that are drawn to animal houses.
和邻居住得近会给提供些保护
Living close to your neighbour can provide some protection.
但问题是也能引来更多的掠食者
The problem is,it can also attract more predators.
洋红蜂虎看到了一只饥饿的鱼鹰
Southern carmine bee-eaters catch the eye of a hungry fish eagle.
掠食者对于如何建造房♥屋 有重要的影响
Predators have a major influence on how houses are built.
在非洲 沿着卢安瓜河
Here,along the Luangwa River in Africa,
沙质的峭壁是为数极少的鹰、蜥蜴、猴子们
sandy cliffs are one of the few places out of reach
无法企及的地点之一
of eagles,lizards,and monkeys.
一对洋红蜂虎轮流
A bee-eater pair takes turns digging the burrow
用它们的喙和爪子打洞
with their beaks and feet.
群体的中心要比边缘更安全
The centre of the colony is safer from predators than the edge,
所以鸟巢都在中间地带
so the birds nest closely together in the middle.
结果就形成了彼此隔开的、平均大小的联墥房♥屋
The result is evenly-spaced lines of townhouses.
但群落越稠密
But,the denser the colony,
越能吸引更多的注意力
the more attention it gets.
洋红蜂虎群冲入侵者尖叫
The bee-eaters unite,screaming at the intruder.
吵闹的邻居是救命恩人
Noisy neighbours are a life-saver.
在各个大♥陆♥ 都有动物们一起建造家园
On every continent,animals converge to build homes together.
25万科索特拉岛鸬鹚
A quarter of a million Socotra cormorants
到达阿♥拉♥伯的沙漠岛屿
arrive on desert islands off Arabia
来建造简单的土丘来防御掠食者
to build simple mounds in the sand away from predators.
一些喜欢的碎片用于建巢 不喜欢的则扔掉
Some debris is favoured for the nest,other bits rejected.
隔壁的鸟想要偷走收藏品
The bird next door tries to steal from the collection.
孵化小幼鸟的时候
The chicks,when they hatch,
必然得避开邻居们致命的利嘴
must be protected from the neighbours’ lethal beaks,
所以巢得建在鸟能啄到的范围之外
so nests are built just out of pecking range.
结果它们的数千巢穴布局就成了
They end up building near inch-perfect
几近完美的几何图形
geometric plots in their thousands.
但世界上最伟大的动物房♥屋是洞穴
But the greatest animal houses in the world are caves.
在婆罗洲 有三百五十万蝙蝠生活在这样的洞穴里
3.5 million bats live in this cave in Borneo.
每个傍晚 它们离开安全的家
Each evening,they leave the safety of their home
在周围的森林中捕捉昆虫为食
to feed on insects in the surrounding forest.
它们在洞门外聚集 形成保护性的旋风圈
They gather outside the city gate in a defensive whirlwind.
打旋的飞行者在挑战
The swirling commuters are running a gauntlet
捕蝠鹰和游隼
of bat hawks and peregrine falcons.
捕食的鸟抓住一切单独行动的
The birds of prey grab anything that tries to go it alone.
当值夜班的出洞了
As the nightshift leaves home,
值白班的就该回来了
the dayshift is returning.
洞穴金丝燕依靠回声定位系统 飞进漆黑的大洞穴
Cave swiftlets navigate into dark caverns by echolocation,
就像蝙蝠一样 几乎是唯一这样做的鸟类
like a bat,almost the only birds to do so.
它们制♥造♥强有力的咔嗒声
They make powerful clicks,
然后听从墙上返回来的回声
and listen to the sound bouncing off the walls.
雄丝燕选择略微凸起的岩脊
Male swiftlets choose tiny high-rise ledges,
也许距洞地面100米
maybe 100 metres above the cavern floor.
它们和专家们分享空间
They share the space
包括蜘蛛
with specialist spiders,
洞穴蜈蚣
cave centipedes
还有蝙蝠
and bats.
蝙蝠的粪便堆积成恶臭的小山
The bats have left a stinking mountain of droppings
足有30米高
over 30 metres high.
这是世界上最大的室内厕所
It’s the biggest indoor lavatory in the world.
这里居住的动物数量 是曼哈顿区人口的两倍
This is a cave with double the population of Manhattan
并且没有下水系统
and no plumbing.
这里爬满了蟑螂
And it’s crawling with cockroaches.
蟑螂以动物粪便为食
The cockroaches feed on the droppings,
或者拣食掉到地上的任何东西
and anything else that falls to the floor.
最佳的岩脊要通过斗争获得
The best ledges have to be fought for,
在漆黑的洞穴里 雄性为争夺好地♥产♥大打出手
and a male battles over real estate in the pitch blackness.
燕子和雨燕通常用泥筑巢
Swallows and martins normally use mud,
但是金丝燕自己做窝
but the swiftlets make their own walls.
用类似于胶质的唾液 通过它粘到岩石上
It’s a sort of gluey saliva,which they attach to the rock,
逐渐累积 层层交替 制成了一个小蛋杯形
and build up,layer by layer,making a tiny egg-cup.
这可得几周辛苦的工作
It can be weeks of painstaking work.
唾液渐渐变硬
The saliva hardens
变成世界上最特别的动物房♥屋
into one of the most extraordinary animal houses in the world,
一个透明的杯子
a crystal chalice.
鸟巢成了紧密相连的公♥寓♥ 那样挤在一起
The nests become as crowded as closely-packed apartments.
编织进羽毛使巢看起来暗些
Woven-in feathers darken the nests,
但那白色的蛋发出亮光
but single white eggs glow in the lights.
无数世代以来 这个洞穴都是最安全的家
For generations,this cave has been one of the safest homes.
直到一个新的掠夺者发现了它
That is,until a new predator found it.
人们到了这里
Men are here
采集著名的佳肴燕窝
to collect a culinary delicacy for the famous bird’s nest soup.
唾液富含蛋白质和矿物质
The saliva is full of proteins and minerals,
不过 很明显 燕窝尝起来没什么味道
but apparently the nests don’t taste of anything.
一篮子燕窝价值数千美元
The little homes are worth thousands of dollars a basketful.
仅合法途径的燕窝交易
The legal trade alone in bird’s nest soup
就值5亿美元
is worth about half a billion dollars.
不可避免地、世界上燕窝的数量在减少
Inevitably,wild cave swiftlets are in decline.
唾液是一种很特别的建筑材料
Saliva is an extraordinary building material,
但要论最特别的还得是丝
but perhaps the most remarkable of all is silk.
那成圈的蛋白线 有名的坚韧和轻…
The coiled threads of protein are famously strong and light…
这也是其它动物偷它的原因
..which is why other animals steal them.
中美洲的青铜蜂鸟收集蛛网
A bronzy hermit hummingbird in Central America collects cobwebs.
用这些丝线 它在树叶下面编织了一个口袋
With the silk threads,she weaves a pocket,anchored under a leaf.
树叶既可防雨 又可防止窥视
The leaf keeps out the rain,and prying eyes.
伪装就是所有的安全措施
Camouflage is all the defence she needs.
致命陷阱变成了另一类型的家
A lethal trap has become a different sort of home –
一个摇篮
a cradle.
小蜂鸟在悬挂的丝网里长大
Baby hummingbirds grow up suspended in silk
以花蜜为食
and fed on nectar.
这个二手的网子 能够承受蜂鸟父母和孩子的重量
The second-hand web can carry the young and the parent birds,
虽然它最初的功能是捕捉飞虫
though it was originally made only to catch a fly.
能工巧匠能把最寻常的建筑材料
Even ordinary building materials can be transformed
用得出神入化
by the skill of the builder.
在南非 雌性的红尾酋长鸟
A female red-rumped cacique in South America
把棕榈树叶撕成缕 结成圈或结
ties palm leaf strands into loops and knots.
雌性酋长鸟选择巢穴的地点
The mother caciques choose the nest site,
建造巢穴和争夺地点
build and bicker over space.
建筑蓝图是出于直觉
The architectural blueprint is instinctive,
但它改进和适应了基础方案
but she adapts and refines the basic plan,
技巧也在实践中得以提高
and her skill improves with practice.
首先要制♥造♥根基
The foundations are made first,
然后要造一个环 巢的入口
then a loop,the entrance to the nest.
门延伸进一个管子
The door is extended into a tube,
像一支40厘米长的袜子
like a sock about 40 centimetres long.
经过长达三周的工作 巢终于在底部完工了
After up to three weeks’ work,a nest is finished at the bottom.
作品不能长时间不管
You can’t leave your handiwork for long,
那些年长和奸诈的邻居 会试图把它们拆坏
or your older and cannier neighbours try and pull it apart
偷走建筑材料
and steal your building material.
最终巢做成这样的形状 是因为有偷蛋贼
The final nest is this shape because there are egg thieves.
这是一个巨嘴鸟
This is a Toco toucan.
巢管必须足够长
The nest tube must be long enough
这样掠食者才看不到幼鸟或抵达底部
so that predators can’t see the chicks or reach the bottom.
经年累月 酋长鸟们已经加长了它们的巢
Over the generations,caciques have extended their nests
来保护幼鸟安全
to keep the young safe.
巨嘴鸟试图从巢的一侧进攻
The toucan is trying an attack through the side of a nest.
酋长鸟们有个不太可能的盟军
They have an unlikely ally.
它们通常以蜜蜂或胡蜂为伴做巢
Casiques often nest near bees and wasps.
幼鸟们安全了
The chicks are safe,
尽管巢看起来需要一个新的窗户
though the nest seems to have acquired a new window.
看起来父母要为修缮工作准备材料
It looks like the parent may have to get materials for repair work.
建筑物资是那么重要
Building supplies are so important
在某些地方 对有些动物来说 物资本身
to some animals that,in places,the materials themselves
已经赋予特别的意义
have taken on a particular significance.
不会飞的鸬鹚用海草筑巢
Flightless cormorants build their nests from seaweed.
在加拉帕戈斯群岛 没什么别的东西
On the shores of the Galapagos Islands,there isn’t much else.
看起来巢得好坏
It seems this is as much about their relationship,
关乎感情深浅
as building the nest.
它们像新婚夫妻一样为了粉刷争吵
They’re like newlyweds cooing over paint swatches.
颜色也很重要、还有质地