With so many of us self-isolating in the current COVID-19 crisis, we need a break from the unrelenting news coverage. Here are some bird related films that you can stream on your computer, mobile device, or with most streaming media players. Many of the videos are free with an Amazon Prime, YouTube, iTunes, Hulu, HBO, or PBS Passport account. Others may be rented for under $10, mostly $3-$5.
In the comments, leave reviews in of the films that you watch.
A Birder's Guide To Everything
The film follows the story of teenage birders who go on a road trip to find the (possibly) extinct Labrador duck. It was based on Rob Meyer's short film "Aquarium" which won an Honorable Mention at Sundance in 2008. Kenn Kaufman was an ornithological consultant and appears in the film at approximately 74 minutes.
$3.99 Amazon, YouTube
The Big Year
In birding, a Big Year is seeing or hearing as many different species of birds as possible in a calendar year. Three men pursue the Birder of the Year title: Kenny Bostick, who's seen a record 732 in a past big year, Stu Preissler, newly retired, and Brad Harris, who narrates the story. Life gets in the way: Bostick's wife wants a baby, Stu's firm needs him for sensitive negotiations, and Brad, divorced and underemployed at 36, has an encouraging mom and a disapproving dad. They criss-cross the continent (including a trip to Alaska's westernmost island), follow migration patterns, and head for storms that force birds to ground. Who will win, at what cost, and with what rewards? 100 min
$9.99 Amazon, YouTube, iTunes
Hulu
Fly Away Home
Amy is only 13 years old when her mother is killed in an auto wreck in New Zealand. She goes to Canada to live with her father, an eccentric inventor whom she barely knows. Amy is miserable in her new life...that is until she discovers a nest of goose eggs that were abandoned when developers began tearing up a local forest. The eggs hatch and Amy becomes "Mama Goose". The young birds must fly south for the winter, but who will lead them there? With a pair of ultralight airplanes, Amy, her dad and their friends must find a way to do it. 107 min
$3.99 Amazon YouTube iTunes
The Big Year
In birding, a Big Year is seeing or hearing as many different species of birds as possible in a calendar year. Three men pursue the Birder of the Year title: Kenny Bostick, who's seen a record 732 in a past big year, Stu Preissler, newly retired, and Brad Harris, who narrates the story. Life gets in the way: Bostick's wife wants a baby, Stu's firm needs him for sensitive negotiations, and Brad, divorced and underemployed at 36, has an encouraging mom and a disapproving dad. They criss-cross the continent (including a trip to Alaska's westernmost island), follow migration patterns, and head for storms that force birds to ground. Who will win, at what cost, and with what rewards? 100 min
$9.99 Amazon, YouTube, iTunes
Hulu
Ghost Bird
Ghost Bird is a non-fiction feature about a small town in Arkansas, an extinct giant woodpecker and everybody looking for the Holy Grail of birding - the Ivory-billed woodpecker. Following numerous sightings and its widely announced rediscovery in 2005, the world's best birders have been unable to locate even one "Lord God Bird" after over three years of intensive searching. Ghost Bird examines the meaning of hope, faith and the limits of certainty in the quest to resurrect this lost species...unless, like the Holy Grail itself, the Ivory-bill remains forever out of reach. 84 min
$4.99 Amazon
Kids Movies
Rio
In Rio de Janeiro, baby macaw, Blu, is captured by dealers and smuggled to the USA. While driving through Moose Lake, Minnesota, the truck that is transporting Blu accidentally drops Blu's box on the road. A girl, Linda, finds the bird and raises him with love. Fifteen years later, Blu is a domesticated and intelligent bird that does not fly and lives a comfortable life with bookshop owner Linda. Out of the blue, clumsy Brazilian ornithologist, Tulio, visits Linda and explains that Blu is the last male of his species, and he has a female called Jewel in Rio de Janeiro. He invites Linda to bring Blu to Rio so that he and Jewel can save their species. Linda travels with Blu and Tulio to Rio de Janeiro and they leave Blu and Jewel in a large cage in the institute where Tulio works. While they are having dinner, smugglers break into the institute and steal Blu and Jewel to sell them. Linda and Tulio look everywhere for Blu, who is chained to Jewel and hidden in a slum. 96 min
$3.99 YouTube
HBO, Hulu
Happy Feet
This is the story of a little penguin named Mumble who has a terrible singing voice and later discovers he has no Heartsong. However, Mumble has an astute talent for something that none of the penguins had ever seen before: tap dancing. Though Mumble's mom, Norma Jean, thinks this little habit is cute, his dad, Memphis, says it "just ain't penguin." Besides, they both know that, without a Heartsong, Mumble may never find true love. As fate would have it, his one friend, Gloria, happens to be the best singer around. Mumble and Gloria have a connection from the moment they hatch, but she struggles with his strange "hippity- hoppity" ways. Mumble is just too different--especially for Noah the Elder, the stern leader of Emperor Land, who ultimately casts him out of the community. Away from home for the first time, Mumble meets a posse of decidedly un-Emperor-like penguins--the Adelie Amigos. Led by Ramon, the Adelies instantly embrace Mumble's cool dance moves and invite him to party. 108 min
$3.99 Amazon, YouTube, iTunes
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'hoole
Soren, a young barn owl, is kidnapped by owls of St. Aggie's, ostensibly an orphanage, where owlets are brainwashed into becoming soldiers. He and his new friends escape to the island of Ga'Hoole, to assist its noble, wise owls who fight the army being created by the wicked rulers of St. Aggie’s. 97 min
$3.99 Amazon, YouTube, iTunes
HBO
Paulie
Paulie, an intelligent parrot who actually talks, relates the story of his struggle to a Russian immigrant who works as a janitor at the research institute where he is housed and neglected. Paulie’s story begins many years earlier when he is given as a gift to a little girl who stutters. Eventually, he teaches the girl to speak correctly but is taken away by her father because he believes the girl cannot distinguish fantasy from reality because she believes the bird can talk. Paulie goes through a series of adventures with a pawn shop owner, an aging widow, a Mexican-American troubadour and a would be thief before being taken to the institute where he now lives. 91 min
$3.99 Amazon, YouTube, iTunes
Documentaries
The Life of Birds
The definitive series on the most colorful, popular and perfectly adapted creatures on earth, The Life of Birds traverses the globe, covering 42 countries and examining over 300 different species. Calling upon the immense skills of many of the world's top wildlife cameramen and women, and pushing filming technology to the limits, new behavior is brought to the screen in staggering detail. Infrared cameras find oilbirds deep in pitch black caves. Ultra slow motion film unravels the complexities of bird flight and ultraviolet cameras reveal the world from a bird's point of view. 10 49-min episodes
$8.99 Amazon
Masters of the Skies
Hover with the kestrels and dive with the ospreys -- this film tells the story of the most powerful and
deadly family of birds on the planet. There are more varieties of birds of prey per square mile in Britain and Ireland than anywhere else in the world. This film reveals the diversity with which they have evolved, to hunt and capture their quarry. 50 min
Amazon
An Original Duckumentary
There are some 120 species of duck, representing a wide variety of shapes, sizes and behaviors. Some are noisy and gregarious, others shy and elusive. They are familiar animals we think we know. But most of us don’t really know these phenomenal, sophisticated creatures at all. This program follows a wood duck family as a male and female create a bond, migrate together across thousands of miles, nurture and protect a brood of chicks, then come full circle as they head to their wintering grounds. 53 min
Amazon, iTunes
Peregrine Falcon: Lord of the Skies
While hunting, the Peregrine Falcon can reach speeds of over 90 miles per hour. During its aerial displays, it holds the all-time speed record of 242 miles per hour. It's not surprising that this powerful bird of prey has conquered the planet and can be found on the five continents. Worshipped, dressed up and trained for prestigious hunts, this powerful and beautiful bird has long fascinated us. 53 min
Amazon
The Eagle Huntress
Aisholpan, a 13-year-old girl, trains to become the first female in 12 generations of her Kazakh family to become an eagle hunter and rises to the pinnacle of a tradition that has been handed down from father to son for centuries. While there are many old Kazakh eagle hunters who vehemently reject the idea of any female taking part in their ancient tradition, Aisholpan's father, Nurgaiv, believes that a girl can do anything a boy can, as long as she's determined. 87 min
$3.99 Amazon YouTube iTunes
March of the Penguins
At the end of each Antarctic summer, the emperor penguins of the South Pole journey to their traditional breeding grounds in a fascinating mating ritual that is captured in this documentary by intrepid filmmaker Luc Jacquet. The journey across frozen tundra proves to be the simplest part of the ritual, as after the egg is hatched, the female must delicately transfer it to the male and make her way back to the distant sea to nourish herself and bring back food to her newborn chick. 80 min
$2.99 Amazon, YouTube, iTunes
Crimson Wing – The Mystery of the Flamingo
This lyrical documentary uses high-definition photography, narration by French actress Zabou Breitman and an elaborate score to illuminate the life cycle of one of the world's most awe-inspiring but least-understood creatures -- the flamingo. The titular mysteries explored in the film include the process through which flamingos, born black and white, attain their highly recognizable pink shade. The story of these majestic birds unfolds among the striking landscapes of Tanzania. 74 min
$3.99 Amazon, YouTube, iTune
Winged Migration
This documentary presents an epic portrait of winter bird migration. Filmed on all seven continents over four years, the footage is brought together into one portrait of a journey that's uniformly arduous for all kinds of different birds. Rather than concentrating on statistics and facts, the film near-wordlessly portrays the sheer physical effort demanded of the birds on their disparate routes. Along the way, we see the many dangers they face, from man-made waste to a group of hungry crabs. 89 mi
$3.99 Amazon, iTunes
Counting on Birds
Join host Willem Lange as he explores migratory birds native to New England. From the longest-running wildlife census in the world to the incredible migratory route of the Broad-Winged Hawk, this compilation features five wonderful programs bird enthusiasts will enjoy: Counting on Birds, Bird Tales, Saving Songbirds, Journey of the Broad-Winged Hawk, and Plight of the Grassland Birds. 5 56-min episodes
Amazon
The Wild Balkans
Included with Amazon Prime Wolves hunt their prey in the valleys between high-ranging dunes, bears and lynxes wander through dense primeval forest, and the big lakes are a magnet for hundreds of bird species. That is the so-called 'Balkan'. Today the 'Balkans' stand for a Europe that hardly exists elsewhere. 51 min
Amazon, YouTube
The Saga of the White-Tailed Eagle
The sea eagle was once widespread throughout almost all of Europe and graced the coats of arms of many different countries. During the 19th and 20th centuries it was driven to the brink of extinction by hunting, the increased use of pesticides and the destruction of its habitat. This touching animal drama recounts the true life story of one individual bird, observed over the course of a year. Beginning with its birth in a lowland forest in Central Europe the film team follows the eagle's first outing with its brothers and sisters and subsequent distant migrations to places as far away as Scandinavia. Finally it chronicles its dramatic lead poisoning, recovery and resettlement in a nature reserve. 50 min
Amazon, YouTube
The Alps - Realm of the Golden Eagle
1.200 kilometers of massive chains of rock form the most famous mountain range in the world. Rising from the sea at Nice, reaching tens of thousands of peaks, the Alps fade away again to the south of Vienna. In between, stretching out in a wide curve, is a fascinating world - familiar with it's legendary summits, surprising in it's natural diversity. Following more than five years of production and with opulent use of time lapse cameras, aerials and specialized film equipment, a completely new view of the Alps has emerged with peaks reaching for the Heavens but yet with still secrets. 51 minutes
Amazon
Owl's Odyssey
When a female barn-owl's home - an old disused barn - is demolished, she has to seek a new place to live. On the way, flying through forests and across grasslands, she encounters most of the common owl species in Central Europe. 48 min
Amazon
The Valley of the Ravens
At the edge of the Dead Mountains lies an enchanting, sparsely populated area – the inner Alm Valley. Especially in winter up to 120 half-grown ravens gather in the area around the wild animal park to steal food. This is the biggest permanent settlement of ravens in all of central Europe. They are blacker than night and smarter than parrots: ravens are capable of astonishing mental feats. How well does their bird’s brain really work? This documentary probes deep into the raven’s soul and follows his awkward flight around the entire globe.The film tells about the life and activities of the ravens. It tells about the observation of the Corpus Christi holiday and the magical "Echo Blowing" at Alm lake, about bringing the cattle down from the high lying pastures and about the hunt. About the idyllic research institute with all its residents – the students, the geese, chickens, dogs and sheep – and about Cumberland Wild Animal Park that inconspicuously and harmoniously hugs the shore of the Alm. 50 min
Amazon
First Flight: A Mother Hummingbird's Story
Sometimes, the smallest thing can change your life... This enchanting film invites you to take an intimate look into the magical hummingbird's secret life. Viewers are welcomed in to the entire process of a Black-chinned Hummingbird's nest on a backyard clothesline in Las Vegas. Celebrate the beautiful morning with the arrival of the eggs. Witness the emerging chicks from coffee bean size eggs in stunning detailed close ups. Feel the love. The dedicated mom, Honey courageously fights off predators, nurturing and feeding her curious chicks, Ray and Zen. And you will cheer as they grow in to beautiful young hummingbirds. The movie evolves like a sacred dance, one in which all should participate. 46 min
Amazon
PBS Passport
These documentaries are available with PBS Passport.
World's Fastest Animal
The peregrine falcon is the world's fastest animal, capable of diving at nearly 200 miles per hour - nearly three times the speed of a sprinting cheetah. Though the species nearly went extinct in the 1970s due to the insecticide DDT, the species is now one of the most widespread predators on Earth, finding home on every continent except Antarctica - from coastal cliffs and arctic tundra to the skyscrapers of urban Chicago. What enables this bird to thrive in such varied environments, and how does it reach such breakneck speeds? To find out, NOVA takes viewers to a nesting box high up in the skyline of urban Chicago where three chicks have just broken out of their shells. Watch them over several months as they take their first stumbling flight and eventually perfect their flying and hunting skills. And join expert falconer Lloyd Buck as he trains a young falcon and puts its hunting skills to the ultimate test. 60 min
Bird Brain
Call somebody a “bird brain,” and you’re not delivering them a compliment. But as NOVA shows, birds turn out to have advanced problem-solving skills that we usually assume are unique to humans. Watch astonishing tests of avian aptitude: parrots that can plan for the future, jackdaws that can “read” human faces, and crows that can solve multi-step puzzles with tools like pebbles, sticks, and hooks. Could these just be clever tricks based on instinct or triggered by subtle cues from their human handlers? To rule out any doubts, NOVA puts feathered Einsteins through their paces and reveals skills that even three- or four-year-old children have a hard time mastering—such as putting off one reward now to get a bigger one later. From this revolution in thinking about our feathered friends, the conclusion seems irresistible that bird brains see the world in ways that aren’t so different from our own. 55 min
Other Nature bird videos can be found at pbs.org/wnet/nature/group/birds/.
PBS LearningMedia
CPTV and PBS have curated FREE, standards-aligned videos, interactives, lesson plans, and more at cptv.pbslearningmedia.org/
Here are some short videos on birds.
Peregrine Falcon Adaptations | World’s Fastest Animal
Grades: 6-8Peregrine Falcons in Urban Settings | World's Fastest Animal
Grades: 6-12The Effects of DDT on Peregrine Falcons | World’s Fastest Animal
Grades: 6-12Birds of Prey | Science Trek
Grades: K-6Birds of Prey: The Web Show | Science Trek
Grades: K-6Bird Migration | Science Trek
Grades: K-6Owls | Science Trek
Grades: K-6
Film descriptions from Amazon, PBS, YouTube, Wikipedia, IMDb.
Header photo: Amazon