian grey cattle, asps, catfish, bee-eaters, hooded crows appear in the movie, as well as places like the backwaters of the Tisza River, the Danube and its tributaries, the Hortobágy, the Balaton and the Gemenc Forest. The movie presents one year of the animals living the wetlands and floodplain forests, from winter to next summer. A nature documentary about the lands, fauna and nature-related traditions of Hungary.

The Birders

2019

The film highlights legendary Colombian birdwatching guide Diego Calderon-Franco and National Geographic photographer/videographer Keith Ladzinski as they travel through Columbia, a nation that boasts one of the most diverse populations of birds in the world, to capture footage of rare and unique birds, some of which have never been filmed before.

Earthflight

2013

Nature documentary that takes a breathtaking flight on the wings of birds across six continents and experiences some of the world's greatest natural spectacles from a bird's-eye view.

Poultry-Yard

1896

Two girls do one of their chores. Standing alongside a tree-lined farmhouse, two children who are about ten and four years old toss grain to a flock of about 50 domesticated ducks. A woman watches them briefly and then moves on. The older girl has her grain in a bucket, the younger one's grain is in her apron. The children stay in one spot, as does the camera; it's the ducks that move around. Chickens are in the background; only one braves the ducks' territory.

Attenborough's Wonder of Eggs

2018

David Attenborough has a passion for birds' eggs. These remarkable structures nurture new life, protecting it from the outside world at the same time as allowing it to breathe. They are strong enough to withstand the full weight of an incubating parent and weak enough to allow a chick to break free. But how is an egg made? Why are they the shape they are? And perhaps most importantly, why lay an egg at all? Piece by piece, from creation to hatching, David reveals the wonder behind these miracles of nature.

Arjan's Big Year

2017

In 2016, Dutch birdwatcher Arjan Dwarshuis traveled the world to spot as many birds as possible in the span of one year, with the goal to break the big year world record (6042 species, set by Noah Strycker in 2015).

The Last Oasis

1983

A documentary which takes artistic approach in presenting the untouched environment between the rivers of Danube and Drava in Yugoslavia. This strange world, in which the laws of nature incredibly resemble to those of humans, regenerates itself and lives on despite destruction.

Flight Above the Marshes

1956

A magnificient poem of the tragic love between two wild ducks. The suicidal sacrifice of the male for his female, we do not witness a hunting scene, but a real tragedy of the birds Romeo and Juliet.

Le voyage de l'eau - Europe -

2015

From Billions to None: The Passenger Pigeon's Flight to Extinction

2014

The passenger pigeon, the most abundant bird species in North America for thousands of years, became extinct by human hands in a geologic heartbeat. Its story remains relevant to conservation challenges today, and there are even plans for its possible revival. Rare archival material, CGI animation, and aerial cinematography combine to recreate the awe-inspiring nature of these birds.

The Commoners

2009

In 1890, one man had the idea to collect every bird ever mentioned in Shakespeare and release them into Central Park. The only bird to survive in the New World was the European starling, which became one of the most common birds in North America. Its introduction is now widely considered a major environmental disaster.