Before I watched this program the word "raptor" conjured images of a Bald Eagle, or an Osprey, birds of prey I watched the summer we spent in Montana on Flathead Lake. But now I have a much broader appreciation of raptors, from the largest to the tiniest. And including owls and vultures, plus a few others I had never heard of.
As with most, if not all, "Nature" programs there is a message of conservation, and this program has it but not as a main point. This is a really good program, it shows a number of different raptors in their natural environments and how they breed and hunt. And migrate.
One raptor has the ability to fly as fast as 70 mph in level flight. Another can dive as fast as 150 mph. Perhaps the largest one, an Eagle in Africa, weights up to 10 pounds and with a 6-foot wingspan. Another interesting explanation is how a dished face of an owl can help it hear faint sounds by amplification, similar to a dish catching sound.
There's a lot more, those are just a few examples. Like the Eagle that attacks and knocks small goats off the mountain, letting the fall do the hard work so that the raptor can clean up. This is a very well made program.
Episode #2 was broadcast one week later, on April 17th. It continued the narrative with a different set of raptors in different parts of the world. They need to do four things - hunt, eat, mate, and raise their offspring. That is in essence what the program covers.
Plus one case of modern evolution, involving the Snail Kite in Florida. Because an invasive species of giant snail was too large for most Snail Kites their numbers took a big hit. But the larger Kites selectively survived and reproduced and now the population of the Snail Kites is on the rise as they now can feast on the larger snails. Evolution, survival of the fittest, in just two or three generations of the bird.
On PBS. Good, interesting program.
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