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[Tom Hiddleston] The night.

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A shadowy world that hides more than half the animals on our planet.

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Until now, cameras only offered a glimpse into their lives.

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But with next-generation technology,

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we can see the night as clear as day.

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With cameras a hundred times more sensitive than the human eye...

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we can now capture the beauty of night...

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in color.

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Alien landscapes.

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Strange creatures brought to life by the darkness.

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Unseen behaviors.

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Now we can follow the lives of animals

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in Earth's last true wilderness.

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The night.

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Each night, across the planet, our cities illuminate the darkness.

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Their lights burning brighter than ever before.

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And whilst we're asleep,

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animals are making the most of this new neon landscape.

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Chicago, a 600-square-kilometer city of lights.

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This maze of concrete and glass canyons

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provides the perfect home for the fastest animal on Earth...

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the peregrine falcon.

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[siren blares]

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Peregrines are usually daytime predators,

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but here in Chicago, a few have started to hunt at night.

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[falcon screeching]

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And there are certain times of year when they're active long after dark.

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[siren wailing in distance]

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[horn honks]

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[birds twittering]

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Each spring, millions of small birds pass over the city

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on their migration north to breed.

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They journey at night, when the air is cooler,

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which saves them energy.

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But as they fly over the city, the lights confuse them.

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Mesmerized, they're drawn down...

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and into this female's hunting ground.

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[screeching]

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Until now, nobody has ever filmed these predators hunting at night.

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Striking fast-moving prey in the dark takes absolute precision.

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Her best strategy is to climb high above the glowing city...

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spot her prey below,

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and then nose-dive...

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becoming a 300-kilometer-an-hour neon bullet.

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Using the sheer glass buildings as cover,

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she can ambush her prey out of the shadows...

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chasing them into the open, where there's nowhere to hide.

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But the kill isn't for her.

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This hunter is also a mother with three hungry chicks.

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[chicks chirping]

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With the migration well underway,

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this female and her mate must keep hunting.

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Amazingly, they can catch ten birds in just one hour.

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Sixty years ago, there were no peregrines in Chicago.

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Today, there are ten nesting pairs in downtown alone.

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Helped by the lights of the city at night.

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Across the world, nightfall brings great change to our urban areas.

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Each night, billions of light bulbs burst into life.

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A single streetlamp can now be 200 times stronger

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than the light of a full moon.

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With the nights lit up like never before,

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the city offers surprising opportunities for a few bold animals.

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-[crickets chirping] -[water splashing]

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Los Angeles has a quarter of a million swimming pools.

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In summer, when temperatures hit 100 degrees...

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all this water is a vital lifeline...

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for some unexpected visitors.

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From bush crickets...

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to woodpeckers.

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Gray foxes.

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Even shy mule deer are thirsty enough to risk a visit to this backyard pool.

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But there's one midnight visitor you'd never dream of finding in LA.

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[grunts, pants]

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A black bear and her year-old cubs.

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And they're here for more than just a drink.

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When it's hot in the city,

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they like a swim to cool off.

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While we're asleep,

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this family can enjoy their very own pool party.

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Following Mum, these cubs have perfected their doggy paddle.

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But, as every parent knows,

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swimming with the kids isn't all that relaxing.

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With her twins out of the way,

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Mum finally gets the chance for some much-needed me time.

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As our cities grow,

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more bears are finding themselves in urban areas.

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And incredibly, they're shifting their body clocks

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to become more nocturnal.

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For these bears, LA nightlife is sweet.

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It's not just water that animals are seeking out after dark.

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Nightfall is also the perfect time to steal a meal.

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A nocturnal life of crime is making one city creature...

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smarter than ever.

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[sniffing]

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[grunts]

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The raccoon.

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Tonight, this mother is leading her two young kits

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out on one of their first night heists.

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[sniffs, chitters]

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Their turf: three square blocks in suburban Toronto.

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Bandit-like face masks absorb light, reducing glare,

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which helps them see in the dark.

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And they're not fussy eaters.

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But it's not just garbage on the menu.

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These bright young raccoons are in training

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to become skilled backyard burglars.

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[chitters]

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First, they must figure out the best way to break in.

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Next, they must practice using their dexterous little hands

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to get at tasty morsels.

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They're endlessly curious, making them a family of criminal masterminds.

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Until somebody lets the side down.

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[dog barking]

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[snorts]

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[barking continues]

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-Daring and complex raids like this... -[chitters]

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...have made city raccoons even smarter than their country cousins.

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And with 100,000 of them now in Toronto,

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it's a suburban crime wave.

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[chitters]

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There are many stories of how animals must adapt

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to live in our cities at night,

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but one is truly extraordinary.

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A top predator in one of America's largest urban jungles.

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A stone's throw from the heart of LA lies Verdugo Mountain.

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By day, it's a favorite spot for hikers.

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But remote night cameras...

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capture a surprising and secret nightlife.

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[sniffing]

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A pack of coyotes, six strong, prowl the hills at night.

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They've become more nocturnal to avoid humans,

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surviving on a diet of small mammals.

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And the quiet of night is also when bobcats call to attract a mate.

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[yowling]

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[yowling]

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But there's one animal here that's so elusive

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no human has ever set eyes on her.

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A mountain lion.

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A big cat living in sight of downtown LA.

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Until she was first caught on a hidden camera,

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no one even knew she was here.

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Her human neighbors have named her Nikita.

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She patrols in the dead of night,

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silently trespassing to make the most of the city's amenities.

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Sharing these hills with large mule deer...

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means there's plenty for her to hunt.

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And our cameras reveal the hiding places

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where she devours her prey away from prying eyes.

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But the most astonishing thing about Nikita

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is how she survives, surrounded by the city.

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Today, her mountain home is encircled

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by a barrier of concrete and freeways.

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Whilst other mountain lions wander over an area of 200 square kilometers,

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Nikita manages to thrive in a space only a quarter of that size.

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Her territory is a dark island amongst a sea of lights.

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But amazingly, she's been surviving here now for over a decade.

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Nikita's future may be uncertain.

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But for now, LA's secret big cat still prowls the shadows...

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whilst we're sleeping.

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The ultimate city survivor.

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On location in Chicago,

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the crew filmed peregrine falcons hunting at night for the first time.

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But this was only half the story.

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It's migration season,

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when over 250 types of small bird fly over Chicago.

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Following the same route from a time long before the city was even built.

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The reflected lights dazzle the birds,

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and many hit the glass windows.

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As dawn arrives, volunteer Annette Prince searches the city streets,

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hoping to rescue any injured birds

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and recording those that didn't make it.

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This is a ruby-throated hummingbird that we found just this morning,

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very first thing when we arrived.

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A little bird that flew all the way here from South or Central America,

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across the Gulf of Mexico.

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And to have it end when they're almost to their breeding grounds is pretty sad.

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But they are even more precious 'cause they are the survivors.

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This is the best little ruby-throated hummingbird

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that didn't make it to his breeding ground.

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[Tom Hiddleston] Across downtown Chicago,

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Annette's team are searching for birds that need help.

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Got him.

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[bird chirping]

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It's an ovenbird.

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This guy comes from South America, Central America.

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He probably flew across the Gulf of Mexico to get here.

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So, this-- It's amazing they go this far and then hit a building here.

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[Tom Hiddleston] During their morning patrol,

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each bird Annette and her team find has its own sad story.

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[Prince] He's very stressed. You see how he's open-mouth breathing like that?

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On very heavy days of migration,

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we've had as many as 300 birds injured and rescued,

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and another 300 to 400 birds found dead.

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So we can find hundreds of birds on single heavy days of migration.

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[Tom Hiddleston] In one year,

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Annette's team collected more than 5,000 birds from downtown Chicago.

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Two-thirds of them were found dead,

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making Chicago the deadliest city for bird collisions in America.

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-[Kelly] ...got one on the street. -[Prince] Oh, boy.

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[Tom Hiddleston] As this morning's patrol comes to an end,

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Annette's team gather the birds lucky enough to get a second chance.

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[Prince] Look at that. Isn't he beautiful?

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It's an oriole. It's a male. He's getting his breeding plumage.

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You can see he still has a little bit of speckling on his head.

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So he has flown thousands of miles to get here, and he's made it.

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And hopefully he's gonna get released and go off into a forest preserve,

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where he'll find his way to where he wants to set up his nest for the summer season

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and raise his young.

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[Tom Hiddleston] In Chicago, there's now hope.

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One hundred buildings have agreed to turn off their lights during the migration...

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saving the lives of 10,000 birds.

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With a staggering one billion birds

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hitting buildings across America every year,

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the future of many species could depend on the simple flick of a switch.