Animals take flight in ‘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 – taking flight. This phenomenon is captured in greater detail than ever before in “Supernature – Wild Flyers.” The series airs on Arizona PBS on Wednesdays at 9 p.m., starting Dec. 11. 

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.

Dec. 11: “Masters of the Sky”

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. Animals that appear in this episode include the peregrine falcon, Japanese rhinoceros beetle, sparrowhawk and the booted racket-tailed hummingbird, among others.

Dec. 18: “Crowded Skies”

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. Animals featured in the final episode include the gannet bird, African skimmer, kingbird, glasswing butterfly and many more.