The BEST episodes of Nature season 33

#1 - The Sagebrush Sea

Season 33 - Episode 17 - Aired 5/20/2015

It’s been called The Big Empty – an immense sea of sagebrush that once stretched 500,000 square miles across North America. Yet it’s far from empty, as those who look closely will discover. In this ecosystem anchored by the sage, eagles and antelope, badgers and lizards, rabbits, wrens, owls, prairie dogs, songbirds, hawks and migrating birds of all description make their homes.

#2 - Animal Homes: The Nest

Season 33 - Episode 12 - Aired 4/8/2015

Exploring how birds carefully select their materials, and craft their homes for the all-important tasks of protecting their eggs and raising their young.

#3 - Penguin Post Office

Season 33 - Episode 9 - Aired 1/28/2015

Every summer, thousands of gentoo penguins surround a post office on the Antarctic Peninsula.

#4 - Wild France

Season 33 - Episode 8 - Aired 1/7/2015

France is known for its delicious food and wines, great art and architecture and celebrated culture of all kinds. But there’s another side to this popular destination that is not as visible, its wild side. Deep in the French countryside, it is possible for the adventurous to spot brown bears, wild boar, griffon vultures or wolves.

#5 - Penguins: Spy in the Huddle: The Journey

Season 33 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/24/2014

Documentary showing penguins as they have never been seen before. From the Antarctic to the tropics, spy cameras capture unique footage of three extraordinary species.

#6 - The Last Orangutan Eden

Season 33 - Episode 11 - Aired 2/25/2015

To truly understand the complexity of a wild orangutan society and the skills the orangutans have learned from their mothers in the wild, Ecologist Chris Morgan travels to a remote patch of forest also in Northern Sumatra, a peat swamp forest known as Suaq Balimbing. Working with a team of experienced researchers, he becomes completely immersed in this unique social band of wild orangs who use tools, share food, forage together, and create their own distinct culture.

#7 - Penguins: Spy in the Huddle: Growing Up

Season 33 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/8/2014

#8 - Animal Homes: Location, Location, Location

Season 33 - Episode 13 - Aired 4/15/2015

Animated blueprints and tiny cameras chart the building plans and progress of beavers, tortoises, hummingbirds and woodrats, examining layouts and cross sections as they evaluate the technical specs of their structures.

#9 - Animal Misfits

Season 33 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/15/2014

The Season 33 premiere spotlights such quirky creatures as the giant panda, which eats 16 hours a day; and the big-headed mole rat of Ethiopia's Bale Mountains, which unlike other mole rats heads above ground to eat. Also: an ant-sized chameleon; the mudskipper fish, which can live out of water; the deep-sea nautilus; New Zealand's kakapo, a flightless parrot; and the Arctic woolly bear caterpillar, which spends most of its life frozen.

#10 - Invasion of the Killer Whales

Season 33 - Episode 6 - Aired 11/19/2014

A shift of power is taking place at the top of the world. The Arctic is undergoing a dramatic change, and with this change one iconic Arctic hunter may soon have to give way to another as solid ice turns to open sea. The polar bear, once king of the North, needs ice to stalk its prey. Killer whales, or orca, on the other hand, are unable to hunt in an ocean locked in ice. As the ice increasingly disappears, the tables have turned. Polar bears are struggling to survive while the now open ocean provides bountiful new hunting grounds for the whales.

#11 - Owl Power

Season 33 - Episode 10 - Aired 2/18/2015

Cameras, X-rays and ultramicroscopes reveal details about the life of owls, including how they hunt, how their vision and hearing work and how they fly so quietly.

#12 - A Sloth Named Velcro

Season 33 - Episode 5 - Aired 11/5/2014

In 2000 in the jungles of Panama, a young journalist, named Ana, has a chance encounter with a tiny orphaned sloth, which she names Velcro. For nearly two years, the pair is inseparable until finally Ana travels up a remote river to reintroduce Velcro back to the wild. This is the story Ana’s return to Central and South America to see how much has changed since Velcro came into her life. Sloths, once largely ignored, have become a hot topic of scientific researchers. New studies are showing that they’re not so sloth-like after all, that they have social structures, they move like primates, and that males keep small harems. Sloth sanctuaries and rehabilitation centers are also springing up throughout the Americas as development displaces these gentle creatures. Shot on location in Panama, Costa Rica and Colombia this is a story of friendship and a growing network of people working to learn more about sloths in order to protect them.

#13 - Penguins: Spy in the Huddle: First Steps

Season 33 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/1/2014

#14 - Best of Birds

Season 33 - Episode 7 - Aired 12/10/2014

#15 - Animal Homes: Animal Cities

Season 33 - Episode 14 - Aired 4/22/2015

Some animals find that living in the midst of huge colonies of their own kind is sometimes a matter of necessity and sometimes the most secure and rewarding housing arrangement.

#16 - Mystery Monkeys of Shangri-La

Season 33 - Episode 15 - Aired 4/29/2015

This is the true story of a family of Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys living in the highest forests in the world. Only recently discovered, snub-nosed monkeys are hauntingly beautiful primates, gentler than others of their kind. Elfin-like, they seem both childlike and wise beyond their years. The family is led by a formidable fighter and his fighting force who guard a troop of 8-10 families. The survival of this unique monkey society, formed in response to the hardships of the Himalayas, depends on strong defensive strategies and the cooperation and interdependence of them all.

#17 - Animal Childhood

Season 33 - Episode 16 - Aired 5/13/2015

A look at the challenges young animals face. While some are nurtured by their mothers or mentors, others must fend for themselves almost immediately after birth. Included: finding food; avoiding predators; and making friends.