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This is Cheyenne. You want to give it a try? There she goes. Just tighten that up a bit, sweetheart. Isn't she spectacular? Getting to spend time with Cheyenne, a rehabilitated eagle, is brilliant. Eddie and Anna, who care for her, are very passionate about eagles, and Cheyenne is an example of their fabulous work. Oh, she's Look at that. Thanks, sweetheart. This is the bald eagle, the national symbol of America, and they are absolutely superb. What an honor. What a privilege. The honor that I've gained here is overwhelming. He's just so
beautiful, and look at those wings. Yes. And he's got fish breath. Now, this spectacular bird, he's been shot by a high-powered rifle. You can see he's got a little injury on his wing there. It's You're okay. But he's very quiet, and I think he really enjoys spending time with me. By crikey, I enjoy spending time with him. There she goes. Oh, yeah. Isn't he just spectacular? Now, here's one from the archives that gives us a laugh every time. The brolga actually loves the and that's the trouble. She's treating him like another bird. We were filming the start of a
bird documentary, and let me tell you, it took a long time. Now, next week, we got to take an epic journey This is a brolga. So, we can get a good close look at albatross. Generally, the water is quite brackish, but because we've had an unusual amount of rain due to the El Nino effect, there's quite a lot of fresh water. And if you look over there, there's some flamingos, beautiful birds. [screaming] The flamingos are just like the rest of the Galapagos wildlife that we've come to love and enjoy. Very approachable.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service, the guides do an excellent job in keeping people at the right distance, staying to the path, so as everyone throughout the world that travels to this place can enjoy the beauty of wildlife nice and close and unintimidated by people. About 500 greater flamingos are scattered through the Galapagos in small colonies. This tiny population is classed as vulnerable and we have to be careful not to disturb them. The flamingos of the Galapagos Islands they like the water deep enough that it comes up to about their belly. They want to walk in and they don't really love swimming around very much. The reason why is they spend a lot of their time
feeding. Now, if the water's shallow enough, they put their head upside down and they actually sift the water through. They push it through with their tongue. They catch any little crustaceans or shrimp in their mouth and that's what they eat. Now, the reason they're that beautiful pinky orange color is cuz of the coloration of the shrimp. And that's the way they use their feet to stir up the bottom and then work their beaks to trap their tiny prey. Of all the unusual animals in these islands, the Galapagos penguin is the one that seems most out of place. These amazing birds can reach swimming speeds of 24 mph. Woo, that's faster than our top athlete. And to be found on the tropics, these are normally cold water animals.
These are the Galapagos penguins. They're the only tropical species of penguin in the world. The other penguins are found in the South Pole. It's quite hot. They're small, but they're cute. In normal years, the population of Galapagos penguins is between 2 and 5,000. Though with the El Niño effect, the unusually warm waters have cut down the fish numbers and all the sea birds are suffering. This really is the highlight of the trip for Steve, swimming with some of the cutest creatures in the sea. On most days, penguins rise before dawn and spend most of the day swimming and hunting fish with only a few breaks on
shore. They return to their colonies on dry land late in the afternoon. On the surface, penguins swim slowly with their bodies half submerged, but when they dive, they literally fly. Yeah, they fly under water. Their little wings flap like crazy. This is the biggest native animal in the rainforest and one dangerous bird. She's got a helmet on top of her head and her inner claw is like a dagger. She can use this to eviscerate or disembowel just about anything. Looks like a young one. Fully grown, a cassowary is over 6 ft tall and they don't appreciate human company. If she spots us, she'll run. And if we're lucky, it'll be away from us.
She's got that armored head that she'll put down and use like a battering ram to slice through the rainforest. One of my wildest boyhood dreams was getting myself in close enough that I was sharing the carcass with vultures. You can see the hungry vultures jumping around. I'm going to try and sneak in a little closer cuz right behind that carcass is a whole stack of crocs just starting to line up in a bit of an encirclement and then we're going to zoom in. They might not come in the salvo but they're sure going to hit us tonight, I reckon. I reckon if I try and walk like a vulture, they don't seem to be flying off.
The vultures have to wait for their turn to feed. A larger predator has been here first and has opened up the abdomen of this hippopotamus. This makes it easier picking for the vultures but if the lion or crocodile decides to return, the vultures will have to leave until the carcass is again abandoned. The vultures will pick the bones clean until finally the insects move in. They've got no real thick feathers from their shoulders up their neck and over their head. That allows them to dig their head right inside the bloody carcass without getting all soaked up with blood.
I can't believe I'm this close to these vultures. They don't care too much about me. All they care about is having a bit of a squabble and getting in there and tearing a chunk of carcass out. Even among vultures, there's a pecking order with dominant animals calling the shots. This guy seems so pleased that he's top dog among the vultures that he even forgets to take his turn feeding. Look at him. He's so proud. This is the part of the Outback that's really fascinating. You see it from the sky when you fly over and have no idea how beautiful it really is. And there's something secretly thrilling about knowing that very few people, if any,
have experienced it like this. Now that we're down here, it was worth the effort. When you look around the rocks and realize that this took millions of years to evolve, you wonder what kind of animals and birds and insects live down here while all of this was happening. And you wonder, where are they now? Terry, come and have a look at these little ones. Being daytime, they're probably not going to fly. No, but you can see they've got their eyes open. These little ones here, these are tawny frogmouths. Now, they're like a nightjar, they're not actually an owl, but very, very similar. They're nocturnal, the same as owls, and they hunt insects and mice and rats and small bugs and stuff like that. They'll come
into these caves because it's very cool, you get a breeze blowing through, no predators in here. Very comfy little spot for them to hang out during the day. But they've got big, big, owl-like eyes, and their beak is very wide and very powerful. And on the end of their beak there, they've got these row of feathers. Now, they're like little sensory units. When they go into caves and trees and stuff, they can actually feel vibration and breezes and stuff coming across their nose. They're brilliant little fellows, absolutely beautiful. Best thing to do, we haven't disturbed them, let's get back out of the cave and leave them be.
Now that we've come this far, Steve is determined to explore all the way to the bottom. Wow, here's a flock of red-tailed black cockatoos. Aboriginal legend has it that fire first came from the red tail of these black cockies. It seems more and more likely that birds are among the closest living relatives of dinosaurs, possibly direct descendants. In fact, some paleontologists are starting to think about whether some dinosaurs actually had feathers that evolved for warmth rather than flight. That's not so far-fetched. The same substance that makes up the scales of reptiles is found in the feathers of birds.
It's fascinating to think that birds are the dinosaurs that did not die. It's amazing how every living thing, even the insects, are moving in on what's left of the water. As the water recedes, the animals get thirstier and thirstier. All species of animals, including insects, and here's a swarm happening right here, and it's a combination of native bees, which don't sting, hornets and wasps, which for their size, at only half an inch long, pack a fair sort of a wallop. Today, we've left the main river for a side journey up a tributary, and it's almost like we aren't even in the same region. The bird and plant life is completely different from what we found in the main channel. This looks more like crocodile territory
than most of the area we've explored so far. A duck we found struggling in the water looks like it's been injured, and Terri's years of working in veterinary clinics won't let her pass an injured animal. It wouldn't have had a chance if we'd let nature take its course. This is a duck, Suey. He's hurt. Tell you what, the way he's fluttering around out here in the water, he's definite croc bait. Yeah, well, something's for sure wrong with his left leg. Puncture wounds or anything like that, but he needs a more thorough examination. His left leg feels broken. So, um he's definitely not in good shape. It's okay, his little heart's going 90 miles an hour. So, I'll um Let's stick him in one of these camping
bags. secure him where he doesn't have to see us or the dog, and then get him back in camp for help. An area that's so rich in wildlife should be a good hunting ground for crocodiles. So, we'll go ashore here to check for nests. But, while we're looking, Terri finds something else. Suey loves the ride, but she hates getting wet. And I better make sure she stays in the boat. Crocs love dogs, and if Suey fell overboard, she'd be perfect croc bait. Thanks a lot, Suey. You're going to make sure that we're all wet now.
This sea eagle, just past the rapids, is sure starting to stir up those pelicans. This time, it's Suey's turn to spot something. A brumby stallion on the bank, keeping a close eye on us. The brumby is the wild of Australia and this stallion is in the same place I've seen a herd of 40 and it's his job to prance around and distract us and protect his herd that's hidden in the tree line. He does a wonderful job. We paddle into a spot where a flock of pelicans has taken over a wide stretch of water upstream from one of several weirs built across the river.
It's always great fun to watch these amusing flightless birds. Emus are one of Australia's natives that is still quite abundant. They are a resilient and robust bird and one factor that has helped secure the emu's numbers is their nesting and parental role. This proud dad will sit on these eggs until they hatch. It's important that he rotates and shuffles the eggs so they are perfectly incubated. The male or dad emu not only does a great job incubating the eggs but is very defensive of his chicks. And this dad is defending his kids from our four-wheel drive. If we push too close, he will have no choice but to kick my wheels in.
So we get around him and head off for the high country, the snowy mountains. This barn owl has been hit by a vehicle and desperately needs our help. Steve suspects a broken wing and the patient would be unable to hunt or fend for himself left in the wild. We administer a little roadside first aid and have no option other than to take him with us for the rest of the trip until we can get him to our wildlife park on the Sunshine Coast for rehabilitation. This magnificent resident of the wetlands is the black-billed stork or jabiru. He usually hunts alone, preferring to eat fishes, crustaceans, frogs, and even insects. The jabiru is
an effective hunting machine, taking advantage of virtually anything that's found in the open shallows. The feral rat doesn't stand a chance when caught up in the jabiru's powerful bill. Like all the Barrier Reef islands, Heron Island is home to millions of seabirds. While some of them prey on baby turtles, most are like these noddies who feed on fish in the open sea. The noddies breed communally in their thousands and the nesting season is at the same time of year as the turtles we've come to study.
Just like the marine environment, every nook and cranny of available space on the Coral Island ends up being populated. Look at these noddies. Right. Every time I look at a noddy tern's nest, I wonder how such a flimsy looking structure can survive the powerful winds that blow across these islands. You're a good mummy bird. She's a mummy noddy. A lot of seabirds nest on the ground and even underground, but a few like the noddies take over the trees.
Traveling by boat is the only way to reach some of the more remote parts of Tasmania's east coast. Vast areas of complete wilderness and inaccessible shorelines can make travel by land extremely difficult. On our way to the Freycinet Peninsula, we pass another rocky island. This time it's the birds who have colonized the barren surface. They're black-faced shags, members of the cormorant family. This species is found only around the southernmost parts of Australia, especially on the Tasmanian coast and smaller islands. This is a breeding colony where they build low platform nests on the rocky ground and care for up to five eggs at a time.
You're looking at 168 of water. What's that? Like 14 ft of water annually? That's around 4 m. And this is limestone. Right behind me is a fault line and this is a fracture. And of course it's always moving. And when you get water coming down through the cracks, it dissolves the limestone creating beautiful cave system. Right in behind that waterfall is one of those caves. These caves are going to be incredible because they're not explored. It's very difficult to get to them because you've got to go against the current. Steve's risking everything going up this water because it has tremendous force and the rocks are very
slippery, but there could be incredible things inside. Wow, look at this. You see all these bats zipping around? They're actually feeding right now. Going out the cave. Look at them behind. Look at that. Woo! It's a combination of bat and swiftlets. These are insectivorous bats. Yeah, there's several different species that are actually roost in the same area. They'll use the same roost. And there's over 50 different species of insectivorous bats throughout the island. They're probably the most abundant of all of the mammal species.
Come here, little bat. Are you avoiding me? Ouch. Look at him. Isn't he just darling? I'm not hurting him at all. He's got tiny little wings. Beautiful little bat. I'm like Laurie. And they've got quite good claws on their back feet, little tails, and of course those membranes for wings. They've got a great set of teeth. They use an incredible location device, sonar, and really good teeth for chomping into insects.
All around the walls the cave, almost over vertical, are the swiftlet nests. And so, when mum and dad go out to feed on insects, they leave their chicks They only leave them for a short period of time. They don't want them to cool down. However, it is quite warm in here. And then they'll come back with a beakful of insects, and they'll feed the little baby chick, and she'll ek open her mouth, and in they'll go. It's a whole combination of eggs, little pinky chicks, and just feathers. Woah. Have a look at this. Check that out. That's the biggest eagle nest I've ever seen. Have a look at the size of that.
What a beauty. Let's go and have a look at it. Can't see. Look at the size of this nest. I tell you what, it looked big at the car, but have a look at it now. Now, wedge-tailed eagles, they're the largest bird of prey in Australia. Huge raptors. They hunt these plains in the escarpment country, looking for rabbits, mice, rats, reptiles, birds, anything they can get their hands on. This nest would have been built over generations and generations. This parent bird's chicks, it will probably nest at the same nest site. It's an ancient nest.
Is that a nest now, or is that a chick up there? If you look right there. What's that? Oh, no, I tell you what, that looks bad. a wing. That's a wing, like it's down. Yeah, but it's it's dead. You can see the downy feather on it. It's a chick's wing, but it's dead. Can we check to be sure? Yeah, well, it looks really suspicious to me. Let's check to be sure. Yeah, it doesn't look good. Looks bad, actually. There's no way that wing should be hanging over there, unless it's something that the parents eaten.
There's two huge chicks in here. Oh, they are just gorgeous. The dominant bird sitting there I'm I'm hungry. Are you my mother? And the other one is just laying down there. That's the one we saw just laying there going I'd say that one's going to die. But that's that's nature's way. Wedge-tailed eagles they normally only raise one chick. They look nasty. It's magnificent, isn't it? Unreal. Great. Really good. Yes, that was unreal. That's just beautiful. We better get out of here. Let's go. Although the weaker chick may die, that's nature's way. We don't want to risk our presence deterring the parents from caring for their chicks. If
you see a nest, don't go near it. Always observe from a distance. Oh, I can hear Apart from birds and small reptiles, feral cats don't mind a bat snack or two if they can find them. Wow. So, this type of bat is called a Gould's wattle bat. And what he'll do is he'll come out at night, strictly nocturnal. They've got little hooks on the end of their wings, and that enables them to climb very well. And they don't always hang upside down as people traditionally think of bats. This guy was laying on his tummy up in this log. With a water
nearby, there's a lot of insect life for him to feed on. And he'll fly over the area and locate insects with a type of radar that we can't hear, but that will bounce off the insect and he'll locate it and then swoop in and grab it for dinner. We'll just put him back now so he can go back to sleep. There you go, sweet heart. Sheep farmers in this area are in the front line in the fight against the dingoes. Experience has shown that when part of the fence goes down in floods, the results can be devastating. As well as lambs, spring also brings the emu chicks, and it's a great time of year to get close to Australia's largest native bird. While the young emus are with the flock, they don't move as quickly, and we can
get some good close photos of them. The emu is one animal where the gender roles are reversed. While the female lays the eggs, the male hatches them and then cares for the young until they're old enough to fend for themselves. As we continue our journey along the Dingo Fence, we see the toll of native animals that don't understand these man-made barriers. Kangaroos and wallabies try to jump the fences, and sometimes they don't quite make it. Other animals don't seem to have the intelligence to even realize that there is a solid barrier. We've seen in the last program how Steve had to get
between an emu and the fence before it would run to safety. All it wanted to do was batter itself against the mesh. Here's another bird that's hit the fence. Steve wants to check it for injuries. Woo! Hey, young mate. Geez, they can run. You're all right. Oh, isn't he a beauty? He's only a youngster. Young emu. It's a bit hot to be chasing things out here. Come on, mate. Where you going? He was a bit slow, but otherwise okay. Normally I wouldn't have a chance of catching a healthy emu. Maybe he's learned a lesson about fences. In places where the land is so arid, the competition
for food in the wild can be fierce. A wedge-tailed eagle stands guard over its kill. Other birds of prey and scavengers spotted the food within minutes hoping to steal a share. At first it looks like the crows have won. Hit and run tactics show early promise of being rewarded as the wedge-tailed eagle flies away from the food. The kites are ready to move in and fight amongst themselves for the right to feed. But even with continued dive-bombing attacks, the eagle has no intention of giving up a whole rabbit to smaller birds. The wedge-tailed eagle is king of the Outback skies and even on the ground he seems to reinforce that status with his typical strutting walk. And the main competition now is a single
crow that somehow still believes he can beat a wedge-tailed eagle to a dead rabbit. With his rivals still circling, the eagle decides to move his prey away from the other birds. But even for a wedge-tailed eagle, the weight of a whole rabbit proves too much. In the end, the king of the skies opts for eating out rather than takeaway in the peace of his own home. Back to Bunyola Park again, and this time for the birds. Birds of every shape and color, and time to try out another great capture idea.
Okay, so what I've designed here is a set of traps which double as food boxes. And we'll catch them luring them in with food. Now, this takes patience, and like every great idea, it needs a little time. Here we go. Two green wings. Let's um get just the net in. Yep, let me just take this bar up a bit. Well, got that one. I got this one. Okay. Trap worked a treat. That was brilliant. Oh, aren't they gorgeous? Oh, well. I got mine.
They don't call me Cat Irwin. Oh, no. Good one, please, Steve. Where you going? You're a white-headed pigeon. You're very tough to catch. You're all right, sweetheart. You're all right. No, you're okay. Look at this beautiful bird. This is a curlew, one of the first birds we ever had at Australia Zoo when I was the smallest boy, was a curlew, bush stone curlew.
They used to be really common, even around here. Nowadays, they're rare. Beautiful bird. Come on, curlew. Hey, little greenwing. Now we're trying to forget what a great idea the trap turned out to be. We've opted for the good old-fashioned net on a stick. And it's working well. Hey, little greenwing. You're all right, buddy. You're very good. It's a big aviary and this really is hard work. That's much more my style, diving on him. They're trying to outsmart us by hiding underneath the rampways. He's up here. Ah. Hey, hey, hey. Who's got who here? You gave us the runaround.
This is a rail, banded rail. Hey, hey. Oh, you're picking me. See how he's got those really long legs? So, they can run like blazes. They gave all of us the slip. Tell you what, I'm more nervous than going in with the crocodiles. Me and parrots just don't mix. I don't know what it is, but since I was a very small boy, parrots have bitten the living daylights out of them. Sharp beaks, birdie beaks. Boy, look at those bills. Yeah, they are big. We are doomed. Well, here it goes. Time for Steve-O to get chomped. Have a look at the size of the bill.
Easy to see why they're called long-billed corellas. Huge big bill. I know. You're a birdie beak. The cockatoo family is extremely vocal. They're great talkers and champion squawkers. Right. And the way they carry on, you'd reckon we were strangling them. Just his feet. Oh, I got him. We're using towels to minimize the chance of getting a severe bite. Okay, so now we're going to do perhaps the prettiest bird species in the world, Major Mitchell's, sometimes known as pink cockatoos.
Coloration's magnificent. Boy, they've got nice hats. Gorgeous. Beautiful cockies. You got the cockatoo on this [screaming] one? Yep, yep, yep. The bird on this Wow, what a beautiful bird. Just got the net on his foot. Careful of that beak. If he picks up skin, he's going to remove it. Jeez, you're brave. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Let's bring him back up to the [screaming] Total chaos and beaks. [screaming] Got him.
Now it's time for my arch-rivals. The sulphur-crested cockatoo. I've been mauled badly chomped by cockies than any other animal species in the world. I almost had the front part of my nose completely removed by dad's pet cocky. Now, you have to go in here. Terry's got a real art with them. Me, I've got my arm completely wrapped in a towel cuz I know I'm going to get bitten. Their beaks are so strong, they can bite through wire. Here's another towel. But they are going to go in that box. Actually, they're being pretty good considering they could pretty much tear us to shreds.
Almost done. Just one more avi to go. The black cockatoos. And there's a bloke in here who I absolutely love. His name's Uluru. I see you, naughty boy. He's waiting for me to come in. Do you want to get on my arm? Oh, look at the pretty bird. Isn't he gorgeous? This is Uluru and he's very naughty. He's a very naughty little boy. Now, this should be easy. Check this out. Not. It's a little boxy box. I'm not going to betray you.
Uluru is a red-tailed black cockatoo, one of six different species of Australian black cockatoos. Nice and gentle now, Stevo. Here we go. The old camera catcher technique again. He's a funny boy. He's quite happy to sit quietly on Steve's arm or anyone else for that matter, but the cage is just not on the list of good things to do. I've got the feeling this could be a long process. Come on, Leo. I guess it was crazy to think Uluru would do what we wanted. He is the sweetest bird, absolutely loves Steve, but he's definitely got a mind of his own.
This is the first cockatoo in my history that's ever liked me. He's a naughty boy, this one. And last but not least, those characters of the bird world, the cockatoos. That's it, come. Come up. Uluru, look where you are. How's this? Oh, he still likes me. Thank goodness for that. She's good. Cockatoos are the most Australian of all the Australian birds. They're real larrikins, troublemakers with a great sense of fun, and capable of having a genuine lifetime bond with their favorite humans. Not me.
Well, it's mission accomplished in no uncertain terms. Look at these animals, they are so happy and so healthy. Oh, you're dancing. Look at your haircuts, you're really cute. Talk about a success, a great success. We had very little time, and we had to move fast without causing the animals any stress at all. It doesn't get any better than this. Woohoo! Mission accomplished.
