Birders (2019) - full transcript

This is an incredible place for migrants.

Where they stop and water
and get some food

before they continue their migration.

The most important migratory corridor
in North America is deep South Texas.

And right now we have the fall migration
going on.

The migration is on!

The border wall is no barrier to birds.

I think birds bring people together
from both sides of the Rio Grande.

♪ Well, now, Texas, I'm just a little lost
And beaten down ♪

♪ Feel like a mornin' star ahead of me
Fadin' out ♪

♪ But if I make it to the border ♪



♪ Of that Rio Grande... ♪

Those stilts are really enjoying
the fresh water. They're bathing.

Black-necked stilts.
Looks like they're wearing little tuxedos.

Really cool birds.

Back during World War II
in the early stages of the war,

this was a training area
for fighter pilots

and there's absolutely thousands
of spent bullets just all around us.

There's .30 caliber and .50 caliber
machine gun slugs.

And now it's a wildlife refuge.

I think I like it better
as a wildlife refuge.

We've been trying to establish a corridor
where animals can actually safely travel

through native habitat
along the Rio Grande corridor.

So there's a lot of reforestation
going on right now

and they're trying to link up
these little islands of habitat



so that the animals can make safe passage
along the wildlife corridor.

I have recaptured birds
between years that breed in Canada,

and I've caught them in the same net
the next year.

And one of the reasons that we band
is to show that,

and one thing that I hope to show
in the future

is that migrants also do the same thing.

That birds use the same areas
during migration every year,

and so then we can put a a value
on those type of areas

and try to conserve them.

Call me if you find one.

When a bird flies into the net,
the first thing you have to do

is you have to decide
which way he hit the net.

So what we do is we go in...

and we secure the legs,

and then we have one more wing,
and he's out.

And this...

is a northern waterthrush.

It is a warbler
that is just migrating through.

But, migrants, it's very important
that they put on fat

because they sometimes have to fly
long distances without eating.

So if you look,

uh, you'll see
that this bird has some fat.

This is the northern cardinal.
It's a male.

The other bands that I put on birds
are aluminum,

but this one, because he bites so hard,

that we have to put stainless steel bands
on him, or he'll press them in.

Yeah, he's just wantin' to bite me again.

This is a green jay.

Each band has a unique nine-digit number,

like here in the US,
like our Social Security number,

to identify it.

So when that number goes on this bird,

no other bird in North America
will have this number.

The green jay is a valley specialty,

and this is one of the birds
that birdwatchers

will pay a lot of money
to come down and see.

This is where birders
come to find accommodation, and...

books and guiding and tours.

When I moved to this area,
I didn't have a job

and my wife said,
"Well, let's open a bed-and-breakfast,"

and I had to figure out
"Who's gonna stay here?"

So we focused our marketing
on birdwatchers.

And we're world famous.

We get birders
from over 40 different countries

coming here to stay with us.

This little circle of land here
in Texas and in Mexico,

it's very rich in bird life,

and that, in turn, brings
a few hundred thousand birdwatchers

to this area every year,
and they spend half a billion dollars

and they sustain 6,600 jobs.

Come on.

He's our yard security animal.

We used to have a dog back here
and they were friends,

but we don't have the dog anymore,
but we still have Guardian.

Yeah, they look like Mississippi kites
flying over right now.

They're on their way south
along the Mexico Coast.

That's one of the wonderful things
about living here,

is migration is very strong.

We have more birds
than any place else in the United States.

And one of the reasons we have
all those remarkable birds is

we have tropical birds
that come from Mexico.

There are a lot of mosquitoes here!

Gee, wow, had a lot of rain.

The King Ranch,
The Kennedy Ranch, and the Yturria Ranch

make up a vast swath of over

900,000 acres of ranchland
in deep South Texas.

And many people refer to it
as the last great habitat.

It's important to everyone
who likes migratory birds.

It's essential to migratory birds
'cause migratory birds

are so dependent on every stretch
of their migration.

They have to have food, water and shelter
in deep South Texas.

They have to have food, water and shelter
in Mexico.

This little guy
is an Empidonax flycatcher.

Last week
this bird may have been in Canada.

We like them here in South Texas
'cause they eat a lot of mosquitoes.

This is a hooded oriole.

This a bird that...

breeds in South Texas.

This bird, tomorrow,
will probably be in Mexico.

Careful with the rattlesnakes.

People are so attracted to birds.

For one thing, they're very visual.

But I think really what inspires us most
about birds is their freedom,

their ability to fly wherever
and whenever they want.

There are more birds
that pass through here

than any place else in North America.

It's a magical place.

Well, at the moment,
it's September, so...

we do have some radar reflectivity

that we're going to look at here,
showing what would be biologics.

And it could possibly be birds

because this is the time of year
that we could see birds migrating south

for the winter.

So let's take a look
at some of these images.

So here
in the Harlingen area,

you can see, this morning, birds
starting to fl-- take off from their spot.

We also have dozens of radars
across the country,

so you can sort of, you know,
go to the next radar

and view them in the path also.

So, if people were studying birds,

they would have a pretty good
pinpoint location

of where to start looking for them,

if they were to go now
and look in that spot.

Got one TV, uh, turkey vulture out there,
John,

in the middle of that darker gray cloud.

- Oh, he's kiting!
- Yes.

- Beautiful bird.
- Oh, yeah, I see him now.

Be nice if he wasn't so far away.

- Yeah, he's hunting.
- Oh, wow!

Man, he's just motionless
in the air.

What we're doing this morning
is hawk watch.

Twice a year the hawks migrate
as far north as Alaska,

all the way down
to as far south as Argentina.

And then in the spring they move back.

Suppose at the age of five

that your parents abandoned you.

Migration is built into their DNA.

It's something that
they just cannot resist the urge to do.

These immature hawks have to learn

absolutely everything they're going to do
to survive

once they start migration.

This is a red-tailed hawk. Um...

I actually painted it up here.

Yeah, when she comes up
to the hawk tower, she likes to paint.

And the reason we're here,
and that the hawk tower is here,

is that, um...

a lot of fly zones,
migratory fly zones come...

pass right through here.

So we get a lot of, uh, birds
from the east and birds from the west.

And so we get to see a lot
of different species of migratory birds,

and especially hawks.

- A painted redstart.
- Painted redstart, yeah.

The reason we count them is to know

what is here now, and the next year,

if there are less birds,
why are there less birds?

Maybe something's happening to them
along the way, so...

Oftentimes, there's danger along the way,
there's always danger for the birds.

But there's sometimes danger
that's man-made,

and that's something
that we can do about it.

We are about to enter
Sabal Palm Sanctuary,

which is a very important spot
for birders.

We will have the special experience
of going behind the fence.

Well, because they cannot build the fence

in the river or just behind the river,

because the river,
especially at this location, meanders.

And so they had to build it
behind what they call a levee.

We're just going up the levee now,
as you can see.

Normally, there's a border patrol vehicle
here, but not this morning.

So we are fine.

Oh, here's a border patrol coming.

Uh, a couple of Mississippi kites,
that's about it, just now.

Seems like they're just getting up,
you know?

So we can
actually go birding from here.

Well, I hope so.
I haven't seen any birds yet.

Are we going up the native trail?

- I could not see the wings.
- The yellow V into the...

I didn't see that part very clearly,

but the rest of the markings
look like Altamira, so...

Altamira more probable than hooded,
I would say.

Yeah.

Oh, that's a green jay.
I'm hearing green jays.

Okay, walk together...

- Oh, I didn't realize that.
- Okay, there's another.

Is that it right there? Stop.

It's kind of far.
But that might be...

That's the kingbird.

- That's a mocking bird.
- Are you sure?

It's a mock.

- Now it's too far.
- That's a nice picture with that...

- ...background.
- I've never seen a...

It's just supposed to be birding up here.
We're working our way down.

I'm not thinking warbler
or migratory bird.

- No.
- It was something bigger.

More native.
We could see something in the water here.

It is significant
that we're in the United States,

but we're further south
than parts of Mexico right now.

There are parts of Mexico
that are north of us

and that's not typically understood
by most people

who've not been down here before

or who don't really put that
in perspective

about where this boundary really is.

Our son always refers
to our residence

as being in Northern Tamaulipas,
rather than Southern Texas.

We simply have a river
that runs through an area

that shares the same wildlife.

My family and I,
um, do birding here...

because it has habitat that animals need.

AREA BEYOND SIGN CLOSED

We are at the Rio Grande river.

Um, that's Mexico across the other side
and they're keeping cattle over there.

I want to go to Mexico to do... just to...

see what it's like there

and I've heard that the weather's
much better...

...than here, and, um...

I wanna see if they have different things,

different types of birds and hawks and...

chickens, I guess.

Their habitats have been,
um, defiled and destroyed.

We are literally covering large areas
with concrete and asphalt.

And then also the fact
that we're, um, closing off areas,

which, you know, potentially,
that will happen with border fencing.

Continuation of the current plan
that we've seen

would mow down 150 feet on either side
of where the fence would be,

literally make it just caliche road

and no more plant life
or wildlife, um, support.

So, vegetation means wildlife.

If that's destroyed,
then their habitat is gone.

We think we're very fortunate to be able
to be here at a time like this

when it's still accessible

and when it's still protected.

Birds move around, um,
much more easily than people do

and they go where things are good
for them.

A bird can fly 300 miles in a day.

For them, uh,
moving around Texas and Mexico is easy.

I'm afraid to travel to Mexico
at this time.

A lot of stories of people

who've been hurt or killed, and, um...

I would like things to be
a little more peaceful

so that I can start traveling
in Mexico again.

♪ It seems I'm crossing the bridge now ♪

♪ From Matamoros
Towards Valle Hermoso ♪

♪ I can see the prairies and my river ♪

♪ And the songs of the beautiful birds ♪

EL CIELO BIOSPHERE RESERVE
TAMAULIPAS, MEXICO

In this place

we used to have a lot
of bird-watching tourism from the US

but they couldn't come anymore
because of the insecurity

in all of Tamaulipas
and along the United States border,

so, tourism is scarce.

BIRD GUIDE

I have been a guide for people
from England,

from different countries of the world.

They called me "Blue Mockingbird"

because I imitated the birds.

It's coming closer.

Here at El Cielo we have
216 resident birds

and 170 migratory species.

They come here
fleeing the harshness of the snow.

It is very cold in the north
of our planet,

and they flee to the south.

Before I got training,
I saw them as food, I ate them.

I didn't realize the damage I was doing

because we have unique species here.

No matter how small, every animal
has a reason to be on this planet.

It may not sing or it may be ugly,

but it plays a role in nature

for its own good and for our good, too.

LAGUNA MADRE AND DELTA OF THE RIO BRAVO

We obtain
many benefits from birds.

If they give us so much,
why not preserve them, protect them?

BIRD MONITORS

Building that wall
will harm nature the most.

They don't know about borders.
Animals don't know.

This is a very interesting
and important ecosystem

because it is a corridor
for migrant birds.

They feed, rest, and go on their way.

Birds are beautiful,
but they are also indicators

of how our system, our ecosystem is doing.

It caught our attention
from the moment we arrived,

but we didn't have this awareness before

about caring, protecting and preserving.

Once we started to learn and know more...

now it makes us so angry
seeing what people do,

seeing human beings be so thoughtless.

Nature is so wise and so...

Generous.

...generous because it gives us
everything we need.

I'm going to cry.

- Look at that line over there.
- Look at the ducks!

Look over there too!

Black ibis too.

There go the black-necked stilts,
Himantopus mexicanus.

I love how they look!

- Look there they go!
- Wow! No way!

There are more than 200.

I think there might be 500.

We've never seen so many.

- Yes... we have. I have.
- You have. I haven't.

I have.

I identify myself
with the Fregata magnificens

because my dad was a fisherman
and we were always migrating.

Until we arrived at this place.

We liked it,
we fell in love with this place

and we decided to stay here.

She's not a migrant, she's a resident.
She was born here.

And she stayed here.

Fifty-four.

Fifty-five, fifty-six.

Who knows, maybe in the future
I'll do the same as my mother.

You never know.

RIVER OF RAPTORS
CANSABURRO

WELCOME
BANDING STATION

This is a small leather vest

and, in short, it reduces the chances...

RAPTOR BANDER

...that it will get eaten
during the attack

when the raptor is attracted

so it can be captured and banded,
and then released.

It's important to check it,
or it could fly off with the vest.

Right now I'm working on this project,
Veracruz River of Raptors,

because I don't know what happened
but life brought me here...

VOLUNTEER BANDER

...and I became crazy about raptors.

Because of geography,

this is the channel through which
they fly from north to south.

They have no other option.

This is the only project in Mexico

where you can band raptors
and work with them by hand.

Something's migrating in the mountains.

BIOLOGIST

When I was in primary school,
I knew that on my community's sports field

there was an observation site.

In the evenings, I would go there
with the birders,

as they were known by the local people.

I would spend the evenings there

and now we are part of the project.

That vocalization we're hearing
is a tropical kingbird.

It works for us
because as soon as it starts vocalizing,

the predator has been detected,

sometimes we can't see it,
but the bird has already detected it.

So, what we do is move the pigeon.

To the right. Over your post.

It's a harrier.

That one ignored us.

Sam!

Quick!

That's what we want to get.
Magic inside this hideout.

RIVER OF RAPTORS
CHICHICAXTLE

It came out of the cloud.

It's there in the blue part,
almost reaching the fuzzy cloud.

- It's a species.
- It's a species?

Yes.

Now, around 7:00 p.m.
the birds fly down to rest.

To rest through the night
and then move on...

to move on the next day,
starting from around 9:00 a.m.

They get up and continue their migration.

Oh, the hook-billed kite, like this...
Uh-huh.

EXPERT RAPTOR COUNTER
BIRD GUIDE

My first year here was 1997.

We met Ángel.

He was helping out
and watching with the hawk watch.

It wasn't a nice tower,

it was a little scaffolding
in the middle of the soccer field.

The Veracruz River of Raptors
is extremely important

for the monitoring of the complete
population of several species of birds.

VERACRUZ
RIVER OF RAPTORS

- A lot on this line.
- Roughly?

- Some 82,000 for the day.
- Uh-huh. Approximately.

Yes, there were many broad-wings.

We have around 100,000.

And then,
of course, the environmental, um...

uh, education impact, where you have kids
and folks like Ángel,

and visitors from the United States.

Oh, I heard about this place,
oh, over 30 years ago...

BIRDWATCHER

...when I took a raptor class
from a raptor biologist.

And, you know, he talked about this place
and I've always wanted to come here,

and I finally made it.

- Yeah, look into this area right here.
- I know. It's amazing!

You have to look up
into the highest parts of the tree.

Those birds use
both our countries.

They need to migrate back and forth.

Food to eat,

places to live, and places to raise young.

It seems like that, right?

Can you see them now?

Yes.

They're going in a straight line.

Uh-huh.

Now count them.

Shall I lend you a clicker
so you can count them?

Count them.

Use the binoculars.

Every time you see one, press it.

Good.

♪ Up by the river ♪

♪ Up by the river I have planted ♪

♪ Saffron and cinnamon ♪

♪ Saffron and cinnamon
Pepper and cloves ♪

♪ Up and up ♪

♪ Up and up and up they'll go ♪

♪ Let the bells toll ♪

♪ Let the bells toll
They will toll, they will toll ♪

♪ When you go to the sea... ♪

These are white here and black here.

You can see there are two different ones.

Now look at them and try to identify them.

To see which ones are different.

Here they are, see? Up there.

♪ Flying away ♪

♪ With this last verse I'll say ♪

♪ With this last verse I'll say
Because I'm leaving ♪

♪ A good evening to all ♪

♪ A good evening to all
Tomorrow and today ♪

♪ Up and up ♪

♪ Up and up and up they go
To the flowering hills ♪

♪ To the flowering hills
I shall take you ♪

♪ I shall take you
I shall take you ♪

LAS TUXTLAS BIOSPHERE RESERVE

After migration, some of the birds stay.

They stay a little longer

because they find refuge, they find food.

Sometimes they're perching

and performing the same daily activities

on the same perch, in the same area.

BIRD MONITOR AND GUIDE

When I went up north,
I crossed the border at Piedras Negras

but it was through the brush,
not exactly the desert.

On my way back I used the same route
as the raptors,

down the Gulf Coast region.

And I made it here,
that was the good part.

It was the same as the birds
when they do well.

I have my family here, my children,

and I've had success here,
as a human being.

I think birds do the same.

They have to return to their perch.

♪ A goldfinch at dawn
Sang on a tamarind tree... ♪