SUPERNATURE - WILD FLYERS

The sky is one of the world’s most challenging places to thrive, but across the planet an extraordinary and unexpected range of animals does something we can only dream of – takes to the air.

This phenomenon is captured in greater detail than ever before in SUPERNATURE – WILD FLYERS.

Through the use of cutting-edge camera technologies and filming techniques, the series details incredible physical adaptations and makes new discoveries that reveal how these animals have mastered the sky, as well as how taking flight is used as a survival mechanism.

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A specially constructed wind tunnel highlights the movement of air around a flying Japanese rhinoceros beetle. Filmed in studio.

Courtesy of BBC/Giles Badger 2016

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Borneo's flying Paradise tree snake, Tenom, Borneo.

Courtesy of BBC/Simon Bell

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Barely 4mm long, a planthopper (Issus species) rewrites the record books with one of the fastest take offs in the natural world – experiencing a force of 700 G.

Courtesy of BBC 2016

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Northern flying squirrel prepares to fly between trees in a search for food, Maine, USA.

Courtesy of BBC/Lydia Baines

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A Cape Griffon vulture soars on enormous wings, South Africa.

Courtesy of BBC/Hannah Smith

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A red kangaroo’s elastic tendons help make its hop the most efficient way of traveling on land; enabling kangaroos to find water on one of the driest continents on earth, Fowler's Gap, Australia.

Courtesy of BBC 2016

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Alex the orphaned caracal demonstrates her incredible vertical leap, used to catch birds in flight, Namibia, Southern Africa.

Courtesy of BBC/Simon Bell

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Composite image. Ladybirds can fly up 74 miles in a single flight and reach almost 40mph (as fast as a racehorse).

Courtesy of BBC/Ester Del Roij 2016

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Hummingbird wings beat at up to 80 times a second, giving them the ultimate control in the air, Ecuador.

Courtesy of BBC 2016

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Specially trained whooper swans ride the bow wave of rising air behind a speeding boat. During migration these heavyweight birds will travel hundred of miles in a single day.

Courtesy of BBC/Giles Badger 2016

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Northern royal albatross. Dunedin, New Zealand. A three-meter wingspan allows albatross to glide for hundreds of miles a day in search of food.

Courtesy of BBC 2016

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A Eurasian sparrowhawk, Somerset, England. A sparrowhawk’s forward facing eyes gives it three-dimensional vision, allowing it to judge its flight path to perfection.

Courtesy of BBC 2016

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A small tortoiseshell butterfly on a migration route high in the air over the UK.

Courtesy of BBC 2016

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A glass-wing butterfly (Greta oto) in the jungles of Costa Rica.

Courtesy of BBC 2016

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Asterling Murmartion, composite, Somserset UK.

Courtesy of BBC/James Bickell 2016

EPISODE GUIDE:

Episode 1: “Defying Gravity” - (not currently scheduled for broadcast) - Explore the basic principles of flight to see how animals become airborne in the first place. From leapers to gliders and those that effortlessly fly, each creature has special techniques. But all must overcome a powerful force — gravity.

Episode 2: “Masters of the Sky” (not currently scheduled for broadcast) - Many animals take to the skies for a split second, but to stay there, the planet’s strongest flyers push the laws of physics to the limit. Explore the extremes of true flight: power, acceleration, top speed, maneuverability and endurance.

Episode 3: “Crowded Skies” repeats Wednesday, Dec. 18 at 10 p.m. on KPBS TV + Sunday, Dec. 22 at 10 p.m. on KPBS 2 - The sky is a crowded world where mammals, birds and insects hunt, escape, mate, defend territory, sleep and even die on the wing. Survival up there depends not just on beating gravity or mastering flight, but also out-flying the competition.

The series is presented as part of a multi-title co-production deal among PBS, BBC and BBC Worldwide North America. The partnership provides a pipeline of the high-quality, entertaining factual programs that PBS and BBC audiences have come to expect.

WATCH ON YOUR SCHEDULE:

All three episodes are available to stream on demand with with KPBS Passport, video streaming for members supporting KPBS at $60 or more yearly, using your computer, smartphone, tablet, Roku, AppleTV, Amazon Fire or Chromecast. Learn how to activate your benefit now.

The DVD is also available to purchase at ShopPBS.org.