Bats are super-cute (and not scary at all). These endangered creatures (it’s illegal to disturb them) hang upside-down, due to it being the easiest position to quickly fly away, if there are predators nearby.
Cats are natural predators of bats, so don’t attract them to your garden, if you live with feline friends.
Flight has always fascinated humans. But while we have to create machines to fly, other creatures sometimes use their own wings! Many other creatures (like frogs, geckos, squirrels and lemurs) can also ‘glide’ across water and through trees, giving the appearance of flying!
Bird wings are marvels of engineering. They sit on bones to create a shape like an aeroplane wing, with the muscles in the centre of the body providing balance.
Read our post on how to stop birds flying into windows.
Feathers allow the bird to lift up into the air, and glide or flap as needed. Hollow bones means flying is more efficient. Birds also use their tails as steering wheels! They can also close or spread their feathers, to act as propellors.
Birds with exceptional flying abilities are:
- Swifts ‘sleep on the wing’ while migrating to and from Africa.
- Big albatross birds can lock their wings, to glide over the ocean for hours, sometimes for 600 miles a day, without landing!
- Hummingbirds can flap their tiny wings 50 times a second, to stay still while feeding on flower nectar. They can even fly backwards!
Taking Flight is a book to look at which creatures live life on the wing. Flying is a miracle, yet one that occurs each day, above our heads.
Birds fly of course, but so do many other creatures including butterflies and bats. unique book that looks at which of our native creatures live life on the wing. Flying is a miracle and yet one that occurs each day above our heads.
Rapid Wing Beats of Butterflies
Butterflies are one of many species of insects that use a similar process to fly well. Their vein patterns in the wings, offer strength and flexibility, with muscles that can contract at astonishing speeds, allowing for rapid wing beats, to keep them in the air.
