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Five Nature Documentaries to Watch on Kanopy

Hilda Guerrero, Librarian, Science, Technology, & Patents Department ,
Collage of nature documentaries offered through Kanopy
See if you can complete this list of 5 must-watch nature documentaries

Many of us have had a plethora of time on our hands lately and it’s no secret that with excess time comes a true 21st century pastime—binge watching.

Let us channel Charles Baudelaire as we wax poetic:

Be binge watching.
Binge watching what?
True crime, anime, nature documentaries, as you wish.
But be binge watching.
Especially nature documentaries.
Especially on Kanopy.

So whip out your handy dandy library card, sign up for Kanopy, and see if you can successfully complete this list of 5 must-watch nature documentaries.


Book cover for Toucans in the Wild
Toucans in the Wild
Carlo Ferraro

Coming in at #1 is Toucans in the Wild. This 15 minute documentary shows different types of toucans—because they don’t all look like Toucan Sam—doing their day-to-day activities.

Appeal Factor: Short and sweet, There’s no narrator so you can make up your own narrative, and it has a lovely soundtrack so it’s almost like listening to lo-fi beats as you watch beautiful animals; what a win.


Book cover for Fox Tales
Fox Tales
Roderick Deogrades, Susan Fleming

Fox Tales chronicles the secret lives of red foxes. Watch as a pair of foxes raise their pups, weather literal storms, and thrive alongside humans.

Appeal Factor: Visually beautiful,captures the dramatic lives that foxes live, and offers perspectives from several experts from around the world


Book cover for Sex, Lies, and Butterflies
Sex, Lies, and Butterflies
Ann Johnson Prum

Sex, Lies, and Butterflies is just as dramatic as it sounds. This documentary gives you the scoop on everything you didn’t know you wanted to know about butterflies. From caterpillar to full grown butterfly to migrating 9,000 miles;all is explained.

Appeal factor: Very detailed explanations of butterfly anatomy, symbiotic relationships with ants, and migration patterns. What else could we want?


Book cover for Nature’s Miniature Miracles
Nature’s Miniature Miracles
Allan Peck

Nature’s Miniature Miracles shows us that there’s more to nature than lions, tigers,and bears. From a gecko that has skin so water repellent that it can walk on water to the hermit crab real estate market, nature’s miniature wonders are definitely worth learning about.

Appeal factor: More interested in a documentary that covers a range of animals? This is the one for you.


Book cover for Learning to See
Learning to See
Jake Oelman

Learning to See takes us into the world of macro insect photography through the lens of Robert Oelman. This documentary follows Oelman into the South American rain forests to explore some of the world’s most exotic insects.

Appeal factor: Ever wondered how photographers are able to photograph such interesting creatures? Oelman breaks down the arduous process in this documentary.



 

 

 

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