TL;DR – A fascinating look at the birds that live along the USA/Mexico border   
Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene

Review –

I love a good wildlife documentary, where you dive into a place in the world and explore the glory that you find. Even more so when it is an area of the world I don’t have a lot of experience with. Today we get just that with an exploration of the birds along the Texan/Mexican border.   

On the border of the United States of America and Mexico is the Rio Grande/Río Bravo River. These days it is more the focus on human migration however while this is an important area of discussion it is also the site of another migration, birds. This is a look at the people whose lives revolve around the birds, protecting them from the many dangers focusing on this precious land.    

This was a really interesting documentary because it focuses in on the intersection of geopolitics and biology. What does a bird care about a political border between two countries when they can travel 300 miles a day? However, that political border can have a big impact on them when it leads to habitat destruction to build a wall.

Where the documentary thrives is in showing the little slices of life of people that want to see the birds thrive. This could be biologist, conservationists, local businesses, and the birders themselves. There are some joyful moments with people and their birds like one moment when someone scolds a red cardinal because it “just wants to bite me again.” There are people who spend all their days counting raptors, taking people on tours, getting the birds to come to them by imitating their calls.

While it is a beautiful look at the birds and the people of the area that care for them, there was always a tinge of sadness in the background. There are a lot of issues on the horizon that you can see could have a big impact on the birds. Instability has damaged the tourism industry in Mexico, the border wall could damage key ecosystems, and looming environmental damage all take their toll.        

This was an interesting documentary that in forty short minutes spanned the length on the area from Texas down into Mexico. It looked at all of the birds from the smallest songbird to the big birds of prey while also exploring the people that interact with them. A really interesting time and well worth the watch.                        

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Birders
Directed by – Otilia Portillo Padua
Story by – Otilia Portillo Padua
Cinematography by – Emilio Caldés & Miguel Ángel Sicilia
Edited by – Javier Campos
Production/Distribution Companies – Netflix
Featuring – Richard Moore, Mark Conway, Keith Hackland, Brian Miller, Chris Birchfield, Madeleine Sandefur, The Galindo Family, Joyce Hamilton, Esteban Berrones, Juanita y Meli Dapa, Dayan Espinosa, Sam Henderson, Zinthia López, Bob Straub, Ángel Peña, Pam Pritzl, Braulio Málaga     
Rating – Around an Australia: PG;