Airborne Deadly Top 10

'Welcome to my Deadly Top 10.'

Oh!

'A chance to choose the most extreme, mass attacking,

'defending, airborne and super-sensing animals

'on the planet.'

Quick, quick, quick!

'Deadly in their own world, occasionally deadly to me.'

STEVE YELLS

'Who do you think will be Number One of the Deadly Top 10?'

'In this countdown, I'm choosing my Top 10 airborne assassins.

'Ten creatures that head to the skies.'

-STEVE YELLS

-Crikey!

'Soaring, leaping,

'fluttering and flapping,

'each one must defy gravity to survive.

'Because success lies in being airborne.'

'Time to kick off my Top 10 airborne countdown.'

'Getting us off the ground at 10 is a high-diving, hovering hero...

'Let's take a look at their finely tuned aerial stunts.'

Just about ten metres ahead of me is a pied kingfisher

and he's sat, just looking down into the water.

There's two more just over there.

Yes!

And again! This is amazing, absolutely amazing.

I don't believe it!

Almost every time it's coming up with something.

Usually very small fish, possibly even shellfish,

but the success ratio is extraordinary.

Yes! Right on cue.

The hunting technique that's going on here is

as extraordinary as anything by a large predator.

It's having to judge distance down in murky water,

and come up with a slithery, slimy, moving prey item.

And it's doing it again, there! With amazing amounts of success.

'So, how does this fisher king achieve such a high hit rate?

'Let's take a closer look at his aerial exploits.'

'At ten metres above the surface, it cannot be seen by its prey.

'To locate a fish, it must keep its head perfectly still,

'and the tail is used to keep it stationary.

'Its wings beat at eight times a second.

'Once it's locked onto its target, it begins a controlled descent.'

'Shaped like an arrow, the beak hardly makes a ripple,

'powering into the water with pinpoint accuracy,

'it snatches the prize.

'And it does all of this in the blink of an eye.

'A superbly speedy, hovering, helicopter hero,

'and my awesome airborne number 10.'

'So who's next in this up-in-the-air race?

'How's about my number 9?'

'These tiny carnivorous flies are in-flight insect munchers.

'Thousands of them are stationed across the High Plains of Colorado.

'With their sublime eyesight, they scour the horizon.

'Anything fluttering through their airspace is asking for trouble.'

'Armed with a crash helmet of bristles and rocket-powered wings,

'they're perfectly adapted to snatching prey in mid-air.

'And a bee has just been spotted.

'They all scramble to intercept.

'One makes a mid-air grab and crash-lands with its bounty,

'where it will inject a toxin that liquefies their insides.

'A gooey lunch for a fearsome, flighty, robbing rogue.'

'Swooping in to slot number 8 is a parachuting trooper...

'..a reptile who loves to get airborne.

'Gliding through the jungles of South East Asia,

'these formidable, pocket-sized predators defy gravity to survive.'

This really is one of the most remarkable lizards

found in the whole world.

The scientific name is the Draco.

The common name, though, is rather more illustrative.

These are called "flying lizards". And I'll show you why.

The ribs expand and the flap of skin between them

actually creates a kind of parachute.

These lizards don't truly fly, they glide.

'When out hunting ants and termites, escaping from predators

'or fighting rivals,

'these sky-diving dragons simply launch themselves into the air.'

'They can glide enormous distances, up to 60 metres.

'That's the length of six double-decker buses.

'Not bad for an animal the size of a teacup!'

I'd really like to show you them at work.

So, we need to get as high as possible

and allow the Draco to escape.

And it should parachute down towards Earth, or towards another tree.

OK, if I just stand up on this tree and aim it over there, let's see.

'With the camera slowed right down, you see just how controlled

'and elegant the glide of this lizard really is.'

But, at the same, though it is very good at evading predators,

it is also a fabulous tree top muncher itself.

So, it'll scamper around in the canopy

looking for little bugs to munch down.

And all the time it has that wonderful defence on its side.

They are absolutely awesome.

'So, we've had a giant hovering kingfisher,

'a band of crash-landing robber flies

'and the glorious, gliding Draco lizard.

'So who's next to lift off in this skyward race?'

'Springing in to slot number 7 is a bit of a surprise...'

'Proving you don't need wings to get airborne,

'this fearsome little hunter bounces around on top of the world.

'Life up here on Mount Everest amongst the glaciers is tough.

'But these spiders have a springy solution.

'Using hydraulic pressure to power their legs like pistons,

'they catapult themselves up to 30 times their own body length.

'It's the perfect way to travel in rocky terrain.

'And they even fasten a spool of silk,

'which works as a safety line and keeps them secure.

'Their eight eyes include a huge central pair,

'which act like binoculars to spot potential prey.

'This springtail has no idea it's being stalked

'by such an all-terrain specialist.'

'A high-altitude heavyweight and a bouncing, pouncing champion.'

'Swashbuckling into slot number 6 is a pirate of the seven skies...'

'Magnificent by name and nature.

'Male birds have splendid built-in balloons,

'which they inflate during courtship to attract females.

'But don't be fooled by these pretty puffballs,

'because when they take to the skies,

'they become feathery bullies and tormenters.'

'Anything they can steal, they do,

'even nesting material from their own neighbours.'

'And a blue-footed booby soon loses its lunch.

'I can't believe how cheeky they are!

'He just pinched that right out of its mouth!

'But, these frigates need to be nasty.

'Without a victory, their chicks might starve.'

'Equipped with long, pointy wings

that are lighter for their size than any other bird's,

'they can glide for hours on the tiniest puff of wind.

'They need their airborne agility

'to outperform anything in their airspace.'

'This tropic bird has a belly full of fish,

'and the frigates will need to shake it until it regurgitates its catch.'

'It's an aerial dogfight.'

'But for all their bravado,

'these glossy black jet planes are not actually sea-worthy.

'They have so little oil in their feathers,

'they can't risk ditching.

'Water is the frigate's Achilles heel.

'If they're to secure a bootlegged breakfast,

'they have to catch it mid-flight, or lose out all together.'

'Their aerial acrobatics have paid off

'and their chicks won't go hungry tonight.'

'So, we're halfway through.

'Time to touch down, refuel and recap.

'We've had a fluttering fisher king,

'a buzzy, brutal robber fly,

'a drifting Draco lizard,

'a leaping, lethal jumping spider

'and the thieving, weaving magnificent frigate.

'Five places gone, but five even higher flyers to come.'

'And next we have an airborne hunter that performs mind-blowing stunts.

'At number 5, it's...'

'And I've come to a British woodland

'to meet a very special captive bird called Ellie.'

Goshawks typically breed and hunt in mature woodlands

and hunting in here is all about dodging obstacles,

and being able to ambush your prey.

BIRD CRIES

Because of that, she has a very different design

and quite a loud voice, as you can hear.

I'm not sure if she'll let me show you this, but the wings...

Come on, sweetheart.

..are shorter and more rounded, and she has this wonderful

fan-shaped tail.

There you go. This is like a rudder, steering her amongst the trees.

To show you just how awesome she can be in full predatory mode,

we're going to have her hunt something a bit bigger than normal.

Me.

The trees are very tightly packed together

and for a bird as big as the goshawk, really it's going

to have to dodge and weave in and out with incredible manoeuvrability.

OK, whenever you're ready, really, Lloyd!

-STEVE YELLS

-Crikey!

STEVE LAUGHS

The force of that as she hits you.

I didn't hear a sound. She just belted me!

'That was phenomenal!

'Look how she uses her tail like a rudder to duck

'and dive between those trees.

'And by taking our experiment up a notch,

'we can show you Ellie's aerial acrobatics at their very best.

'By folding her wings and swinging her talons forward,

'she can squeeze through the tiniest gap and hardly loses any speed.

'Ellie seems able to mould her body to any shape.

'She can even keep herself tightly wrapped up

'to rocket through tunnels.

'Incredible.'

'And all of this serves a purpose.

'With three hungry, demanding chicks, these speeding, silent,

'jumbo jet fighters must work hard to bring down a wide range

'of invertebrates, birds and even small mammals.

'A true terror of the forest, and a sublime airborne number 5.'

'So, what can beat that?

'How's about a toxic tyrant, in at 4?

'A fast-flying, buzzy bundle of deadliness,

'that we can hear before we see.'

Oh, there's one, look! 'These wasps are the largest in the world,

'and this giant female is searching for a tarantula.'

-Yes, she's coming this way, Steve.

-'Their flight is loud and low

'and their wings are brightly coloured,

'to act as a warning that they're heavily armed.'

Here it comes, here it comes!

What he's doing at the moment is just circling around this area,

trying to find his food.

OK.

All right.

Going to be ever so careful how I do this,

because the tarantula hawk wasp has a sting that's reputed to be

the most painful of any invertebrate.

-Oh, he's off! No, come back!

-He's coming his way, Steve.

-Right.

Got it. Got it. Right, now, this time you are not getting away.

Got to be ever so careful, because I don't want to damage her,

but also her sting is absolutely paralysing.

There she is.

That is the tarantula hawk wasp,

or Pepsis wasp.

And she is...

..one of the most incredible predators

found anywhere in the world.

Right, there we go.

Look at that. Glorious, glorious colour.

Very vibrant, metallic blue, with bright orange wings.

But don't let her beauty fool you.

This is one of the most grotesque killers in the whole

of the animal kingdom.

'Because these monster insects are spider munchers.

'When a female wasp locates a spider,

'it will outmanoeuvre it like a kung fu maestro,

'and deliver a single paralysing sting.

'The spider's still alive, but completely defenceless.'

'This is only half the story.

'The paralysed spider is then dragged by the wasp

'to a safe burrow, where it will lay an egg, which hatches into a maggot,

'which slowly devours the spider while it's still alive.

'A flighty, mighty, stinging sensation that had me

'running round in circles.'

'Hitting turbulence at 3, I have a choice of two

'fluttering, fingered furries...

'Both have fabulous fingertip control,

'but which will I choose to be my airspace ace?'

'First up, let's look at the Natterer's.

'This little bat is a ferocious hunter of venomous prey.

'Tonight, it's after the eight-legged kind.'

'Spiders are very nutritious, but this one's sitting in the

'centre of a sticky web that could easily entangle a winged assailant.

'But the Natterer's bat has aerial control at its fingertips,

'because these wings are hands.

'And like us, bats can flex and bend their fingers independently,

'allowing them to fine tune their flight.

'This spider is a sitting target.'

'Navigating the microscopically thin threads,

'he plucks the spider from its lair.

'With ultimate aeronautical precision, the Natterer's bat

'uses sonar to judge which side of the web the spider

'is sitting on, and even reverses away to avoid getting entangled.'

'What a sensational catch!'

'But, if you thought that was extraordinary,

'wait until you meet our next competitor...

'..a flying fisherman.'

'Here in Central America, a fish swimming just below the surface

'creates a tell-tale ripple, and that's all the bat needs.'

'From over two metres away, flying at incredible speed,

'it takes aim, swoops in low

'and totally wings it!'

'If the shoal scatters, the bat trawls the surface, breaking

'the water with its large, taloned feet,

'and impaling unsuspecting victims.

'But he's not here alone.

'Oncoming traffic makes fishing much more tricky.

'However, these bats have an in-built collision avoidance system.

'By dropping their calls an octave, they honk at each other

'and keep the airspace a crash-free zone.'

'So, which do you think should get a spot in my Top 10?

'A spider-snatching supremo?

'Or a traffic-calming fish scooper?'

'Well, although the greater bulldog bat is a mighty fine fly fisher,

'it's the Natterer's spot-on precision that bags it third place.'

'Only two places left.

'Time to bring out the up-in-the-air superstars.

'And soaring into second place...

'..a bone-smashing vulture.'

'5,000 metres above the magnificent Simien Mountains of Ethiopia,

this lammergeier is searching for a meal.

'His two and a half metre wingspan can carry him many miles a day,

'and on the cliffs below he spies an opportunity.'

'This carcass has been stripped clean,

'but it's exactly what the lammergeier's been looking for.'

'It's not meat he's after, but bones.'

'Bones contain rich, juicy marrow fat,

'but not even his razor-sharp beak or mighty talons

'can crack these four kilo lumps.'

'So, the lammergeiers have come up with an extraordinary solution,

'thanks to their flying skills.'

'Soaring up on thermal air currents,

'he positions the bone parallel to his body to minimise drag

'and glides to a place where there are giant rock slabs beneath.'

'At the perfect height, he lets go.'

'The bone is smashed and the marrow released.

'With juices in his stomach more corrosive than battery acid,

'the lammergeier can feast on the fragments.

'Just look at him swallow those chunks!'

'Proficient bone-smashing takes endless target practice

'and this youngster's working hard to find just the right height,

'speed and moment of release.'

'It's a superb airborne strategy and a gravity-smashing number 2.'

'So, if the cloud-cruising lammergeier isn't number 1, who is?

'It's time for my Top 10 airborne countdown.

'Sky-diving 10, it's the wondrous, winged...

'Mid-air 9, those brutal...

'Parachuting into 8, the soaring...

'On top of the world at 7, the hurdling...

'Stunt pilot 6...

'Acrobatic 5, the fearsome, flexible...

'Fluttering 4, the toxic...

'Hands up at 3, the flighty fingered...

'Jumbo jet two, the bone-bouncing...

'So, who's won this gravity-defying race? Any ideas?'

'Well, it's the kestrel! A hovering world champion.'

Ashley, here, is a falconry bird, and his owner, Lloyd,

has taught him to hover in exactly the way that a wild bird would do.

Lloyd's waiting down the grass, pretending to be a vole

and Ashley looks keen.

Let's see if we can get him to hover.

Yes! Look at that!

Actually, he's not even having to beat his wings.

Just turning into the wind,

and allowing the wind to come underneath the wings...

Oh, wow!

That was classic! And he's back up again.

'Kestrels hunt animals like voles, and by turning into the wind,

'air is constantly driven under their wings, creating lift,

'while its head remains stationary.'

Look at that. He's almost like a child's kite.

There's no fluttering of the wings going on,

he's just purely using the wind.

'Hovering allows the bird to manoeuvre itself

'into the perfect striking position.

'Hanging effortlessly in mid-air.'

-Oh!

-STEVE LAUGHS

The speed as it comes through!

That's where you can really see that this is a falcon.

'Keeping its head still means our kestrel can pinpoint

'its target, in this case the lure, then plunge done to the grass.'

Yes! Wow!

Now that was a classic falcon strike. Thank you, Lloyd.

I mean, he's just so beautiful.

The kestrel is unquestionably the master of hovering.

But honestly, how hard can it be?

'I've come to the world's largest vertical wind tunnel,

'to have a go at hovering myself.'

So, it's all about just relaxing, just holding still.

The kestrel can keep its head in exactly the same position

as it makes all these tiny micro adjustments with its feathers,

to just keep itself in as steady a position as possible.

STEVE YELLS

Oh!

Oh! Awesome, absolutely awesome!

'So, there's no doubt about it.

'Alongside sharp talons, a strong beak and powerful eyesight,

'with their wind-surfing capabilities and sky diving strategy

'our very own kestrel is undisputed king of hovering.

'And my ultimate airborne number 1.'

'So, seatbelt sign off.

That's Top 10 Airborne sorted.'

'Don't forget to join me next time for more Deadly Top 10s.

'And who's going to be the next Deadly number 1?'

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