Friday (Dec 17th) commemorated the Wright Brothers' first successful flight in a "heavier-than-air", mechanically propelled aircraft. So BBC Earth is celebrating by bringing together some of their favorite images and videos of nature's greatest fliers! Shearwaters: These seabirds get their name from a special technique of flying known as 'shearing', in which they fly across waves with stiff wings and so the minimum amount of actual flying. Demoiselle cranes: The Nepalese often refer to Everest as 'the mountain higher than any bird can fly' but tell that to the Demoiselle crane. Able to reach altitudes as high as 26,000 feet these incredibly tough birds cross the Himalayas every winter to reach the warmth of India.
Friday (Dec 17th) commemorated the Wright Brothers' first successful flight in a "heavier-than-air", mechanically propelled aircraft. So BBC Earth is celebrating by bringing together some of their favorite images and videos of nature's greatest fliers!
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Shearwaters:
These seabirds get their name from a special technique of flying known as 'shearing', in which they fly across waves with stiff wings and so the minimum amount of actual flying.
Demoiselle cranes:
The Nepalese often refer to Everest as 'the mountain higher than any bird can fly' but tell that to the Demoiselle crane. Able to reach altitudes as high as 26,000 feet these incredibly tough birds cross the Himalayas every winter to reach the warmth of India.
Cape Gannets:
These birds plunge into the ocean to hunt fish, like sardines, from a considerable height and can sometimes hit the water at speeds of almost 75 miles per hour.
Locusts:
Did you know locusts are simply grasshoppers at a different stage of development behaving differently? The largest swarms can consist of billions of locusts covering hundreds of square miles.
Petrels:
These birds, that only return to land to breed, get their name from Saint Peter as certain species hover just above ocean waves, looking like they're walking on water.
Mai Po waders:
Waders use nerve endings in their bills to detect small invertebrates in mud or soil that are their main food source. The Mai Po nature reserve is home to around 55,000 migrating birds, most of which arrive in autumn and winter.
Snow Geese:
There’s no place like home for snow geese. After finding a mate that they keep for life females return to the place they were hatched to breed.
Lammergeiers vulture:
Like other vultures, Lammergeiers are scavengers. But the difference is that their diet consists of 90 per cent bone, tasty. And these vultures actually use the force of gravity to break bones, exactly what the Wright brothers were trying to avoid!
To see these great images: http://bbcearth.posterous.com/36964964
