Darwin's Amazing Animals - Season 7 / Year 2023

A well-worn "penguin highway" 120 meters wide finds thousands of the cute creatures in a long uphill stampede toward some unseen goal. What's the hurry? Amazingly enough, it's a daily affair for them! Meet the gentoos of the Falkland Islands, the fastest penguins on the planet. They've positioned their breeding grounds far from the hazards of the shore. But getting the younger generations into marathon shape can be quite a challenge. Parents persevere, since their chicks' lives depend on it.

Recent studies have revealed that all those chirps and chatter we thought birds were making just for fun are actually words and sentences. They have a language all their own! Experts have found what they believe are "schools" where chicks learn to speak. What's more, forest animals already seem to have become bird-lingual! Squirrels in Japan's north learn the language of birds as a means of survival, taking advantage of their feathered friends' keen eyesight and ability to spot enemies quickly.

A trip to document nature's rebound after a major typhoon adds to our continuing series highlighting the Tama River Triangle, a wildlife kingdom in the Tokyo metropolis. A massive dead tree deposited on a sandbank provides the perfect vantage point for many birds of prey while the waters at its base teem with fish. Entering a nearby bamboo grove, we encounter a predator's feeding grounds as well as a tree trunk spanning a stream that serves as a bridge for Japanese weasels and other animals.

Macaques can be found all across Japan. We followed a troop on a small island in the country's northeast and discovered some amazing greeting rituals and dietary habits. Also on display were the power dynamics found in any tight-knit group. The alpha male role has its privileges but breeding preference is not always one of them. And no matter how strong a macaque may be, it pays to have friends. Close observation revealed that all the infighting and other drama are not so different from our own.

What keeps a hive of 10,000 Japanese honeybees buzzing with activity? Not the queen. The female worker bees are in charge, assuming multiple tasks and risky undertakings in the name of majority rule. All participate in the construction of the hexagonally-shaped honeycomb cells, collection of nectar and pollen, and the search for new homes for future generations. To better understand the short 30-day life of a honeybee, the Darwin team pays a visit to the experts: a high school bee-keeping club!

A "sea devil" lurks off the Japanese coast ... a terror to small fish that meander by. Using a wiggling "lure" atop its head, the yellow goosefish relies on stealth and speed to snatch unsuspecting prey near the seabed. These monsters of the deep come to shallow waters to spawn, oftentimes producing huge transparent floating masses of eggs that in turn attract other predators including the pufferfish. Humans also seek out the goosefish for "anko" hotpot, an umami-rich winter delicacy in Japan.

Rumors of a small bird with an amazing skill have enticed the Darwin team back to the Tama River Triangle, a wildlife kingdom in the Tokyo metropolis. Male streaked fantail warblers literally "sew" surrounding blades of grass together to form a cozy nest for potential mates and offspring. The "thread" used comes from a special spider silk the males specifically seek out. After passing this silk through the grass, the bird bunches up the end to form a kind of knot, ensuring the thread stays put.

A remote Japanese island holds a horrifying secret. Rumor has it that birds fall victim to insects they view as prey: praying mantises! The Darwin crew set out to investigate and soon come face to face with the 8-centimeter-long predator, the largest mantis in Japan. Not much escapes its clutches, armed with rows of spines that both draw in and hold prey fast. But ... birds? Elsewhere, the team is equally shocked to find mantises parasitized into becoming walking zombies by their internal hosts!

Long ago, mountain ascetics toiled up the steep paths of one of Japan's most sacred sites. Now, day trekkers step gingerly as nearly a million tiny toads envelope these hillsides on their own epic journey to the summit. The climb is fraught with danger including predators, downpours that turn into raging currents, and of course the terrain. Putting it into perspective, their quest is equivalent to scaling a peak 12-times higher than Mt. Everest! What awaits those lucky enough to reach the top?

It pays to have friends, the saying goes. The Darwin team tracked a coalition of five male cheetahs for an extended period, amazed at the unity and teamwork shown by these usually solitary big cats. But cracks soon formed in the hierarchy. The leader, ruling by intimidation and force, finally pushes too hard, incurring the wrath of his fellow members. He's left injured and abandoned, to face the grim reality of survival on the savanna alone. But his resolve in the face of defeat may inspire you!

A massive twisting column rising from the depths features thousands of arabesque greenlings, a type of mackerel. This once common but mysterious springtime sight in Japan's northern waters has become a rarity due to climate change and overfishing. A vortex is formed from this constant spinning mass, sucking in surrounding plankton that feeds all fish at the top and bottom of the column. Such a display, however, also attracts a range of voracious predators including gulls, sea lions and dolphins.

Rock ptarmigans, a Japanese Special Natural Monument, have been absent from one of their main habitats for over 50 years. A team of researchers is using some surprising methods to try and change that.