1 00:00:13,996 --> 00:00:17,436 [ Birds Chirping ] 2 00:00:28,410 --> 00:00:29,850 [ Chirps ] 3 00:01:25,145 --> 00:01:27,585 [ Woman Narrating ] Once we believed that birds were messengers... 4 00:01:27,628 --> 00:01:31,948 between humans and the supernatural world. 5 00:01:31,992 --> 00:01:35,992 We would interpret the flight and songs of birds to foretell the future. 6 00:01:38,038 --> 00:01:42,358 We came to understand that bird behavior heralds the change of season... 7 00:01:42,402 --> 00:01:45,362 and warns us of the coming of storms. 8 00:01:50,049 --> 00:01:55,289 Miners once brought tiny songbirds-- canaries-- down into coal mines. 9 00:01:55,335 --> 00:01:58,295 When the canary stopped singing and fell from its perch, 10 00:01:58,337 --> 00:02:02,497 this was a signal to the miners that their own life was in danger. 11 00:02:05,144 --> 00:02:08,984 Today, once again, birds have something to tell us. 12 00:02:24,723 --> 00:02:26,963 [ Chirping ] 13 00:02:44,542 --> 00:02:47,262 [ Chirping ] 14 00:02:55,393 --> 00:02:56,433 [ Chirps ] 15 00:02:56,474 --> 00:02:59,034 [ Clanking ] 16 00:03:10,808 --> 00:03:12,288 Little jumpy. 17 00:03:14,652 --> 00:03:17,972 It's an old female. Oh, a repeat bird. Yay. 18 00:03:18,055 --> 00:03:20,495 She's been tracked before. 19 00:03:25,102 --> 00:03:28,142 She feels underweight to me. We have to make sure we weigh her. 20 00:03:39,716 --> 00:03:42,956 [ Woman ] I think birds have always inspired people. 21 00:03:44,801 --> 00:03:48,121 They're beautiful to look at, they're beautiful to hear, 22 00:03:48,164 --> 00:03:51,524 and because there's a mystery surrounding their disappearance. 23 00:03:57,453 --> 00:04:01,133 When you consider the life of an individual migratory bird, 24 00:04:01,177 --> 00:04:03,417 you can appreciate what the challenges are. 25 00:04:05,141 --> 00:04:08,541 For the first time ever, we can track an individual bird... 26 00:04:08,584 --> 00:04:11,104 over its entire migration journey. 27 00:04:12,908 --> 00:04:15,708 This bird's about to fly down to Brazil and back. 28 00:04:15,751 --> 00:04:17,351 About 15,000 kilometers. 29 00:04:17,393 --> 00:04:18,833 [ Chirps ] 30 00:04:18,874 --> 00:04:21,514 These birds travel amazingly fast. 31 00:04:22,878 --> 00:04:25,278 He'll fly from here, the Canada/US border, 32 00:04:25,321 --> 00:04:27,721 down to Mexico in five days. 33 00:04:27,763 --> 00:04:29,243 It's incredible. 34 00:04:50,705 --> 00:04:53,945 ♪♪ [ Woman Vocalizing ] 35 00:05:21,976 --> 00:05:23,656 ♪♪ [ Ends ] 36 00:05:37,671 --> 00:05:39,951 [ Whirring ] 37 00:05:47,200 --> 00:05:49,720 [ Man ] A lot of songbirds give these little flight calls... 38 00:05:49,763 --> 00:05:54,643 which we think are for air traffic control to prevent collisions. 39 00:05:54,688 --> 00:05:58,328 The first step was to figure out a way to record these calls coming down. 40 00:06:00,253 --> 00:06:03,133 I experimented with shotgun microphones... 41 00:06:03,216 --> 00:06:07,256 and then eventually to the microphone that I built myself. 42 00:06:07,300 --> 00:06:11,660 And that was one of the ways I pieced together this jigsaw puzzle... 43 00:06:11,704 --> 00:06:14,344 of the identities of a lot of these calls. 44 00:06:19,111 --> 00:06:22,231 This is a hearing aid microphone element. 45 00:06:22,274 --> 00:06:24,594 And they're quite small. 46 00:06:24,637 --> 00:06:27,957 Uh, they're very sensitive, and they have good, uh-- 47 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:30,400 very good quality sound pickup. 48 00:06:30,442 --> 00:06:32,842 [ Blowing ] 49 00:06:36,088 --> 00:06:39,848 I mount the microphone inside a two-gallon paint bucket. 50 00:06:42,094 --> 00:06:46,174 I found out that this was one of the cheapest, most efficient ways... 51 00:06:46,258 --> 00:06:48,018 to actually record flight calls. 52 00:06:53,345 --> 00:06:55,585 A lot of the songbirds migrate at night. 53 00:06:55,627 --> 00:07:00,027 The departure seems to happen about a half an hour after sunset. 54 00:07:00,071 --> 00:07:03,591 And the reason we think they migrate at night, 55 00:07:03,635 --> 00:07:07,275 these are small songbirds and there's larger birds that will eat them. 56 00:07:25,976 --> 00:07:28,856 [ Chirping ] 57 00:07:28,899 --> 00:07:31,499 [ Chirping Continues ] 58 00:07:39,390 --> 00:07:42,350 We now have some evidence that there's at least birds up there... 59 00:07:42,392 --> 00:07:43,912 because we're hearing these call notes. 60 00:07:43,954 --> 00:07:46,914 There's a few little chips happening. 61 00:07:46,957 --> 00:07:50,797 [ Chirping ] 62 00:07:50,841 --> 00:07:53,361 And we have the radar image. 63 00:07:53,403 --> 00:07:57,083 This is the last hour. That's amazing. [ Man ] Yeah, yeah. 64 00:07:57,127 --> 00:08:00,767 [ Chirping ] [ Chattering ] 65 00:08:29,078 --> 00:08:33,038 [ Man ] The question of how long these migrations exist, 66 00:08:33,082 --> 00:08:35,722 I would just say probably as long as birds existed. 67 00:08:35,764 --> 00:08:39,804 Tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of years, definitely. 68 00:08:52,180 --> 00:08:54,940 Aristotle thought, and it's a famous quote, obviously, 69 00:08:54,983 --> 00:08:58,503 that, uh, the swallows go down in the mud in winter. 70 00:08:58,547 --> 00:09:01,307 I think that's actually quite amazing that somebody stood there and said, 71 00:09:01,389 --> 00:09:03,989 "Hey, these birds are moving. Where are they going?" 72 00:09:04,032 --> 00:09:08,632 And really just realizing there's some major phenomenon that we don't understand. 73 00:09:14,442 --> 00:09:19,602 The question of how many migratory songbirds die is an interesting one. 74 00:09:19,647 --> 00:09:21,847 We can only estimate it, obviously, 75 00:09:21,889 --> 00:09:26,169 because we don't know how many songbirds are out there. 76 00:09:26,214 --> 00:09:30,014 Probably the best estimate is that 20 billion migrate, 77 00:09:30,057 --> 00:09:32,417 so half of them don't make it back, 78 00:09:32,460 --> 00:09:34,620 and that's a huge number. 79 00:09:34,662 --> 00:09:37,582 On the order of 10 billion die every year, 80 00:09:37,625 --> 00:09:40,225 and we find a few here and there. 81 00:09:40,267 --> 00:09:44,267 We know that a few are eaten by predators, by other birds, 82 00:09:44,311 --> 00:09:47,871 but where the majority goes, we have no clue. 83 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:56,800 [ Bird Chirping ] 84 00:10:10,497 --> 00:10:12,497 Just a fantastic night. 85 00:10:12,539 --> 00:10:18,019 Uh, lots of thrushes. Rose-breasted grosbeaks, warblers, some sparrows. 86 00:10:28,234 --> 00:10:32,754 There has got to be millions of birds moving tonight. 87 00:10:32,798 --> 00:10:35,918 And just this steady flow. 88 00:10:35,961 --> 00:10:38,761 Just zip, zip, zip. 89 00:10:38,804 --> 00:10:42,004 And it just goes on, back and forth, twice a year. 90 00:10:44,209 --> 00:10:48,009 [ Bird Chirping ] 91 00:10:52,738 --> 00:10:54,618 You know, these birds are tied to habitat. 92 00:10:54,660 --> 00:10:57,340 They breed in certain habitats. They go to certain regions. 93 00:10:57,382 --> 00:11:01,342 So if you're monitoring the population of a species, 94 00:11:01,386 --> 00:11:06,946 you have this way of tuning in to the condition of the planet. 95 00:11:09,514 --> 00:11:12,154 The sky is filled. The sky is filled. 96 00:11:12,197 --> 00:11:14,277 But I know it's going to change. 97 00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:20,400 [ Chirping ] 98 00:12:14,017 --> 00:12:19,697 [ Man ] Tonight is a special night because of this memorial to September 11. 99 00:12:19,742 --> 00:12:23,222 We're in the peak of bird migration in New York City, 100 00:12:23,266 --> 00:12:27,666 and that light is so powerful that it confuses birds. 101 00:12:27,710 --> 00:12:30,630 And under certain conditions that can be deadly. 102 00:12:32,074 --> 00:12:35,754 Couple of birds up very high in the beams. 103 00:12:38,601 --> 00:12:40,601 If large numbers of birds are attracted, 104 00:12:40,643 --> 00:12:43,283 starting to descend closer and closer to the light, 105 00:12:43,325 --> 00:12:45,325 we are able to shut the lights off. 106 00:12:47,449 --> 00:12:51,809 The thing that we worry about is that birds may collide with one and another... 107 00:12:51,854 --> 00:12:54,934 or with some of the structures that are around here. 108 00:12:54,977 --> 00:12:58,857 The last thing that anybody wants to see at this site... 109 00:12:58,901 --> 00:13:01,821 is a bunch of dead birds littering the streets. 110 00:13:05,307 --> 00:13:08,227 So starting to see a little bit of a different pattern on radar. 111 00:13:08,270 --> 00:13:12,550 This is the reflectivity image telling us how much is up in the atmosphere. 112 00:13:12,634 --> 00:13:17,794 Definitely larger migration, more intense migration than we were thinking. 113 00:13:22,163 --> 00:13:24,323 This is the Bill Evans special. 114 00:13:24,365 --> 00:13:27,045 It's a pretty cool tool of the trade. 115 00:13:27,088 --> 00:13:31,728 Hopefully we'll get a little more information to identify what the species are. 116 00:13:38,259 --> 00:13:40,019 [ Chirping ] 117 00:13:42,943 --> 00:13:46,103 Birds face an increasing number of threats. 118 00:13:46,147 --> 00:13:51,867 There are some major changes as the world has industrialized. 119 00:13:51,912 --> 00:13:57,312 Over the past century, the level of artificial light pollution has skyrocketed. 120 00:13:59,279 --> 00:14:04,439 Birds evolved in a world where they're primarily migrating at night, 121 00:14:04,484 --> 00:14:07,684 orienting with the magnetic field, celestial bodies, 122 00:14:07,728 --> 00:14:10,448 various other cues that they can use. 123 00:14:10,490 --> 00:14:12,410 Light trumps that. 124 00:14:12,452 --> 00:14:15,132 [ Chirping ] 125 00:14:18,698 --> 00:14:20,218 A bird-- Whoa! 126 00:14:20,260 --> 00:14:21,860 A very low bird there. 127 00:14:21,901 --> 00:14:24,421 [ Chirping ] 128 00:14:24,464 --> 00:14:27,624 They are sticking around the beam quite a lot. 129 00:14:27,707 --> 00:14:31,347 There are certainly enough birds up there to warrant being worried. 130 00:14:32,872 --> 00:14:35,232 Hey, Susan. There's a bird on the deck. 131 00:14:35,274 --> 00:14:38,194 It was flying around right at ground level. 132 00:14:38,237 --> 00:14:42,037 - Around here in this area? - Yeah. It was just in this sort of zone right here. 133 00:14:46,125 --> 00:14:49,925 Yeah, I think it's time to pull the plug. 134 00:14:49,969 --> 00:14:51,849 Birds are down pretty low here. 135 00:14:51,891 --> 00:14:54,011 [ Chirping ] 136 00:14:57,016 --> 00:14:58,656 We're gonna leave 'em on for five more minutes. 137 00:14:58,737 --> 00:15:01,177 [ Farnsworth ] We have to do it now. 138 00:15:27,766 --> 00:15:31,566 We're already hearing the calls drop off tremendously. 139 00:15:31,609 --> 00:15:35,889 And we'll see what the next period of light holds. 140 00:16:33,229 --> 00:16:35,749 It's a warbler. 141 00:16:35,832 --> 00:16:40,272 They're small, so they don't get major trauma, but he's hit the window. 142 00:17:02,057 --> 00:17:03,937 [ Man ] A friend of mine told me, 143 00:17:03,979 --> 00:17:06,859 "Did you hear about birds flying into Toronto's buildings at night?" 144 00:17:06,902 --> 00:17:09,782 And I was so captivated by this... 145 00:17:09,865 --> 00:17:12,545 that I had to go and see if it was happening for myself, 146 00:17:12,588 --> 00:17:15,428 and I've just never looked back since. 147 00:17:21,436 --> 00:17:25,636 By far the most common cause of death to these birds is severe head trauma, 148 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:29,760 where the brain hemorrhaging is so significant that they will die from that impact. 149 00:17:33,048 --> 00:17:36,728 There's broken bones, there's cracked beaks. 150 00:17:36,771 --> 00:17:39,171 Sometimes the beaks totally fall off. 151 00:17:39,214 --> 00:17:41,014 Um, there's feather damage. 152 00:17:49,584 --> 00:17:51,584 All right. How many have you got? 153 00:17:51,626 --> 00:17:53,346 Too many. 154 00:17:53,387 --> 00:17:55,707 [ Mesure ] Now one thing that we're noticing... 155 00:17:55,750 --> 00:17:59,070 is we're picking up a ton of Canada warblers, which is-- 156 00:17:59,113 --> 00:18:01,353 - A ton of Canada warblers? - Well, a ton for us. 157 00:18:01,395 --> 00:18:03,275 I think there's well over 20 so far. 158 00:18:03,317 --> 00:18:05,557 [ Man ] Oh, great. A species of concern. Yes. 159 00:18:29,783 --> 00:18:32,863 [ Mesure ] There's little things we can do by just changing our work habits... 160 00:18:32,946 --> 00:18:35,626 that can reduce this problem significantly. 161 00:18:35,668 --> 00:18:39,508 How often can you say you flick a switch and a problem disappears? 162 00:18:39,552 --> 00:18:42,272 You turn off lights, you're going to be saving birds lives. 163 00:18:48,201 --> 00:18:50,561 Birds do not perceive glass. 164 00:18:50,603 --> 00:18:54,883 What they're seeing is the reflection of the environment that they're in... 165 00:18:54,967 --> 00:18:58,407 or they're seeing, uh, what would be a clear passage 166 00:18:58,451 --> 00:19:01,811 to something on the other side of that transparent glass. 167 00:19:01,854 --> 00:19:05,774 The more natural the environment, the greater the threat. 168 00:19:13,746 --> 00:19:16,906 One of our records for daytime is over 500 birds... 169 00:19:16,989 --> 00:19:18,989 over a six-hour period at just two structures. 170 00:19:19,031 --> 00:19:21,071 You can stand at the base of these structures... 171 00:19:21,113 --> 00:19:23,073 and catch the birds as they're falling. 172 00:19:23,115 --> 00:19:26,435 You can bend down and pick up a bird and two have fallen on your back. 173 00:19:33,645 --> 00:19:36,205 Oh, here's a second little guy. 174 00:19:36,247 --> 00:19:39,607 They're so close to each other. 175 00:19:39,651 --> 00:19:42,371 Maybe they were even flying together. 176 00:19:57,788 --> 00:19:59,588 [ Mesure ] It is now illegal... 177 00:19:59,630 --> 00:20:03,030 that if you knowingly are killing birds in significant numbers, 178 00:20:03,074 --> 00:20:07,474 knowingly killing birds as a result of light reflecting off of your building, 179 00:20:07,518 --> 00:20:09,558 you are breaking the law. 180 00:20:11,081 --> 00:20:13,521 What you have to do is demonstrate due diligence. 181 00:20:13,564 --> 00:20:16,204 You have to demonstrate that you are doing all you can... 182 00:20:16,246 --> 00:20:18,806 to prevent this problem from occurring. 183 00:20:18,849 --> 00:20:21,769 The key is treat that glass with markers, 184 00:20:21,812 --> 00:20:25,372 and you will be dealing with a great deal of the problem right there. 185 00:21:01,531 --> 00:21:04,171 [ Woman ] The good days? You can stack them up really bad. 186 00:21:04,213 --> 00:21:07,333 You can have 10 or 20 dead birds, one after the other, 187 00:21:07,376 --> 00:21:10,936 and you find one live and that one live you get to release. 188 00:21:12,621 --> 00:21:16,661 And that just completely makes the day for you. It truly does. 189 00:21:37,285 --> 00:21:42,205 [ Woman ] Songbirds are perhaps most vulnerable during migration itself. 190 00:21:42,250 --> 00:21:47,130 They have no choice but to come down and land in peoples' backyards and in our parks... 191 00:21:47,175 --> 00:21:49,855 where often they face a real threat of mortality... 192 00:21:49,898 --> 00:21:53,338 while they're just trying to refuel and continue on their journey. 193 00:21:56,864 --> 00:21:58,384 [ Meows ] 194 00:22:37,344 --> 00:22:39,304 [ Man ] For the longest time, 195 00:22:39,346 --> 00:22:43,346 we really didn't have a good estimate of the total number of birds... 196 00:22:43,390 --> 00:22:46,790 that were dying due to cat predation. 197 00:22:48,715 --> 00:22:51,955 When you talk to cat people, they say, "My cat doesn't kill any birds." 198 00:22:51,998 --> 00:22:53,558 Well, you know, that's actually possible. 199 00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:55,640 But some cats actually kill a lot of birds. 200 00:22:55,682 --> 00:23:00,042 You know, one, two, three, five a week-- one every day. 201 00:23:03,930 --> 00:23:08,730 So we actually undertook this study that examined all of the research to date... 202 00:23:08,774 --> 00:23:11,134 within the US, Canada, Europe. 203 00:23:11,217 --> 00:23:13,857 We pulled together as many studies as we possibly could. 204 00:23:15,261 --> 00:23:18,501 And we were quite surprised by the numbers. 205 00:23:20,346 --> 00:23:24,866 We came up with a conservative estimate of 1.4 billion birds... 206 00:23:24,910 --> 00:23:26,590 killed by cats per year. 207 00:23:36,361 --> 00:23:38,921 [ Chirping ] 208 00:23:48,813 --> 00:23:54,373 Cats have been around and part of human civilization for a long time. 209 00:23:54,419 --> 00:23:58,179 That said, it doesn't mean that they have been moved to places... 210 00:23:58,263 --> 00:24:01,623 where they are natural components to these fragile ecosystems. 211 00:24:01,666 --> 00:24:03,266 They're just not. 212 00:24:03,308 --> 00:24:05,828 They are as invasive as West Nile Virus. 213 00:24:05,870 --> 00:24:09,670 They're as invasive as kudzu vines or zebra mussels. 214 00:24:09,714 --> 00:24:13,394 They are not natural components of the environment anywhere. 215 00:24:17,882 --> 00:24:21,202 There are at least 32 species of birds... 216 00:24:21,285 --> 00:24:26,645 that are known to have been caused to go extinct at the paws of cats. 217 00:24:28,492 --> 00:24:31,132 Humans are ultimately the issue here. 218 00:24:31,175 --> 00:24:33,975 And so, we've got to come up with some solutions. 219 00:24:36,300 --> 00:24:39,780 We've got a conundrum that we've got to deal with. 220 00:24:39,823 --> 00:24:47,303 We can't continue to allow cats to change the population size of wildlife. 221 00:25:20,343 --> 00:25:23,783 ♪♪ [ Techno ] 222 00:25:39,561 --> 00:25:41,721 [ Man Speaking German ] 223 00:26:16,717 --> 00:26:19,557 ♪♪ [ Techno ] 224 00:26:28,449 --> 00:26:33,089 [ Eulberg ] I was just cutting birdsongs into a groove. 225 00:26:34,695 --> 00:26:37,335 I took the chiffchaffs. 226 00:26:37,418 --> 00:26:39,338 [ Bird Chirping ] 227 00:26:39,420 --> 00:26:42,180 And, of course, a good track needs vocals, 228 00:26:42,222 --> 00:26:44,742 and there's a bird who sings very good vocals. 229 00:26:44,785 --> 00:26:47,585 It's coming now. Boo. 230 00:26:47,628 --> 00:26:48,948 It's the "boo-boo-boo-hoo." 231 00:26:48,989 --> 00:26:51,149 Boo. 232 00:26:51,191 --> 00:26:53,231 Boo. 233 00:26:53,273 --> 00:26:54,793 Boo. 234 00:26:54,835 --> 00:26:56,435 Boo. 235 00:26:57,557 --> 00:27:00,717 ♪♪ [ Classical ] 236 00:27:06,045 --> 00:27:08,565 ♪♪ [ Continues ] 237 00:27:15,214 --> 00:27:18,814 ♪♪ [ Techno ] 238 00:27:27,306 --> 00:27:30,266 [ Eulberg Speaking German ] 239 00:27:46,525 --> 00:27:49,125 ♪♪ [ Continues ] 240 00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:24,520 ♪♪ [ Fades Out ] 241 00:28:33,210 --> 00:28:35,290 [ Eulberg Speaking German ] 242 00:28:43,060 --> 00:28:44,580 [ Bird Chirping ] 243 00:29:02,999 --> 00:29:05,839 [ Chirping ] 244 00:29:39,395 --> 00:29:41,595 ♪♪ [ Classical ] 245 00:29:41,637 --> 00:29:44,037 [ Chirping ] 246 00:29:47,122 --> 00:29:49,802 [ Chirping ] 247 00:29:51,446 --> 00:29:55,046 [ Chirping ] 248 00:29:56,291 --> 00:29:58,811 [ Chirping ] 249 00:30:11,106 --> 00:30:13,626 ♪♪ [ Continues ] 250 00:30:29,323 --> 00:30:31,243 ♪♪ [ Ends ] 251 00:30:32,246 --> 00:30:34,846 [ Chirping ] 252 00:30:38,773 --> 00:30:41,013 I think the water thrush is singing again. 253 00:30:41,055 --> 00:30:43,055 [ Chirping Continues ] 254 00:30:44,658 --> 00:30:47,898 I'd like to see that tanager. It's coming closer. 255 00:30:50,544 --> 00:30:53,224 ♪♪ [ Vocalizing ] [ Chirping ] 256 00:30:53,267 --> 00:30:54,747 Not all birds sing. 257 00:30:54,788 --> 00:30:57,308 [ Singing ] 258 00:30:57,351 --> 00:31:01,151 If you think of a Canada goose, they don't sing. They honk. 259 00:31:01,194 --> 00:31:05,674 Herons don't sing. Ducks quack, they don't sing. 260 00:31:05,719 --> 00:31:08,679 None of those birds are songbirds. 261 00:31:08,722 --> 00:31:12,402 And about half of the world's birds are songbirds. 262 00:31:12,445 --> 00:31:17,325 And they all have this special syrinx for making really complex sounds, 263 00:31:17,370 --> 00:31:20,450 which to us usually sound very beautiful. 264 00:31:20,493 --> 00:31:21,893 [ Chirping ] 265 00:31:25,098 --> 00:31:27,338 Even though I do this every single spring, 266 00:31:27,380 --> 00:31:31,820 that first sighting of a scarlet tanager is magic. 267 00:31:33,906 --> 00:31:37,026 But there are individual species that you don't hear anymore. 268 00:31:37,069 --> 00:31:41,749 We used to have four or five pairs of cerulean warblers in our forest. 269 00:31:41,794 --> 00:31:43,354 Now I only hear one pair. 270 00:31:43,395 --> 00:31:45,435 Same with water thrush. 271 00:31:47,399 --> 00:31:50,439 So the species-- you can still put a checkmark-- 272 00:31:50,482 --> 00:31:54,242 but their numbers are really low compared to 20 years ago. 273 00:31:54,286 --> 00:31:57,966 And it's just a matter of time before I go out in the forest one year and I say, 274 00:31:58,010 --> 00:32:02,090 "Oh, no cerulean warbler this year. No more water thrush." 275 00:32:02,134 --> 00:32:04,694 Someday, maybe no more wood thrush. 276 00:32:46,977 --> 00:32:49,937 [ Man Speaking French ] 277 00:33:11,601 --> 00:33:13,361 [ Chirping ] 278 00:33:13,403 --> 00:33:15,643 [ Man Speaking French ] 279 00:33:24,614 --> 00:33:26,654 [ Chirping ] 280 00:33:40,630 --> 00:33:43,070 [ Man Speaking French ] 281 00:34:11,299 --> 00:34:13,859 [ Speaking French ] 282 00:34:25,193 --> 00:34:27,153 So we're almost there. 283 00:34:27,195 --> 00:34:30,515 As soon as we stop the car, we'll jump off and hide in the maïs... 284 00:34:30,558 --> 00:34:32,398 so that they have the time to leave. 285 00:34:33,441 --> 00:34:36,641 We should try to be very fast. 286 00:34:37,885 --> 00:34:42,885 We will go to the border of the houses. 287 00:34:42,930 --> 00:34:45,730 We'll be able to see the birds in the cages. 288 00:34:45,773 --> 00:34:48,293 And we take some pictures. We-- [ Car Door Closing ] 289 00:34:48,336 --> 00:34:51,616 [ Mumbling ] Shit. What is that? 290 00:34:51,659 --> 00:34:55,099 Can you see it? Is it the police? No. 291 00:34:55,142 --> 00:34:56,942 [ Low, Indistinct ] 292 00:34:56,984 --> 00:34:58,264 [ Door Closing ] Okay. 293 00:34:58,305 --> 00:35:00,225 It was not the police. 294 00:35:01,388 --> 00:35:03,028 [ Low, Indistinct ] 295 00:35:16,923 --> 00:35:20,963 [ Softly ] Over there on the corner. [ Indistinct ] 296 00:35:29,696 --> 00:35:31,616 [ Chirping ] 297 00:35:47,954 --> 00:35:50,194 [ Man ] We know many trapping sites. 298 00:35:50,236 --> 00:35:54,996 We have made research and different ways to locate these trapping sites. 299 00:35:55,040 --> 00:35:57,600 Then we check them on the ground. 300 00:35:57,643 --> 00:35:59,123 We don't know how many. 301 00:35:59,165 --> 00:36:03,165 We know that it's more than 200 and less than 1,500. 302 00:36:03,208 --> 00:36:05,248 If each place captures-- 303 00:36:05,290 --> 00:36:07,970 every year catches let's say 10 or 20 ortolans, 304 00:36:08,013 --> 00:36:11,773 we're talking about the entire breeding population of Central Europe, 305 00:36:11,817 --> 00:36:13,377 which is here. 306 00:36:13,418 --> 00:36:16,658 [ Man On Radio Speaking French ] [ Speaking French ] 307 00:36:21,426 --> 00:36:24,466 [ Rutigliano ] From the beginning, it's always clear to all of us... 308 00:36:24,509 --> 00:36:26,309 that we will have to face danger. 309 00:36:26,351 --> 00:36:29,431 I'm here because I care for birds, for ortolan in this case, 310 00:36:29,474 --> 00:36:31,274 and I will not step back. 311 00:36:33,078 --> 00:36:35,238 [ Speaking French ] 312 00:36:53,057 --> 00:36:56,777 If hunters are annoyed and angry now-- [ Chuckles ] 313 00:36:56,821 --> 00:37:01,181 when we have done nothing-- it will be much tougher in the next days. 314 00:37:01,225 --> 00:37:07,185 But what we cannot accept is that we leave the prisoners in the cages. 315 00:37:16,200 --> 00:37:19,160 [ Man Speaking French ] 316 00:38:42,764 --> 00:38:45,404 [ Woman Speaking French ] 317 00:38:50,451 --> 00:38:52,131 Mmm! 318 00:38:55,216 --> 00:38:57,336 [ Chirping ] 319 00:39:01,382 --> 00:39:05,142 [ Rutigliano ] You cannot defend a tradition which is not sustainable anymore. 320 00:39:05,186 --> 00:39:09,066 And many of the trapping sites are abandoned now because they cannot catch. 321 00:39:09,149 --> 00:39:12,349 I hear rumors that people are catching one ortolan in a season. 322 00:39:12,393 --> 00:39:18,313 So if ortolans disappear from this migration route, there will be no tradition. 323 00:39:18,358 --> 00:39:24,278 And a tradition is not something that must be kept alive at any costs. 324 00:39:31,011 --> 00:39:32,771 [ Grajov Speaking French ] 325 00:40:45,523 --> 00:40:48,403 [ Man ] About 105 years ago, bird banding started. 326 00:40:50,288 --> 00:40:55,408 And it was a major change in research. 327 00:40:55,453 --> 00:40:58,973 That you could finally have an individual and follow this individual. 328 00:40:59,016 --> 00:41:03,696 Although it was very difficult because you had to tag 10,000 individuals... 329 00:41:03,741 --> 00:41:07,181 to have one where you know where it finally goes or dies. 330 00:41:07,264 --> 00:41:08,664 [ Chirping ] Shh. 331 00:41:20,437 --> 00:41:24,277 [ Wikelski ] Icarus is a new technology platform... 332 00:41:24,321 --> 00:41:29,681 that allows us to communicate from very small devices globally. 333 00:41:29,726 --> 00:41:34,926 You have a radio tag that is sending a very short encoded message... 334 00:41:34,971 --> 00:41:37,691 over about a 400 kilometer distance to a satellite. 335 00:41:38,975 --> 00:41:42,775 It's decoded from many tags down here, 336 00:41:42,819 --> 00:41:45,219 and then it's going into a database... 337 00:41:45,302 --> 00:41:47,342 where it's very simple for everybody to check... 338 00:41:47,384 --> 00:41:50,504 what has my animal done in the last few hours. 339 00:41:56,032 --> 00:41:58,592 Now with these global databases that we have, 340 00:41:58,635 --> 00:42:04,035 for the first time we can connect the entire movement of life across the globe. 341 00:42:13,969 --> 00:42:17,729 Because what we want are entire life stories of individuals... 342 00:42:17,773 --> 00:42:21,973 so that we get the entire decision process of this animal... 343 00:42:22,017 --> 00:42:25,737 and can follow it through its entire lifetime until it dies. 344 00:42:30,866 --> 00:42:35,546 But the most important question I think that we have scientifically with Icarus-- 345 00:42:35,590 --> 00:42:37,630 where do animals die? 346 00:42:37,673 --> 00:42:42,553 Because if we know that maybe in one population it's habitat destruction. 347 00:42:42,597 --> 00:42:45,397 Maybe in another one it's, uh, hunting. 348 00:42:46,801 --> 00:42:49,721 Once we know where the majority of animals die-- 349 00:42:49,764 --> 00:42:51,804 and it may be a multitude of factors-- 350 00:42:51,846 --> 00:42:54,046 then we can start to preserve them. 351 00:43:01,696 --> 00:43:07,776 This is a mock-up of the tag that will fly in 2016 on the first songbirds. 352 00:43:07,822 --> 00:43:12,782 So this tag has to communicate with an antennae on the space station... 353 00:43:12,827 --> 00:43:14,787 in about 400 kilometer distance. 354 00:43:14,829 --> 00:43:18,629 And you can imagine this is-- I mean, over this distance it's easy, 355 00:43:18,672 --> 00:43:22,872 but 400 kilometers is a large distance, so it's a complex issue. 356 00:43:22,917 --> 00:43:26,797 I mean this is really something that has never been done before in that size range, 357 00:43:26,840 --> 00:43:29,120 and it's really a complex little computer that's on there. 358 00:43:29,163 --> 00:43:32,683 Sort of like a cell phone given to the animals... 359 00:43:32,726 --> 00:43:35,166 so it can carry it around and communicate with us. 360 00:43:40,694 --> 00:43:44,454 Our community of researchers will become global. 361 00:43:44,498 --> 00:43:49,258 That we don't do local studies anymore but connect the dots globally. 362 00:43:58,471 --> 00:44:02,431 And it's-- In a way, it's the fulfillment of the early promise... 363 00:44:02,475 --> 00:44:05,075 of tagging individuals with bands, 364 00:44:05,118 --> 00:44:07,798 questions that were brought up a hundred years ago. 365 00:44:29,341 --> 00:44:32,661 ♪♪ [ Woman Vocalizing ] 366 00:44:54,606 --> 00:44:56,606 ♪♪ [ Fades Out ] 367 00:45:09,741 --> 00:45:11,141 [ Chirps ] 368 00:45:44,615 --> 00:45:46,095 It's a recapture. 369 00:45:47,417 --> 00:45:51,457 See, it has already a band on one of its legs. 370 00:45:51,541 --> 00:45:55,461 It's a mourning warbler. The female wouldn't have the black bib. 371 00:45:55,545 --> 00:45:57,905 So we know just by looking at it that it's a male. 372 00:46:04,914 --> 00:46:06,874 I just found that band. 373 00:46:06,916 --> 00:46:08,956 It was caught the first time... 374 00:46:08,998 --> 00:46:10,758 in teak. [ Laughs ] 375 00:46:10,800 --> 00:46:12,480 In a teak site. 376 00:46:12,562 --> 00:46:15,802 Well, it's amazing that it came back to the same place too. 377 00:46:15,845 --> 00:46:18,205 It not only came back to Central America, 378 00:46:18,247 --> 00:46:20,807 but it came back to Costa Rica, and in Costa Rica... 379 00:46:20,850 --> 00:46:22,970 to Cartago-- Turrialba-- 380 00:46:23,012 --> 00:46:25,572 and then to think that in Turrialba, 381 00:46:25,614 --> 00:46:27,334 it came back to the CATIE farm. 382 00:46:27,376 --> 00:46:30,656 And within the CATIE farm, which is, like, 1,000 hectares, 383 00:46:30,699 --> 00:46:32,779 it came back to the same teak plantation... 384 00:46:32,821 --> 00:46:35,781 when we caught it in February 2013. 385 00:46:35,824 --> 00:46:38,624 So, that's what they call "site fidelity." 386 00:46:42,791 --> 00:46:44,791 [ Martinez-Salinas ] When I started working with songbirds, 387 00:46:44,833 --> 00:46:47,033 I fell in love with the migrants... 388 00:46:47,075 --> 00:46:49,395 just because they were so tiny and fragile... 389 00:46:49,438 --> 00:46:51,438 but also so strong and determined. 390 00:46:51,480 --> 00:46:53,560 I mean, they really wanted to get somewhere. 391 00:47:25,393 --> 00:47:27,233 [ Martinez-Salinas ] We keep having problems... 392 00:47:27,274 --> 00:47:29,394 with deforestation and fragmentation, 393 00:47:29,437 --> 00:47:34,237 and that's profoundly affecting the viability of a lot of these populations. 394 00:47:49,016 --> 00:47:52,336 Approaching a farmer just to tell them that we need to conserve... 395 00:47:52,379 --> 00:47:54,299 is no longer enough. 396 00:47:54,341 --> 00:47:56,381 They usually have other priorities. 397 00:47:56,423 --> 00:47:59,663 But telling them that they might be receiving a service... 398 00:47:59,706 --> 00:48:02,826 that is allowing them to save money, for example, 399 00:48:02,869 --> 00:48:05,389 in insecticide or in any other inputs, 400 00:48:05,432 --> 00:48:09,832 might be a good way to convince them to have more trees in their farms... 401 00:48:09,876 --> 00:48:12,436 and to attract more birds to their farms. 402 00:48:12,479 --> 00:48:17,119 And that's where the birds and the coffee berry borer story comes into play. 403 00:48:17,163 --> 00:48:21,803 So, the coffee berry borer, it's a tiny beetle... 404 00:48:21,848 --> 00:48:25,608 that drills a hole within the coffee berry. 405 00:48:25,691 --> 00:48:27,691 It is originally from Africa. 406 00:48:30,216 --> 00:48:33,536 It's a big problem because it will basically live inside it... 407 00:48:33,579 --> 00:48:37,219 and lay their eggs, and that will destroy the coffee berry. 408 00:48:51,036 --> 00:48:53,876 [ Martinez-Salinas ] We drink the coffee, we like the chocolate, 409 00:48:53,919 --> 00:48:56,879 so we need coffee plantations and we need agriculture. 410 00:48:56,922 --> 00:48:59,922 So let's find a way to do it better. 411 00:49:02,447 --> 00:49:04,127 This is the coffee shrub. 412 00:49:05,810 --> 00:49:09,330 Then we have some other taller trees and banana plants. 413 00:49:17,342 --> 00:49:21,302 Right here there's a cocoa shrub, also with some of the fruit. 414 00:49:21,346 --> 00:49:24,906 And that's the whole idea, with different levels, 415 00:49:24,949 --> 00:49:28,989 uh, 'cause it creates also different habitat for different species. 416 00:49:37,361 --> 00:49:39,721 [ Speaking Spanish ] 417 00:49:44,368 --> 00:49:47,048 [ Martinez-Salinas ] We're building kind of a cage... 418 00:49:47,091 --> 00:49:49,771 around a coffee shrub. 419 00:49:49,813 --> 00:49:52,853 We suspect that birds are eating the coffee berry borer. 420 00:49:52,896 --> 00:49:56,776 So we want to make sure to detect that effect. 421 00:49:56,820 --> 00:50:00,260 So birds won't be able to go in that plant... 422 00:50:00,303 --> 00:50:02,583 and won't be able to forage on top of that plant. 423 00:50:02,626 --> 00:50:05,706 But then we have another one where birds can forage. 424 00:50:05,789 --> 00:50:07,069 [ Man Speaking Spanish ] 425 00:50:17,560 --> 00:50:21,560 [ Speaking Spanish ] 426 00:50:25,648 --> 00:50:30,208 [ Martinez-Salinas ] What we've seen so far is that infestation rates are higher... 427 00:50:30,253 --> 00:50:34,453 within the traps that were under the cage and lower outside. 428 00:50:36,579 --> 00:50:40,059 We make sure that we have good habitats for songbirds. 429 00:50:40,102 --> 00:50:44,262 They will help us back by eating some of the pests or the insects... 430 00:50:44,306 --> 00:50:46,506 that we don't want in the coffee plots. 431 00:51:05,327 --> 00:51:07,167 [ Martinez-Salinas ] Every single species, 432 00:51:07,209 --> 00:51:09,769 or every single individual of a species, 433 00:51:09,851 --> 00:51:12,091 plays a role within the ecosystem. 434 00:51:13,495 --> 00:51:15,015 So by conducting... 435 00:51:15,056 --> 00:51:18,296 or by fulfilling that function in the system, 436 00:51:18,339 --> 00:51:22,379 they're also helping in certain ecological processes and services. 437 00:51:22,423 --> 00:51:24,303 And the services are basically... 438 00:51:24,345 --> 00:51:28,025 what we as human perceive as something beneficial. 439 00:51:31,112 --> 00:51:33,112 Pollination is a service. 440 00:51:33,154 --> 00:51:36,674 Pest control is another service. 441 00:51:36,717 --> 00:51:39,877 Seed-eaters also provide the service of dispersing seeds, 442 00:51:39,920 --> 00:51:45,000 and that's what is usually seen as their re-forestation service. 443 00:51:46,887 --> 00:51:49,287 There are so many links that we don't know, 444 00:51:49,330 --> 00:51:51,290 that we don't understand, that-- 445 00:51:51,332 --> 00:51:54,132 Especially in the tropical areas. 446 00:51:54,174 --> 00:51:56,014 We don't know how fragile they are, 447 00:51:56,056 --> 00:51:59,496 and we don't know how many species depend on another species, 448 00:51:59,540 --> 00:52:03,100 and that's why all of those ecological links are so important. 449 00:52:10,230 --> 00:52:12,270 [ Martinez-Salinas ] Something is happening, definitely. 450 00:52:12,312 --> 00:52:15,632 There are many different signs. We should pay attention. 451 00:52:34,414 --> 00:52:36,294 [ Marra ] When we start losing individuals, 452 00:52:36,335 --> 00:52:39,015 or populations start to decline, 453 00:52:39,058 --> 00:52:42,058 it's a cold, it's a flu that the Earth has. 454 00:52:43,182 --> 00:52:45,222 These are critical components... 455 00:52:45,264 --> 00:52:49,104 that provide us with not only an estimate of the integrity of the environment, 456 00:52:49,148 --> 00:52:52,988 but they provide integrity to the environment itself. 457 00:52:54,073 --> 00:52:55,953 We are part of that environment. 458 00:52:55,995 --> 00:52:58,995 Every time we lose a species, every time we reduce... 459 00:52:59,038 --> 00:53:01,118 the numbers of any animal that's out there... 460 00:53:01,160 --> 00:53:04,440 that's part of that important tapestry, that thread, 461 00:53:04,483 --> 00:53:08,003 we're reducing the environment that we depend on for our own lives. 462 00:53:49,126 --> 00:53:51,886 [ No Audio ] 463 00:53:55,132 --> 00:53:57,972 [ No Audio ] 464 00:54:58,954 --> 00:55:02,554 [ Birds Singing ] 465 00:55:27,462 --> 00:55:30,942 [ Woman ] Tree swallows are these acrobatic flyers. 466 00:55:30,985 --> 00:55:34,105 They fly around and they catch insects. 467 00:55:34,149 --> 00:55:37,429 Most of the insects they catch are things like mayflies... 468 00:55:37,472 --> 00:55:41,232 and stone flies, dragonflies and damselflies. 469 00:55:41,275 --> 00:55:43,915 So when the weather is good and winds are calm, 470 00:55:43,958 --> 00:55:45,598 tree swallows are most happy. 471 00:55:57,131 --> 00:55:59,091 Let's see who's in here. 472 00:56:00,734 --> 00:56:05,694 There's six chicks and three more eggs still to hatch. 473 00:56:05,739 --> 00:56:08,379 That's quite large for a tree swallow nest. 474 00:56:08,422 --> 00:56:12,182 The parents would have to work pretty hard to keep them all going. 475 00:56:13,467 --> 00:56:16,067 I've got feather, fecal, blood. Four-- 476 00:56:16,149 --> 00:56:17,389 Four tubes? Yeah. 477 00:56:17,431 --> 00:56:19,391 4:13. Okay. 478 00:56:25,438 --> 00:56:27,438 [ Morrissey ] We measure and weigh all of our birds... 479 00:56:27,480 --> 00:56:31,600 so we have a benchmark, a reference point of where they should be at. 480 00:56:32,726 --> 00:56:36,766 20.5. Yep, 20.5. 481 00:56:36,810 --> 00:56:40,410 Yeah, well, that's quite light for a bird of that size. 482 00:56:41,734 --> 00:56:43,534 [ Morrissey ] Weight is an indication... 483 00:56:43,576 --> 00:56:45,016 of how much fat they have on them. 484 00:56:45,058 --> 00:56:47,178 So it means that they're probably not getting... 485 00:56:47,220 --> 00:56:48,700 as much food. 486 00:57:00,232 --> 00:57:03,512 [ Morrissey ] The two groups of birds that are declining really rapidly... 487 00:57:03,556 --> 00:57:07,796 are the aerial insectivores, which are in the steepest declines, 488 00:57:07,840 --> 00:57:12,600 but we also see declines in, um, farmland birds or grassland birds. 489 00:57:12,644 --> 00:57:17,084 These are the birds that tend to be associated with farms and agriculture. 490 00:57:18,490 --> 00:57:21,530 Curiously, in both North America and in Europe, 491 00:57:21,573 --> 00:57:23,573 we're seeing the same kind of patterns. 492 00:57:46,277 --> 00:57:49,237 [ Morrissey ] We started looking at what the issues were... 493 00:57:49,280 --> 00:57:52,240 and what potential threats there might be to birds. 494 00:57:54,966 --> 00:57:57,446 Wetlands are really our starting place. 495 00:57:57,488 --> 00:58:00,688 They're the-- They're the gauge for everything. 496 00:58:04,735 --> 00:58:07,615 Most of these insects that you see flying around... 497 00:58:07,658 --> 00:58:11,218 actually have a larval stage that's in the water. 498 00:58:15,866 --> 00:58:19,666 Mosquitoes, midges, these are important food for the birds. 499 00:58:43,653 --> 00:58:46,373 [ Morrissey ] Neonicotinoids are a group of pesticides... 500 00:58:46,416 --> 00:58:50,336 that kill insects extremely effectively. 501 00:58:50,380 --> 00:58:54,300 They have a property that makes them useful as a systemic. 502 00:58:54,343 --> 00:58:58,463 And a systemic means that it's just applied to the coating of a seed, 503 00:58:58,508 --> 00:59:02,668 and the plant takes the pesticide up with it as it grows. 504 00:59:03,592 --> 00:59:05,072 [ Chirping ] 505 00:59:05,114 --> 00:59:08,234 So, in many cases, farmers don't have to spray... 506 00:59:08,317 --> 00:59:10,917 large amounts of chemicals. 507 00:59:10,960 --> 00:59:13,320 They can just put their seeds in the ground... 508 00:59:13,362 --> 00:59:15,522 and have protection to their plants. 509 00:59:15,564 --> 00:59:18,324 So that makes it very attractive for use. 510 00:59:26,054 --> 00:59:28,254 [ Farmer ] The insecticide in the case of canola... 511 00:59:28,337 --> 00:59:32,857 is quite, uh, necessary for fighting flea beetle. 512 00:59:32,901 --> 00:59:34,541 Oh! Oh, it jumped. 513 00:59:34,583 --> 00:59:36,623 Oh, yeah. We lost it! Like fleas. Like fleas. 514 00:59:36,665 --> 00:59:38,105 [ Laughs ] 515 00:59:38,146 --> 00:59:40,026 There's quite a bit of damage. 516 00:59:40,068 --> 00:59:42,428 There's got to be more than one. 517 00:59:42,470 --> 00:59:45,350 [ Messier ] And when there's a high level of infestation, 518 00:59:45,393 --> 00:59:49,673 you can have the entire crop disappear in about two days. 519 01:00:11,819 --> 01:00:16,019 [ Man ] I have fields here only for the birds. 520 01:00:16,063 --> 01:00:20,943 So they know they can breed here and it's safe. 521 01:00:20,988 --> 01:00:25,468 I like to see birds here, uh, the skylarks, the pipits. 522 01:00:26,834 --> 01:00:29,394 And they are singing and-and flying... 523 01:00:29,436 --> 01:00:31,236 high in the air and singing. 524 01:00:31,278 --> 01:00:32,918 I like that. 525 01:00:42,168 --> 01:00:43,888 [ Speaking Dutch ] 526 01:01:01,067 --> 01:01:04,027 [ Continues In Dutch ] 527 01:01:43,748 --> 01:01:46,308 [ Morrissey ] We started looking at what the issues were... 528 01:01:46,351 --> 01:01:48,391 around neonicotinoids. 529 01:01:48,473 --> 01:01:52,113 The insecticide is actually very water soluble. 530 01:01:52,157 --> 01:01:56,117 Perhaps these pesticides are becoming more mobilized. 531 01:01:56,161 --> 01:01:58,201 They're not staying on the seed. 532 01:01:58,243 --> 01:02:00,963 Perhaps they're moving into places like wetlands... 533 01:02:01,005 --> 01:02:03,845 and possibly killing what we call "beneficial" insects-- 534 01:02:03,888 --> 01:02:06,288 insects that are not the species of crop pests... 535 01:02:06,330 --> 01:02:08,730 that are targeted by the insecticide. 536 01:02:10,014 --> 01:02:12,734 So we have to actually make that link... 537 01:02:12,777 --> 01:02:15,577 between the water getting contaminated... 538 01:02:15,619 --> 01:02:18,779 and the birds not having enough food. 539 01:02:49,573 --> 01:02:52,613 [ Lab Technician ] All but two that I've done so far... 540 01:02:52,656 --> 01:02:57,376 have had at least one neonicotinoid, 541 01:02:57,420 --> 01:02:59,820 if not two. 542 01:02:59,863 --> 01:03:02,223 [ Morrissey ] That obviously means that the chemical... 543 01:03:02,265 --> 01:03:04,385 was persistent in the environment... 544 01:03:04,427 --> 01:03:06,987 and got re-mobilized into the water. 545 01:03:07,030 --> 01:03:12,110 So it tells me that the problem is getting worse, for one. 546 01:03:12,154 --> 01:03:16,274 Um, that we actually may have underestimated... 547 01:03:16,319 --> 01:03:19,919 how, uh, pervasive the-the problem is. 548 01:03:19,962 --> 01:03:22,562 [ Morrissey ] But even during spring, 549 01:03:22,605 --> 01:03:26,805 before farmers have put seeds in the ground that have been treated, 550 01:03:26,849 --> 01:03:30,889 these chemicals are showing up in water. 551 01:03:39,421 --> 01:03:42,421 [ Morrissey ] What we're seeing now is what I term... 552 01:03:42,464 --> 01:03:45,344 "prophylactic agriculture." 553 01:03:45,387 --> 01:03:47,907 The chemical companies now are pushing very hard... 554 01:03:47,949 --> 01:03:52,629 for farmers to buy treated seed for all their crops, 555 01:03:52,674 --> 01:03:54,994 regardless of whether they need them or not. 556 01:03:56,358 --> 01:03:58,758 I mean, there'd hardly be a parent... 557 01:03:58,800 --> 01:04:01,520 who sprays their child with DEET... 558 01:04:01,603 --> 01:04:06,163 when they're not actually going to go outside and be exposed to mosquitoes. 559 01:04:06,207 --> 01:04:11,687 Because you're worried, right? You're worried about whether or not that is going to cause harm. 560 01:04:11,733 --> 01:04:14,413 So why wouldn't we think the same way... 561 01:04:14,455 --> 01:04:16,775 when you apply insecticides... 562 01:04:16,817 --> 01:04:20,657 as a blanket across the entire Canadian prairies? 563 01:04:22,423 --> 01:04:26,863 Many people are actually calling the neonicotinoids the next DDT. 564 01:04:42,402 --> 01:04:45,322 [ Morrissey ] This is really a case of survival. 565 01:04:45,365 --> 01:04:47,325 If there isn't enough food around, 566 01:04:47,367 --> 01:04:50,687 life becomes very hard for these birds. 567 01:04:50,730 --> 01:04:53,850 And a habitat that does not support healthy birds... 568 01:04:53,894 --> 01:04:57,134 will eventually cause the population to crash. 569 01:04:58,658 --> 01:05:00,258 [ Chirping ] 570 01:05:26,726 --> 01:05:29,806 [ Twittering ] 571 01:05:44,183 --> 01:05:48,183 [ Singing ] 572 01:06:00,558 --> 01:06:04,278 [ Man ] Well, the boreal forest in the winter is a pretty quiet place, 573 01:06:04,322 --> 01:06:07,322 and that's because it's a very difficult place to survive. 574 01:06:08,606 --> 01:06:11,366 But come spring, the temperatures warm up. 575 01:06:12,931 --> 01:06:14,891 There's a huge insect flux... 576 01:06:14,932 --> 01:06:18,412 that just provides an amazing food resource for the birds. 577 01:06:20,218 --> 01:06:22,138 It's a huge ecosystem, 578 01:06:22,180 --> 01:06:26,020 and billions of birds come every year to the boreal forest to breed. 579 01:06:32,630 --> 01:06:36,310 It's an amazing thing to wake up at 4:00, 5:00 in the morning... 580 01:06:36,353 --> 01:06:39,513 and hear the vast number of individuals singing. 581 01:06:39,556 --> 01:06:41,836 [ Singing ] 582 01:06:44,161 --> 01:06:46,321 [ Singing ] 583 01:06:51,488 --> 01:06:53,688 [ Man ] I appreciate the energy-- all the effort... 584 01:06:53,770 --> 01:06:55,370 that bird took to get here. 585 01:06:55,412 --> 01:06:58,492 You know the fact that they're working day after day after day, 586 01:06:58,535 --> 01:07:01,215 finding food, raising young. 587 01:07:01,258 --> 01:07:05,018 They epitomize the struggle and the benefits and the joys of, you know, just living. 588 01:07:05,061 --> 01:07:08,101 [ Singing ] 589 01:07:11,868 --> 01:07:14,268 Just the size of the boreal forest-- 590 01:07:14,310 --> 01:07:18,110 it goes all the way around the Northern Hemisphere. 591 01:07:18,154 --> 01:07:21,154 A lot of people can't even fathom it. 592 01:07:21,197 --> 01:07:24,957 In April and May, you can watch carbon dioxide levels drop... 593 01:07:25,001 --> 01:07:27,361 because the trees have started to photosynthesize. 594 01:07:32,848 --> 01:07:35,368 Oh, you're hitting a rock. [ Chuckles ] 595 01:07:36,492 --> 01:07:38,852 There we go. Ready? 596 01:07:38,894 --> 01:07:40,494 Yes. 597 01:07:40,536 --> 01:07:44,256 [ Man ] I study the impacts that humans have on birds. 598 01:07:44,299 --> 01:07:46,819 My goal is to help identify... 599 01:07:46,862 --> 01:07:49,742 the risks of development to bird populations... 600 01:07:49,825 --> 01:07:54,265 and what are some of the things that people can do to minimize their impact on birds. 601 01:08:02,717 --> 01:08:05,917 Yeah, this way, and you get a better-- That's your best side. There. 602 01:08:14,008 --> 01:08:15,848 [ Man ] Twenty years ago in the boreal forest, 603 01:08:15,890 --> 01:08:18,890 there was very little industrial development. 604 01:08:18,933 --> 01:08:21,253 Since then, energy has come on board, 605 01:08:21,295 --> 01:08:23,855 forestry has become a much bigger player, 606 01:08:23,898 --> 01:08:25,978 and so we have a lot more heavy equipment... 607 01:08:26,020 --> 01:08:29,300 that we have to put in the bush that have different effects on different species. 608 01:08:53,927 --> 01:08:57,567 [ Man ] What we found is that noise is simply interfering with communication. 609 01:08:57,611 --> 01:09:01,131 [ Loud Whirring ] 610 01:09:03,577 --> 01:09:06,657 [ Singing ] 611 01:09:08,061 --> 01:09:10,101 The males are trying to attract a female. 612 01:09:10,143 --> 01:09:15,103 And males might sing, and a female might think his song sounds kind of funny. 613 01:09:15,148 --> 01:09:18,148 So if you're not communicating well that you are a strong male, 614 01:09:18,191 --> 01:09:20,391 the female may not choose to mate with you. 615 01:09:20,433 --> 01:09:23,073 [ Singing ] [ Loud Whirring Continues ] 616 01:09:25,718 --> 01:09:29,478 Increasingly it's going to be harder for birds to find a place that's quiet, 617 01:09:29,522 --> 01:09:32,962 and what the consequences will be when that happens-- 618 01:09:33,005 --> 01:09:35,205 birds are going to be declining. 619 01:09:35,247 --> 01:09:38,927 [ Singing ] 620 01:09:42,094 --> 01:09:45,094 [ Motor Chugging ] 621 01:09:56,829 --> 01:09:59,629 [ Man ] This is a conventional oil well. 622 01:09:59,671 --> 01:10:01,991 This is a one hectare loss of forest. 623 01:10:02,034 --> 01:10:04,434 On its own, one hectare is a small amount. 624 01:10:04,476 --> 01:10:08,036 One hectare a hundred thousand times is 100,000 hectares of forest. 625 01:10:08,079 --> 01:10:10,999 There's about three or four birds per hectare in the boreal forest. 626 01:10:11,042 --> 01:10:13,082 That's about half a million birds' habitat... 627 01:10:13,124 --> 01:10:16,084 is being lost to these kind of things every year. 628 01:10:16,127 --> 01:10:17,727 [ Singing ] 629 01:10:20,572 --> 01:10:22,572 [ Bayne ] Add to that that every one of these... 630 01:10:22,614 --> 01:10:25,734 is connected to some kind of pipeline or a road or both. 631 01:10:27,739 --> 01:10:29,899 It's like a spider web of infrastructure. 632 01:10:29,981 --> 01:10:32,101 It's all quite small in and of itself, 633 01:10:32,143 --> 01:10:34,183 but it's when you add it all together, 634 01:10:34,225 --> 01:10:37,025 all of a sudden you see a landscape that is very dissected. 635 01:10:45,236 --> 01:10:47,636 [ Bayne ] The energy sector development that we're talking about... 636 01:10:47,678 --> 01:10:49,998 is not over just a small area of Alberta. 637 01:10:50,040 --> 01:10:53,640 It's over Saskatchewan, Alberta, the Northwest Territories, northern BC. 638 01:10:53,684 --> 01:10:57,644 And so the area we're talking about for energy development in the boreal forest, 639 01:10:57,688 --> 01:11:01,368 what's going to change is an area the size of many countries. 640 01:11:26,035 --> 01:11:29,555 [ Screeching ] 641 01:11:38,167 --> 01:11:40,167 [ Bayne ] Could we live without birds? 642 01:11:41,370 --> 01:11:43,490 We don't know for sure, but, you know, 643 01:11:43,532 --> 01:11:48,052 without birds there's a lot of functions of the ecosystem that wouldn't happen. 644 01:11:48,097 --> 01:11:49,977 And that's one of the fundamental concerns. 645 01:11:50,059 --> 01:11:52,139 When you play with nature, pull one piece out, 646 01:11:52,181 --> 01:11:54,981 maybe that's a pivotal piece and you just don't know. 647 01:11:55,064 --> 01:11:58,064 [ Mooing ] 648 01:12:08,397 --> 01:12:10,877 [ Bayne ] Here in Alberta, we have agriculture. 649 01:12:10,919 --> 01:12:13,079 We also have forestry. 650 01:12:13,121 --> 01:12:15,481 Now, we can add to that the energy sector, 651 01:12:15,524 --> 01:12:17,364 but they're all happening simultaneously. 652 01:12:17,405 --> 01:12:20,165 One thing is added on top of another, on top of another, 653 01:12:20,208 --> 01:12:22,048 and on top of another. 654 01:12:26,374 --> 01:12:28,614 And the question is, when is it too much? 655 01:12:28,656 --> 01:12:31,216 When have we added up too much human disturbance to the landscape... 656 01:12:31,259 --> 01:12:35,499 that all of a sudden the birds are going to suffer in a way that we don't like. 657 01:12:47,715 --> 01:12:52,115 [ Bayne ] For me, the fundamental component comes down to habitat loss. 658 01:12:52,159 --> 01:12:55,199 A habitat is the things a species needs, 659 01:12:55,242 --> 01:12:58,562 and if we remove those, and they're gone, 660 01:12:58,606 --> 01:13:00,766 the species goes with it. 661 01:13:00,808 --> 01:13:04,008 [ Loud Whirring ] 662 01:13:10,777 --> 01:13:13,817 [ Chirping ] 663 01:13:22,869 --> 01:13:25,309 [ Birds Calling ] [ Insects Chirping ] 664 01:13:25,352 --> 01:13:27,032 [ Frogs Croaking ] 665 01:13:44,370 --> 01:13:46,690 And this is a black-headed bunting. 666 01:13:46,732 --> 01:13:49,132 A beautiful male. 667 01:14:01,267 --> 01:14:03,387 This bird has got no fat. Zero. 668 01:14:05,190 --> 01:14:07,030 [ Man ] These are migratory birds. 669 01:14:07,072 --> 01:14:10,472 Be coming from northeast Africa... 670 01:14:10,516 --> 01:14:13,196 and will be going up into, uh, 671 01:14:13,238 --> 01:14:15,758 either the Caucasus or into Russia. 672 01:14:15,801 --> 01:14:17,321 Somewhere up there. 673 01:14:19,204 --> 01:14:23,124 This bird will stay here and feed for two, maybe three days... 674 01:14:23,208 --> 01:14:25,568 to enable it to complete the journey. 675 01:14:27,612 --> 01:14:29,932 [ Man ] Okay, you can go. [ Wings Flapping ] 676 01:14:30,935 --> 01:14:33,935 [ Frogs Croaking ] 677 01:14:47,031 --> 01:14:48,951 [ Man #2 ] Aras River Bird Paradise... 678 01:14:48,993 --> 01:14:51,753 is a very globally important wetland... 679 01:14:51,796 --> 01:14:55,756 because it's an oasis surrounded by very dry steppe. 680 01:15:00,524 --> 01:15:06,124 Migratory birds depend on many different sites for their survival. 681 01:15:08,412 --> 01:15:12,292 These birds are coming from as far as South Africa, 682 01:15:12,336 --> 01:15:14,176 8,000 kilometers away, 683 01:15:14,258 --> 01:15:16,338 on these very long, difficult journeys. 684 01:15:21,264 --> 01:15:25,704 This area is the driest province of Turkey. 685 01:15:25,749 --> 01:15:30,869 Climate change is expected to increase the droughts in Turkey, 686 01:15:30,914 --> 01:15:33,274 in fact in some places tenfold. 687 01:15:33,316 --> 01:15:36,796 Which means this area will become even drier. 688 01:15:38,561 --> 01:15:40,081 As it gets drier, 689 01:15:40,123 --> 01:15:41,963 bird populations, uh, 690 01:15:42,005 --> 01:15:45,045 that depend on those habitats of course will decline. 691 01:15:59,341 --> 01:16:02,421 [ Sekercioglu ] Only 50 kilometers from us, we have Mount Ararat. 692 01:16:02,465 --> 01:16:06,625 It's Turkey's tallest, and it's a visible sentinel for climate change... 693 01:16:06,669 --> 01:16:11,429 because it has lost 30% of its glacier in the past 30 years. 694 01:16:14,396 --> 01:16:18,636 By the end of the century, there won't be a glacier on the mountain. 695 01:16:18,680 --> 01:16:22,240 It could also mean the end of the wetlands at its base, 696 01:16:22,324 --> 01:16:25,324 because they are fed by glacier and snow melting. 697 01:16:32,053 --> 01:16:33,453 All right. 698 01:16:35,617 --> 01:16:38,577 Nice. We got a hoopoe. 699 01:16:42,824 --> 01:16:44,544 In Sufi Islam, 700 01:16:44,586 --> 01:16:49,146 the hoopoe is thought to be a messenger between God and people. 701 01:16:49,190 --> 01:16:52,350 So, to bring messages from the otherworld. 702 01:17:04,245 --> 01:17:07,485 Um, I need the JB rings, please. 703 01:17:07,528 --> 01:17:10,368 Mm-hmm. Thank you. 704 01:17:10,411 --> 01:17:12,291 [ Man ] Birding has been my passion... 705 01:17:12,373 --> 01:17:14,853 and my life for a long, long time, 706 01:17:14,895 --> 01:17:17,895 and, uh, a world without birds is unthinkable. 707 01:17:20,941 --> 01:17:23,461 If this type of wetland disappears, 708 01:17:23,503 --> 01:17:27,503 then it's gonna be one more nail in the coffin for migratory birds. 709 01:17:38,198 --> 01:17:41,878 [ Twittering ] 710 01:17:59,458 --> 01:18:01,178 [ Clicking ] 711 01:18:18,437 --> 01:18:20,877 [ Man ] Okay, there. He's back. 712 01:18:23,041 --> 01:18:25,801 He's in. Catch him, Bob! [ Stutchbury ] He's in. 713 01:18:27,886 --> 01:18:30,046 [ Stutchbury ] It's our first geo male of the season. 714 01:18:35,814 --> 01:18:38,254 Look at his band number. [ Stutchbury ] Want to check his band number? 715 01:18:38,296 --> 01:18:40,456 Yeah. P-2-1-6. 716 01:18:40,498 --> 01:18:42,938 [ Stutchbury ] P-2-1-6. That's who we're after. 717 01:18:44,262 --> 01:18:46,902 I held this bird in my hand 10 months ago. 718 01:18:46,945 --> 01:18:49,865 Caught him in the same house, we put the geo-locator on, 719 01:18:49,908 --> 01:18:52,548 and meanwhile he's finished raising his family, 720 01:18:52,590 --> 01:18:54,390 he flew all the way to Brazil, 721 01:18:54,472 --> 01:18:57,312 flew around the Amazon rain forest for about six months. 722 01:18:57,355 --> 01:19:00,115 Flew all the way back again, and here we are déjà vu. 723 01:19:00,158 --> 01:19:03,358 I've caught him again, and this time, we'll take the geo-locator off. 724 01:19:08,005 --> 01:19:11,485 This slides off the leg. There you go. 725 01:19:20,137 --> 01:19:22,177 [ Stutchbury ] Every bird has a different story to tell... 726 01:19:22,219 --> 01:19:26,859 about how fast it's flying, where it goes, how long it stops. 727 01:19:28,105 --> 01:19:31,025 The timer value is 344 days, 728 01:19:31,068 --> 01:19:34,348 17 hours, 40 minutes and six seconds. 729 01:19:35,752 --> 01:19:37,592 I think this bird here 730 01:19:37,634 --> 01:19:40,434 has set a world record for purple martins. 731 01:19:40,517 --> 01:19:42,357 [ Stutchbury ] I have not seen one before... 732 01:19:42,399 --> 01:19:45,719 get from Pennsylvania to the Gulf Coast in only two days. 733 01:19:48,525 --> 01:19:51,445 So, our purple martins are in... 734 01:19:51,528 --> 01:19:53,768 one of the biggest rain forests on the planet. 735 01:19:53,810 --> 01:19:55,770 [ Morton ] Right where the red-eyed vireos are too. 736 01:19:55,812 --> 01:19:59,452 I can tell you exactly what day he started migration in Brazil, 737 01:19:59,535 --> 01:20:01,535 which we haven't been able to ever do that before. 738 01:20:01,577 --> 01:20:03,057 Wow. Incredible. 739 01:20:03,099 --> 01:20:06,099 [ Stutchbury ] Uh, we know he was back on the 29th. 740 01:20:06,142 --> 01:20:09,182 So at most it took him 25 days to zip back. 741 01:20:10,266 --> 01:20:11,906 Over the hundreds of years, 742 01:20:11,947 --> 01:20:14,267 that's worked perfectly well until now. 743 01:20:16,992 --> 01:20:18,832 Populations here are crashing, 744 01:20:18,874 --> 01:20:22,554 and I think the problem is climate change for purple martins. 745 01:20:22,598 --> 01:20:26,998 [ Stutchbury ] Because they're so far away in spring. 746 01:20:27,042 --> 01:20:30,242 We saw with this bird that just days before he got back, 747 01:20:30,285 --> 01:20:31,965 he was still in Mexico. 748 01:20:32,007 --> 01:20:35,807 And he has no idea that the spring is cold or warm. 749 01:20:37,612 --> 01:20:40,492 So we think the purple martins-- the northern populations-- 750 01:20:40,575 --> 01:20:44,415 have a really hard time adjusting their arrival date... 751 01:20:44,459 --> 01:20:46,859 to match what the temperature is doing. 752 01:20:48,143 --> 01:20:50,183 [ Chirping ] 753 01:20:51,666 --> 01:20:54,026 The timing of migration is critical. 754 01:20:54,068 --> 01:20:58,068 If they come back too early and the weather is cold, they could die. 755 01:20:58,112 --> 01:21:01,792 If they come back too late, after the food has peaked, 756 01:21:01,836 --> 01:21:03,916 the young will starve in the nest. 757 01:21:10,484 --> 01:21:13,084 [ Stutchbury ] Climate change is a new threat for songbirds. 758 01:21:13,127 --> 01:21:16,767 Now, they've been suffering through pesticides and habitat loss... 759 01:21:16,811 --> 01:21:20,731 and big cities in their way for many decades now. 760 01:21:20,774 --> 01:21:23,014 But this new issue, climate change, 761 01:21:23,057 --> 01:21:25,337 could be the straw that breaks the camel's back. 762 01:21:25,379 --> 01:21:27,219 This is a new stress on them. 763 01:21:27,261 --> 01:21:30,741 We don't really know exactly how songbird populations... 764 01:21:30,784 --> 01:21:33,624 are going to be able to adapt to climate change. 765 01:21:38,031 --> 01:21:42,271 If we assume that up until now things have been going down in a steady line, 766 01:21:42,315 --> 01:21:44,355 you say, "What's the future going to hold?" 767 01:21:44,397 --> 01:21:47,877 If we keep going down that line, this is where we're going to be in 30 years. 768 01:21:47,921 --> 01:21:50,361 But we don't know that we're on a line. 769 01:21:50,403 --> 01:21:53,563 It could be that things spiral out of control, 770 01:21:53,646 --> 01:21:56,686 and all of a sudden songbirds that are still common now... 771 01:21:56,729 --> 01:21:58,369 suddenly disappear. 772 01:21:58,411 --> 01:22:01,611 [ People Chattering ] 773 01:22:15,187 --> 01:22:18,267 [ Museum Woman #1 ] Here's a big bag of ruby-crowned kinglets. 774 01:22:18,310 --> 01:22:20,750 - [ Museum Woman #2 ] Ruby-crowned kinglets. - 1-2-2. 775 01:22:20,793 --> 01:22:22,313 1-2-2. 776 01:22:22,354 --> 01:22:24,034 [ Chattering, Muffled ] 777 01:22:44,696 --> 01:22:47,136 [ Stutchbury ] The songbird populations are in big trouble... 778 01:22:47,179 --> 01:22:48,819 all around the planet. 779 01:22:51,703 --> 01:22:54,343 The species that were present in people's backyards, 780 01:22:54,386 --> 01:22:57,706 in their forests, are just not there anymore. 781 01:23:00,992 --> 01:23:03,032 Now, what we're seeing with these songbird declines... 782 01:23:03,074 --> 01:23:05,354 is 40 or 50 years in a row... 783 01:23:05,396 --> 01:23:07,796 of the populations getting lower and lower. 784 01:23:10,521 --> 01:23:12,841 So we have only half the birds now... 785 01:23:12,884 --> 01:23:15,124 that we did back in the 1960s. 786 01:23:33,183 --> 01:23:35,343 [ Morrissey ] The reason we study birds is because... 787 01:23:35,386 --> 01:23:39,186 they are so linked to their environment. 788 01:23:39,229 --> 01:23:44,229 They respond so quickly in terms of their population, in terms of their reproduction, 789 01:23:44,274 --> 01:23:46,994 that we know that if we study birds, 790 01:23:47,037 --> 01:23:50,837 we actually are mirroring the bigger problem. 791 01:24:09,058 --> 01:24:11,778 [ Morrissey ] This is real. This is-- This is happening. 792 01:24:11,821 --> 01:24:16,981 We are changing the environment faster than birds can cope with. 793 01:24:17,026 --> 01:24:20,346 So we have to either stop what we're doing... 794 01:24:20,389 --> 01:24:23,549 and think about how to do it better, 795 01:24:23,592 --> 01:24:27,472 or, uh, pay the consequence of hearing total silence. 796 01:25:00,869 --> 01:25:03,149 [ Wikelski ] We think that songbirds... 797 01:25:03,191 --> 01:25:05,831 are really like the canary in the coal mine. 798 01:25:05,874 --> 01:25:08,994 They are telling us something that's wrong. 799 01:25:09,037 --> 01:25:12,197 There's something happening to life on the planet that's not good, 800 01:25:12,240 --> 01:25:14,280 and we need to find out what that is... 801 01:25:14,322 --> 01:25:16,642 and how we can change it. 802 01:25:18,286 --> 01:25:21,046 We don't want to imagine a world without songbirds. 803 01:25:21,088 --> 01:25:23,128 I don't know if we would survive it. 804 01:25:23,170 --> 01:25:26,530 ♪♪ [ Choir Vocalizing ] 805 01:25:57,884 --> 01:25:59,404 ♪♪ [ Ends ] 806 01:25:59,446 --> 01:26:02,446 [ Wind Whistling ]