Meet the animals that fly, glide, migrate, and hunt through the air.
Explore sky wildlife, including birds, bats, insects, gliders, migration, and aerial food webs.
Bird wings create lift as air moves around their curved shape.
Learn MoreBats are the only mammals capable of sustained powered flight.
Learn MoreInsects were the first animals to evolve flight.
Learn MoreFlying squirrels, colugos, gliding lizards, and some frogs stretch skin or webbing to control a fall.
Learn MoreMany birds and insects travel enormous distances using the Sun, stars, landmarks, Earth's magnetic field, and learned routes.
Learn MoreSwifts, swallows, bats, and dragonflies catch insects in flight, while falcons hunt other birds.
Learn MoreBird wings create lift as air moves around their curved shape. Feathers provide a light, adjustable surface for soaring, turning, braking, insulation, and display.
Bats are the only mammals capable of sustained powered flight. Many navigate and hunt with echolocation, listening for echoes from high-frequency calls.
Insects were the first animals to evolve flight. Bees, butterflies, dragonflies, and flies use different wing motions to hover, migrate, escape predators, and find food.
Flying squirrels, colugos, gliding lizards, and some frogs stretch skin or webbing to control a fall. Gliding saves energy while moving between trees without landing on the ground.
Many birds and insects travel enormous distances using the Sun, stars, landmarks, Earth's magnetic field, and learned routes. Winds can assist migration or push travelers off course.
Swifts, swallows, bats, and dragonflies catch insects in flight, while falcons hunt other birds. Changes in weather and insect abundance ripple through these aerial food webs.