All language subtitles for BBC.Natural.World.2020.Super.Powered.Eagles.1080p.HDTV_Eng

High flying,

sharp-eyed,

and fierce.

From mountain tops

to river valleys,

eagles rule the skies.

Tenacious and strong.

They are the ultimate bird of prey.

Now, for the first time...

..we'll follow the dramatic story
of a wild bald eagle family...

..witness eagles in action...

..and join one man
and his feathered friend

to put these
icons of the air to the test.

Woohoo! What a girl!

We'll reveal what it takes...

..and even what it feels like...

Wow! We're flying
with a golden eagle!

..to be the most powerful
bird in the sky.

This is Iowa
in the American Midwest...

..and in the midst of
a late winter snowfall...

CHIRPING

..a bald eagle is trying to look
after her most precious possessions.

These two eggs must be kept
at around 37 degrees Celsius

if they are to hatch.

At night,
temperatures plummet to minus 25.

By day, it's still cold enough
to freeze her eyelashes.

But she'll do whatever it takes
to keep these eggs safe.

Over the next few months,
we'll follow them around the clock

and see what it takes to become
a superpowered eagle.

Bald eagles are just one
of 70 different species.

They can look very different...

..but they all share
a mesmerising blend of power...

..and beauty.

They've mastered habitats
across the planet.

From harpy eagles in
the rainforests of South America

to Steller's sea eagles
in the icy North Pacific.

And fish eagles in
the Great Lakes of Africa.

They live at the top of
the food chain...

..but to dominate their world,
they must overcome

some significant challenges.

They have to cover
hundreds of miles on the wing,

spot their food at vast distances,

and tackle the largest prey
of any bird species.

BIRDS CALLING

To find out how
eagles achieve this...

..we need to meet a remarkable bird.

This is Tilly.

A golden eagle with
a wingspan of almost two metres.

But what makes her unique
is the relationship

she has with her lifelong partner.

Bird specialist Lloyd Buck.

Hello!

Hello, my love!

Are you enjoying yourself, eh?

You're the best, ain't ya?

You're a once-in-a-lifetime bird,
you are. Eh?

I'll never have another bird
like you ever, will I?

Since he was a child,

Lloyd has been obsessed with birds.

Over the years, he's kept
and trained many different species.

But one stands out.

Tilly.

They've been together for 20 years,

and have forged
an exceptionally close bond.

As far as Tilly is concerned,

Lloyd is her mate for life.

Go on!
Go and enjoy yourself, my love.

I wish I was you.

I wish I was you!

Thanks to Lloyd's dedicated
work with Tilly,

she acts just like a wild eagle,

but is also comfortable around
scientific equipment and cameras.

So this is an extraordinary
opportunity to learn

more about these iconic animals.

Eagles are such inspirational birds.

There's so much I think that
we don't understand about them,

and that's what I'm hoping
to learn here.

A little window into her world,
into the world of eagles.

Together, Lloyd and Tilly
will take on a series of tests

that will unlock
the eagle's remarkable powers.

On the other side of the world,
in Iowa,

the adult female seems restless.

One of the eggs is
starting to hatch.

From its first moments,
the chick must show its strength.

It uses a tiny egg tooth on top
of its beak to crack the shell.

CHICKS CHEEPING

Three days later,

it's joined by its sibling.

At this age, they need to eat

almost half their body weight
in meat every day.

Thankfully, help is on hand,

and he's bringing fresh supplies.

As with all bald eagles, the male
is about 20% smaller than his mate.

It's thought she might be bigger
to help produce

and incubate the young.

Bald eagles normally pair
for life,

but this female's
previous partner disappeared,

so this male is new.

The breeding season
can last around ten months,

so rearing these chicks will be
a test of their new relationship.

The chicks' weight needs to increase

by a staggering 500%
in the first week,

so the adults spend much
of the time out hunting.

Bald eagles specialise
in catching fish.

They can make
up to 90% of their diet.

They're able to pluck them
from the water

with remarkable precision.

CHEEPING

But rabbits and squirrels
are also delivered to the nest.

For now at least,

this partnership is providing
all the food the chicks could need.

Eagles around the world catch
a wide variety of prey,

so they have a range of
hunting techniques...

..and one species has come up
with an extraordinary strategy.

The mountains of Oman.

In this desert realm,
food is hard to come by.

But this Verreaux's eagle
has a family to feed.

Other birds dive-bomb the predator,

hoping to chase it away.

But this eagle is focused
on a terrestrial target.

Rock hyrax.

These small mammals are
equipped with special vision.

A shield on their iris
cuts out glare,

helping them spot predators,

even in bright sunlight.

But one eagle is just a decoy.

Verreaux's eagles hunt in pairs.

The first flies in plain sight,

distracting the hyrax...

..while the second eagle hugs
the contours of the land,

staying hidden...

..until the last moment.

Using teamwork is
devastatingly effective.

But catching their quarry
is a dangerous task.

There's no room for error.

When eagles hunt airborne prey,
if something goes wrong

they usually have space and time
to get out of trouble.

They can even escape a glancing blow
with the water surface.

But when the prey is
on hard ground...

..one wrong move could result
in a deadly collision.

Especially when hunting
a large, heavy animal.

There's simply no scope
to make a mistake.

So how do eagles target and
safely catch terrestrial prey?

To find out,
Lloyd has come to Scotland

to put his golden eagle
Tilly to the test.

But first,

he needs something for her to hunt.

This is Robohare.

Designed and created
by tech wizard Chris Watts.

With a fake fur coat

and high-speed motors,
it can blend into the undergrowth

or flash across the open.

It's also fitted with an onboard 360
camera to capture all of the action.

OK. She's going to rouse. Get ready.

OK. Go! Go! Go! Fire! Fire!

In a matter of seconds,
Tilly locks on to her target.

She's got him. She's done it.

Thank you very much, Tilly.

Good girl!

To challenge
Tilly's hunting ability,

they repeat the test

in different conditions.

Go!

From strong winds and overcast skies

to bright sunlight.

But the outcome is the same.

To reveal the secret to her success,

we need to go through the footage
frame by frame.

First, Tilly keeps a constant lock
on Robohare's position.

Next, she uses her wings
to adjust her trajectory

as the wind changes

or the target moves.

She keeps her legs tucked in
to stay aerodynamic.

Then, just a quarter of a second
before impact,

she swings her feet forwards

so both eyes can see Robohare

AND her talons.

She makes perfect contact.

But in a demonstration
of sheer power...

OK, get ready, Chris.

..Tilly's hunting skill
is about to reach the next level.

Robohare weighs 5.8 kilos -

one and a half times more
than Tilly.

But not only
can she catch Robohare...

..she can lift it high into the air.

She even has the strength
to carry it with one foot.

A remarkable achievement
for a load weighing 150%

of her own body weight.

Yes! Woohoo-hoo!

What a girl!

Good bird! There's a good eagle!

She's able to do this because,
like all eagles,

she's armed with highly
specialised weapons - talons.

and inflict fatal damage
upon their victim...

..while the beak is used
to cut up the meal.

The harpy eagle has some of
the largest talons in the world,

measuring up to 12 centimetres -
twice as long as a golden eagle's.

These weapons can suffocate
their quarry

or create puncture wounds
and blood loss.

To achieve this, eagles must grip
with enormous force

and hold this pressure for
a long time, without tiring.

So they rely on
some clever mechanics.

Their feet have
an in-built ratchet system.

The tendons in their toes are ridged

and so is the tissue around it.

This creates
a simple locking mechanism

so the surrounding muscles can relax

without losing any grip force.

Many birds have this adaptation,

but in eagles the ridges are

particularly large, to cope

with the enormous power.

Creating and maintaining
such a high force

is a critical part of their success.

And it helps them take down
even the largest prey.

But these super-strong weapons
have a second essential purpose.

To fight.

Winter in the Alps
can be desperately bleak.

Golden eagles soar across the peaks
in search of prey.

And when food is scarce,

they have to turn to scavenging.

SQUAWKING

A dead fox.

It could last
this female eagle for days.

Such a prized meal is in demand.

This devious mob of crows will
try anything to steal a mouthful.

A flash of talons reminds them
who's at the top of the food chain.

But the biggest threat

comes from her own kind.

A meal like this
is worth fighting for.

In battle, talons are
their weapons of choice.

They use their long legs
to keep their head, and importantly

their eyes, away from danger.

Using their talons effectively

can make all the difference
in who loses

and who survives.

In Iowa...

..our bald eagle youngsters
are now one and a half weeks old.

Thanks to the hunting skill
of their parents,

they're gaining
about 10% in weight each day.

Their talons develop quicker
than other parts of their body,

showing how important they are.

But it will be another three months
before they have proper control

of these formidable weapons.

For now, they're almost
completely defenceless...

..and the slightest thing
can pose a threat.

Somehow, one has become tangled
in the female's feathers

and it's at risk of choking.

CHEEPING

It's hard to know
how this has happened.

And the female seems confused
and stressed.

The more she moves around,

the more she pulls on
the chick's neck.

A lucky escape,

but now it's stuck on its back

and the male seems
distracted by the other chick.

Less than half of all bald eagle
chicks survive their first year.

The odds may be against it,

but this time, those powerful talons
come to the rescue.

When it comes to growing up,

the gamble of life or death for
some eagle species is even greater.

THUNDER RUMBLES

Zambia.

Home to the crowned eagle.

They are known as the most
powerful eagles in Africa.

THUNDER AND LIGHTNING

This adult has chosen to nest
in a small patch of swamp forest,

and is trying to raise
a single chick.

The eaglet needs to eat 30% of
its body weight in meat each day.

But right now

there's just not enough food here
to support a family.

Nesting here seems like
a big miscalculation,

but there's a reason behind
taking this risk.

What this forest does hold
are fruit trees...

..and the fruit is ripe for harvest.

It's of no use to the eagles,

but it's vital for another animal.

HIGH-PITCHED CALLS

Fruit bats.

Ten million arrive here each year.

It's the largest mammal
migration in Africa,

and exactly what the eagles
are waiting for.

They target individual bats,

picking them out from the swarm.

Fish eagles and
martial eagles join the hunt.

The bats will be here
for up to 90 days,

providing food for the chick
at its most vulnerable age.

Timing their breeding cycle
with the bats' arrival is a risk...

..but for this crowned eagle family,
it's paid off.

In Iowa, it's spring.

The adult eagles are delivering

around five fish a day
to the nest.

Now four weeks old,

the chicks are changing.

Their fluffy, warm down is peppered
with juvenile flight feathers.

But perhaps the most important
change is in their vision.

Their eyes open
within hours of hatching.

But much like a human baby,
they're born with poor sight.

It takes time for it to sharpen

and become one of the most powerful
senses in the animal world.

We describe anyone with
exceptional sight as eagle-eyed.

But just how good is eagle vision?

To put it to the test,

Lloyd Buck and
his golden eagle Tilly

are entering
a remote part of Scotland.

They're joined by
Professor Graham Martin,

an expert in avian vision.

To compare the basics of eagle
and human eyesight,

Graham has a demonstration.

We're going to have some sort
of measure of our acuity, how much

detail that we can see, using
the black and white stripes, equally

spaced apart, called a grating.

And our task is simply to back away
from this and come to the point

when we can't see
the stripes any more,

and then that's our threshold
for seeing detailed vision.

As they walk further away,

the black and white stripes
become less clear,

and then merge to become
a grey blur.

I'm just about the limit now.

Yeah, I'm there now.

You're there? Yeah.

I'm still all right.

That's me.

Here I am. Nine metres.

Nine metres? Yep.

I'm just under 13 and a half metres.

Eyesight deteriorates with age,

so it's no surprise that
Lloyd has greater visual acuity,

but how do scientists think
an eagle like Tilly would fare?

The experiments that have been done

show that they're about
five times better than us.

Five times that,
it's somewhere right up there.

The end of the tape.

This seems impressive,

but what does it mean for
an eagle hunting in the wild?

To find out, Lloyd and Graham have
planned a game of hide and seek

on an epic scale.

Tilly must find Lloyd
somewhere in this landscape.

Her cage has been covered
so she can't cheat,

and Lloyd has found a position
400 metres away.

RADIO: OK, I'm going to
release her now. OK.

OK, Lloyd, she's gone.

Tilly immediately scans
the landscape in search of Lloyd.

Moving your way now,

at great speed, actually.

She's actually found you
in no time at all.

Good girl!

You're beautiful, aren't you?

Tilly spotted Lloyd
from 400 metres away,

but Graham thinks
that was far too easy.

She was so quickly onto you,

I don't think it was really much
of a challenge for her, in a way.

If you wanted to, I think
we could push the distance.

What do you think?

OK, that sounds really good.

Lloyd repositions himself
for a much bigger challenge.

He's now one and a half miles away

on the opposite side of the glen,

and the weather conditions
are not ideal.

Even with a powerful telephoto lens,

it's hard to pick out Graham
and Tilly.

It's a long way.

I cannot see you without
a pair of binoculars, and even

with the binoculars, there's
that much moisture in the air,

so this is a real challenge
for Tilly.

OK, then.
Well, I'll release her now.

OK?

OK. Good luck.

Come on, Tilly. Come on, Tills.

She's off.

She's looking very hard.

I'm sure she's trying to find you.

Tilly has never faced
a challenge like this,

but she starts to make her way to
the other side of the glen.

Come on, Tilly! Come on!

HE LAUGHS

Interestingly,
she takes an indirect route,

riding a series of strong
air currents to reach Lloyd

more efficiently...

..and more quickly.

She's coming in!
She's coming in fast! Woohoo!

She's done it, Graham.

Absolutely hammering
across the valley!

Yee-hoo! What a bird she is!

You clever bird!

Woohoo!

What an eagle you are, hey?

Hello!

LAUGHS

Graham, she's on my arm.

That is absolutely incredible.

I'm so pleased with her. I've never
asked her to find me like that.

That is actually very,
very impressive because it took

really very little time at all.

Tilly spotted Lloyd
in this vast landscape

from one and a half miles away,

a feat so impressive

it seems almost superpowered.

So how does she achieve this?

Images are projected onto the retina
at the back of the eagle's eye.

This area is covered with

light-sensitive cells

known as cones. The more cones,

the sharper the eyesight.

A human eye may have
200,000 cones per square millimetre,

but eagles have over twice as many,

giving them the sharpest eyesight

of any vertebrate animal.

The eagle's supreme visual acuity
gives them a significant advantage.

It means they can quickly pick out
prey in a vast landscape.

But there's an unexpected downside
to having such sharp vision.

The problem is, you don't want to
get the sun in your eyes.

It would destroy all the very
high acuity it's got.

So they have these big eyebrows.
It's like wearing a baseball cap!

That's all designed to keep
the sun out their eyes,

so they don't actually ever
image the sun.

This brow ridge is what gives
eagles their fearsome stare.

But it has a serious drawback.

Of course, if you're keeping
the sun out your eyes,

you can't actually see
what's up there.

What an eagle wants to do
is patrol and look down

at the big terrain below it,
and it's bending its head forward.

It's tipping its head down
to have a look.

And that means that this blind area,

which is designed to
keep the sun out their eyes,

is stopping them actually
looking where they're going.

This blind spot
isn't usually a problem.

In their natural habitat,
they soar high above the trees.

But in a modern landscape,

it can be a fatal flaw.

Across the world,
eagles are colliding

with man-made structures.

Wind turbines, often built
in wild landscapes,

can be a particular issue.

So at this wind farm in Wyoming,

they've placed observation
towers around the site...

..and if an eagle is spotted,
they switch the turbines off.

But in bright light,
eagles can be hard to spot.

So now they're using artificial
intelligence to improve the odds.

This technology harnesses
ten cameras to spot

and track flying objects.

It can work out if the object
is an eagle in just one second

and temporarily shut down
any turbines in its path.

It's over five times more
effective than humans,

meaning the eagles here
are now far safer.

But elsewhere around the world,

the biggest threat to most eagles
is still humans.

In the tropics, deforestation
is threatening jungle species...

..like the Philippine eagle

and the harpy eagle.

There are fewer trees
for them to nest in

and far less prey for them to hunt.

Many eagles also succumb
to lead poisoning,

as hunting ammunition
contaminates carcasses.

More than a third of all eagle
species are considered

to be endangered or vulnerable.

But conservationists have proved in
the past that, with the right help,

some eagles can be saved
from the brink of extinction.

During the 1940s,
DDT, a potent insecticide,

was considered a wonder chemical.

A solution to pest problems,
large or small.

It was even sprayed on people
to rid them of parasites.

Colourless and tasteless,
DDT seeped into the ecosystems.

At first no-one realised its impact,

but the chemical passed
from prey to predator,

and those at the top
were hit hardest,

especially bald eagles.

It caused a thinning in
eagle egg shells, which meant

they cracked during incubation...

..and it almost wiped them out.

Eventually, DDT was banned

and some heroic conservationists

stepped up.

Eggs were taken from the wild,

hatched safely in captivity...

..and the chicks were returned
to the nest to be reared naturally.

And it worked.

There are now thought to be
over 140,000 bald eagles in the US.

A truly remarkable comeback.

Today, each new chick is still
important to the growing population.

In Iowa, the parents
are doing well...

..providing their chicks with enough
food to grow at a remarkable rate.

Now eight weeks old,

the eaglets are almost fully grown

and covered with new
dark brown feathers.

But they are about to face their
biggest survival challenge yet.

FLIES BUZZING

Something seems
to be bothering them.

A wet spring has created ideal
conditions for an infestation

of bloodsucking blackflies,

and they are attacking the eaglets.

The number of blackflies seems
to be getting higher in this region,

and this season is particularly bad.

The chicks are growing weaker
from the sheer number of bites.

And, worse still,
they're becoming restless.

One youngster is so uncomfortable,

it climbs the tree to get away.

But the chick is 22 metres up,

too young to fledge and too weak
to deal with the strong wind.

In sheer desperation, it leaps...

..and falls to the ground.

The nest cameras lose sight of it,

and so do the parents.

This family's future now appears
to rest with the remaining chick.

But worryingly,
it's also driven from the nest.

CHEEPING

FLIES BUZZING

The parents are helpless.

The chick doesn't yet have
full control of its large feet...

..and one mistake is all it takes.

The only hope for the eaglets now

is that they'll be found
somewhere beneath the nest.

If the chicks were older
they could have flown to safety,

but it takes many weeks for a young
eagle to truly master its wings.

In fact, flight is probably
the most sophisticated

eagle superpower of all.

Eagles dominate the sky.

They can dive at over 150mph...

..and perform spectacular
aerobatics when they fight

or display to a mate.

And one of their greatest
aerial abilities is soaring.

Golden eagles can have a home range
of up to 2,000 square miles.

To cover these vast distances,
they use air currents to push them

high into the air without
flapping their wings...

..saving them precious energy.

It's something Lloyd Buck has always
wanted to know more about.

So he's come to California,

where paragliding fanatic
Michael Vergalla

often flies alongside
wild birds of prey.

By learning what it takes to fly
a paraglider, Lloyd hopes

he will understand more
about how eagles soar.

Bring the wing up
in three, two, one...

Wing's coming up.

OK. Walk, walk, walk, walk.

Start running. Run, run, run, run!

Run, run, run, run, run.

All right, Lloyd. OK. Here we go!

We're flying! We're flying, Mike.

Wow!

I've seen Tilly do this
so many times, and now I'm doing it.

LAUGHS

When eagles soar, they search

for the strongest air currents
to push them higher.

Mike and Lloyd must do the same,

so they look for tiny clues
in the air

and movement in
the vegetation below.

You're looking for changes.

You're smelling, you're listening.

You're trying to use
all of your senses

to figure out what's happening.

Oh, look at the tree moving.
Look at the tree moving.

Yep. We're going
to get a bump here. Ready?

All right?
So you're going to feel...

I can feel it, I can feel it!

There you go. Wow.

And we're going to feel more
as we get in here. Yeah.

I can really feel the pressure,
the change in it.

Just like an eagle, Mike is trying
to gain altitude by harnessing

two common air currents.

Thermals form as
the sun heats the earth,

which in turn warms
the air above it,

creating a rising column of air.

Updrafts are created
when horizontal winds

are deflected skywards by a ridge.

By feeling where
these thermals and updrafts are,

they can manoeuvre
the wing and climb higher.

This is what Tilly feels.
This is what Tilly does.

This is what eagles do. Uh-huh.

One of Mike's favourite ways to
find a good thermal is to watch

and follow the local birds.

Got another bird on this ridge
here that we can try to join.

Mike can tell
how strong a thermal is

by seeing how quickly
the birds climb.

And it's not long before
he spots a familiar species.

Look out, at the end of the ridge.

You see the birds?

At the end of the ridge,
end of the ridge...

Straight out,
straight out, straight out.

Straight out. Gotcha!
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's a goldie. Yeah?

That's a golden eagle.
Let's go, let's go.

We're flying with a golden eagle.

Wow!

I've waited my whole life
for this, Mike.

THEY CHUCKLE

This is the thing that
I've dreamt about since I was a boy.

And my whole life, I've experienced
it through my birds. Uh-huh?

But now I'm experiencing it
for myself, for real, with you,

and this is just...
I can't put that into words.

It's really quite moving,
I would say. It's quite emotional.

It's OK, you can cry. I've cried.

I feel quite...
I feel very emotional, actually.

This is something, Mike,

I'm never going to forget
for the rest of my life.

For Lloyd, soaring on
the air currents is pure joy.

But for eagles, it's a critical
component of their daily lives.

To be a dominant predator
of the sky, they must harness

the wind to cover their territory,

and they make it look easy.

To find out the science
behind this superpower,

Lloyd wants to
put Tilly to the test.

He's fitting her with a highly
accurate GPS tracker to measure

how fast she can gain altitude,

and a 360-degree camera

to see exactly how
her wings are adapted to soaring.

We'll know exactly...
what you get up to.

Eh?

You're a good girl, yes.

Bop-bop-bop!

Go on, off you go.

Go on.

Tilly soon finds an updraft,
and soars high above the glen.

Woohoo-hoo!

You make it look so easy. Eh?

The onboard camera provides
a wonderful opportunity

to see the world from
an eagle's perspective.

Throughout the flight,
the GPS tracker and accelerometer

on her back are collecting
important information.

Good girl. Clever eagle!

And Professor Jim Usherwood,
a locomotion specialist,

can help interpret the findings.

Well, it's really exciting,
especially

having the video next to it.

You can really see what's
happening all the way through.

You can see her climbing,
circling seven times,

and then reaching quite
a height, really very quickly.

She's doing, oh...
three, four, five metres a second up

and that's fast. Wow.

That's eight, nine,
ten miles per hour...up.

Imagine running up a ladder
that fast.

So she's climbing quickly.

Really fast, while hardly travelling
across the ground at all.

Tilly climbs
without flapping her wings,

saving huge amounts of energy.

Eagles are able to ride
the air currents effectively

thanks to their large wing area,

but the shape of their wing

is different to that of
many soaring specialists.

Albatross have very long,
narrow wings,

which generate a lot of lift for
relatively small amounts of drag.

CAWING

It makes them brilliant at gliding,

but this wing shape
is no good to eagles.

Long wings are very good
for gliding and soaring,

but they're horrible for flapping.

And, of course, this thing
at some point will need to flap.

Yeah. She'll need to flap
to take off,

carry the weaponry to kill something

and then carry that food back home,

at which point you don't actually
want super long wings.

Eagles have to deal with
some conflicting tasks.

To soar well,
it's best to be lightweight

with extremely long wings.

But to hunt large prey,

it's important to be
powerful and heavy

with shorter, broad wings that can
flap and take off with big loads.

Eagles manage to achieve both,
but how?

The secret is at the end
of their wings.

From the onboard camera, it's clear
that the feathers on her wing tips

are separated when she flies.

Each one of these primary feathers
acts like a tiny aerofoil,

helping air hug
the upper surface of the wing.

It means eagles can tilt their wings
at very steep angles on takeoff,

generating lots of lift
to support a heavy load.

It's also thought these slotted
wing tips can reduce elements

of drag, helping them soar
with greater efficiency.

It's a clever solution for a wing
that has to perform so many tasks,

helping them harness air currents

and dominate the skies.

In Iowa, the nest is still empty.

The parents did all they could
to raise their two chicks

and, hopefully,
they will breed again next year.

But this isn't the end of the story.

Remarkably, both chicks
have been found alive.

The eldest was discovered
washed up along the river, five days

after it fell from the nest.

It was later found
to have a broken leg.

The other was picked up
by local residents,

covered in blackfly bites.

Both chicks were taken

to a raptor rehabilitation centre
for treatment,

where they started feeding
and putting on weight.

Due to its leg fracture,
it's unlikely the eldest chick

will be released,
but its future is still bright.

Hopefully it will become
an ambassador eagle

to help inspire a new generation
of eagle conservationists.

The second chick is making
a good recovery

and developing
powerful flight muscles.

Paired up with other rescued chicks,

it will soon be strong enough
to be released back into the wild.

It's an extraordinary end
to a dramatic season,

and a new start to
this eagle's life.

By following the journey
from egg to eaglet,

we've seen what challenges
an eagle must face

to survive its first year.

We've witnessed
remarkable dedication

and skill from the parents.

And thanks to
a very special eagle called Tilly,

we've uncovered the science
behind their superpowers.

I'm so proud of her because,

in her own way, she's brought

much more knowledge and
understanding to an eagle's world

about their incredible eyesight...

She's coming in fast! Woohoo!

..that amazing ability
to use the air

to soar so well,

and her hunting strategy,

and the power in those feet!

Bring all those things together

and you've got the best
aerial predators on the planet.

They really are incredible.

Eagles have long captured
our imagination.

Their combination of strength,

elegance,

and skill

make them appear almost...

..superpowered.