The Flight of the Condor: Ice, Wind, and Fire
1982-10-10
Following the path of the condor, whose ten-foot wingspan enables it to soar effortlessly over the peaks of the Andes mountains, this film starts at the storm beaten rocks of Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America and journeys north to the highest peak in the Americas - Aconcagua. Along the way, we see exotic animals and birds such as the penguin, hummingbird, sea otter, guanaco, ostrich-like rhea, and puma.
The Flight of the Condor: Ocean, Desert, and Thin Air
1982-10-17
While the cold waters of the Pacific Coast of South America are among the richest in the world, the shore is the driest desert in the world. Yet it is not at all devoid of life. Lizards snatch morsels from the waves, and seagulls fly 40 miles into the desert to nest. The condor searches for carrion and vampire bats feed on the blood of sleeping sea lions. This is a beautiful portrait of a giant land.
The Discovery of Animal Behavior: In Praise of God
1982-12-05
Theologians and clerics in the 17th and 18th centuries were among the first to study animal behavior. John Ray began in the 1600's to catalog "the work of the Creation," starting with plants and later including birds. Sir Francis Willoughby continued this work. Rev. Gilbert White studied bird songs, Charlie LeRoy experimented with wolves and deer, and Charles Waterton wrote about jungle animals.
The Discovery of Animal Behavior: Search for the Mind
1982-12-12
In 1848, Charles Darwin began the quest to understand the mysteries of the animal mind. Following Darwin's achievement - suggesting a plausible process for evolution: natural selection - Lewis Henry Morgan discovered evidence of cogitation in beavers. George Romanes experimented with fish, cats, and dogs, Douglas Spalding with newborn chicks, all finding apparent mental activity. Meanwhile Jacques Loeb attempted to prove animals "mindless."
The Discovery of Animal Behavior: Signs and Signals
1982-12-26
Continuing with the exploration of animal communication we see recreations of Karl von Frisch unraveling the language of honey bees. Julian Huxley, who discovered a possible language in the ritual movements of great-crested grebes, Konrad Lorenz who recorded the visual language of geese, and Niko Tinbergen, who studied the habits of hunting wasps and together with Esther Cullen recorded the relationship of temperament in birds to their habitat.
The Discovery of Animal Behavior: Living Together
1983-01-02
Scientists have long attempted to discover why animals rarely live alone. Animal society seems to be based on despotic rule by the strongest, tempered by the powerful attractive forces of sex. Portrayals of Thorlief Schjelderup-Ebbe, Solly Zuckerman, Clarence Ray Carpenter, Frank Fraser Darling, William Hamilton, and Amotz Zahavi, show the contributions of each of these men towards understanding the puzzle.
