The only way to survive for newborn barnacle geese is to dive off a cliff
Barnacle geese nest on cliffs to keep their eggs safe from predators. But just days after the chicks hatch, they face a brutal introduction to the outside world. To find food and join their parents, the goslings must plummet hundreds of feet from their nests. Unable to fly, many die in the process. More remarkably, though, as this excerpt from the BBC’s ‘Life Story’ series shows, many also manage to make it through this brutal survival strategy.
video
Nature and landscape
‘A culture is no better than its woods’ – what our trees reveal about us, by W H Auden
5 minutes
video
Animals and humans
One man’s quest to save an orphaned squirrel, as narrated by David Attenborough
14 minutes
video
Biology
Butterflies become unrecognisable landscapes when viewed under electron microscopes
4 minutes
video
Fairness and equality
There’s a dirty side to clean energy in the metal-rich mountains of South Africa
10 minutes
video
Biology
‘Save the parasites’ may not be a popular rallying cry – but it could be a vital one
11 minutes
video
Evolution
The many ways a lizard tongue sticks, grasps, pinches and plops – in slo-mo
6 minutes
video
Animals and humans
Villagers struggle to keep their beloved, endangered ape population afloat
19 minutes
video
Biology
Starlings swoosh like brushstrokes across the sky in this dazzling short
3 minutes
video
Ecology and environmental sciences
The tree frog die-off that sparked a global mystery – and revealed a dark truth
15 minutes