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A Powerful Swan Take Off

Season 1 | 3m 09s

Whooper swans are built for speed. They have long, pointed wings with stiff primary feathers to enable them to migrate between their summer breeding grounds in Iceland and their wintering ground in the UK. But when you’re built for top speed, acceleration is a sluggish affair.

Extras
A flock is one of the most spectacular sights in nature – but how does it work?
Every night an arms race is played out between bats and moths for domination of the sky.
For its size the Anna’s Hummingbird has the fastest courtship display in the animal world.
The Brazilian free-tailed bat is one of the most versatile flyers in the animal kingdom.
Albatross are masters of low cost, longhaul travel, using the power of the wind to fly.
To keep their huge bodies airborne, these beetles twist their wings for extra thrust.
Flying squirrels can find food fast in winter and short flights help them avoid owls.
For kangaroos, hopping is key to the most efficient form of locomotion on land.
It’ll be two weeks before they can fly. They have to jump for it.
Caracals are adapted to catch birds in flight and capable of leaping up to 3m high.