Nature being beautiful
March 22, 2014 5:34 PM Subscribe
Accipiters are awesome.
posted by rtha at 5:54 PM on March 22, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by rtha at 5:54 PM on March 22, 2014 [2 favorites]
Cool, I wouldn't have expected to see their legs positioned forward like that. Seems more like a bullet shape to leave them back like they usually are in flight.
posted by yoga at 5:56 PM on March 22, 2014
posted by yoga at 5:56 PM on March 22, 2014
"If you look at her eyes, you can see her semi-transparent nictitating membranes death."
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 6:01 PM on March 22, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 6:01 PM on March 22, 2014 [3 favorites]
Flappy bird hard mode.
posted by idiopath at 6:03 PM on March 22, 2014 [12 favorites]
posted by idiopath at 6:03 PM on March 22, 2014 [12 favorites]
"If you look at her eyes, you can see her death? *Your* death."
posted by LonnieK at 6:17 PM on March 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by LonnieK at 6:17 PM on March 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
I'm not fond of the editing (which practically dares us not to find it awesome at the end), but that eagle is aces.
posted by JHarris at 6:17 PM on March 22, 2014
posted by JHarris at 6:17 PM on March 22, 2014
Stupid tags- I meant "death" in the universal sense.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 6:18 PM on March 22, 2014
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 6:18 PM on March 22, 2014
That's pretty amazing that she can detect and deal with the transparent tube on the fly, as it were.
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:22 PM on March 22, 2014
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:22 PM on March 22, 2014
And if you look at it from the goshawk's perspective in nature, it's the speeder run in Return of the Jedi.
posted by Bora Horza Gobuchul at 6:26 PM on March 22, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by Bora Horza Gobuchul at 6:26 PM on March 22, 2014 [5 favorites]
I like when the video's played backwards and it looks like she's getting sucked up into the tube.
My only complaint about the goshawk is that there's not another, completely different, bird named the gosh-auk
posted by aubilenon at 7:00 PM on March 22, 2014 [2 favorites]
My only complaint about the goshawk is that there's not another, completely different, bird named the gosh-auk
posted by aubilenon at 7:00 PM on March 22, 2014 [2 favorites]
There aren't enough wide-angle normal speed shots. I have the same probably with most pornos.
posted by mullacc at 7:40 PM on March 22, 2014
posted by mullacc at 7:40 PM on March 22, 2014
Perfect for navigating the internet. *It's a series of tubes*
posted by blue_beetle at 7:57 PM on March 22, 2014
posted by blue_beetle at 7:57 PM on March 22, 2014
If you get a chance go to a hawk kettle site. I got to go one on the shore of Lake Erie where a cliff face created a warm updraft (thermal) so migrating birds of prey would circle up in the hot air to efficiently gain height for their journey. There were hundreds of them and many different species. There were researchers doing tagging who were catching birds with decoys and mist nets. They brought birds out to the crowd at the public viewing and site and briefly demonstrated so of the cool abilities like the ability of their heads to remain in one spot while their bodies twist wildly. It is very very cool to see in the flesh.
posted by srboisvert at 7:57 PM on March 22, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by srboisvert at 7:57 PM on March 22, 2014 [2 favorites]
The timing of the hawk closing its wings in approach to the hole makes me think of when I'm running and I see an obstacle (like a puddle) ahead I'll need to leap over. I try to adjust my stride so that one foot will land right before the obstacle giving me the best chance to leap across the thing. It's awkward and probably looks as such. And it's on land.
Hawk is monumentally more graceful.
posted by cman at 8:18 PM on March 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
Hawk is monumentally more graceful.
posted by cman at 8:18 PM on March 22, 2014 [1 favorite]
yoga: Cool, I wouldn't have expected to see their legs positioned forward like that. Seems more like a bullet shape to leave them back like they usually are in flight.
Seems like the idea there is that it's extending its feet to grab onto something if necessary, because its wings aren't doing anything to support it while they're folded in. In the tighter openings, it's not so much flying through as briefly landing and jumping away.
posted by baf at 8:38 PM on March 22, 2014
Seems like the idea there is that it's extending its feet to grab onto something if necessary, because its wings aren't doing anything to support it while they're folded in. In the tighter openings, it's not so much flying through as briefly landing and jumping away.
posted by baf at 8:38 PM on March 22, 2014
It's like bird parkour. I like how at the end of the clip Borza Horza Gobuchul linked, the narrator says something like "scientists have examined this footage and concluded that no aircraft invented is anything like this!" No shit! Good job, scientists!
posted by axiom at 8:53 PM on March 22, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by axiom at 8:53 PM on March 22, 2014 [3 favorites]
Fantastic! Thank you.
posted by noaccident at 9:09 PM on March 22, 2014
posted by noaccident at 9:09 PM on March 22, 2014
yoga: "Cool, I wouldn't have expected to see their legs positioned forward like that. Seems more like a bullet shape to leave them back like they usually are in flight."
Birds do all kinds of interesting things with their legs while in flight, some of them tuck them waaaaaaay up and in to turn themselves very aerodynamic; others let their legs just dangle loose while they fly, others let them stream behind. Some tuck them sort-of back, others tuck them in and up, sometimes so far that they can be hard to see! And of course if they're getting near landing/the ground/prey, they get busy with them doing all sorts of different things.
The recent "EARTHFLIGHT" documentary, which has a lot of astonishing shots of birds in flight and on long migrations, they talked sometimes about the birds' legs and what they do with them in flight, when fighting in the air, when diving for different kinds of prey, when landing on branches, etc. I had not realized before that that birds' legs are so interesting and diverse. :)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:20 PM on March 22, 2014 [7 favorites]
Birds do all kinds of interesting things with their legs while in flight, some of them tuck them waaaaaaay up and in to turn themselves very aerodynamic; others let their legs just dangle loose while they fly, others let them stream behind. Some tuck them sort-of back, others tuck them in and up, sometimes so far that they can be hard to see! And of course if they're getting near landing/the ground/prey, they get busy with them doing all sorts of different things.
The recent "EARTHFLIGHT" documentary, which has a lot of astonishing shots of birds in flight and on long migrations, they talked sometimes about the birds' legs and what they do with them in flight, when fighting in the air, when diving for different kinds of prey, when landing on branches, etc. I had not realized before that that birds' legs are so interesting and diverse. :)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:20 PM on March 22, 2014 [7 favorites]
Speaking of legs, I'm not exactly sure where I thought the legs would be, but I was shocked the first time I saw a picture of a Osprey right before making a kill. I didn't expect them to be able to bend this way.
It's just a collection of sharp, pointy bits barreling down on its prey.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 11:40 PM on March 22, 2014 [5 favorites]
It's just a collection of sharp, pointy bits barreling down on its prey.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 11:40 PM on March 22, 2014 [5 favorites]
Of course, they cut the earlier scenes with the elephants and marsupials.
posted by mecran01 at 12:37 AM on March 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by mecran01 at 12:37 AM on March 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
It's just a collection of sharp, pointy bits barreling down on its prey.
Yeah, not so much birds as sets of terrifying talons with awesome winged delivery systems.
posted by Segundus at 3:26 AM on March 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
Yeah, not so much birds as sets of terrifying talons with awesome winged delivery systems.
posted by Segundus at 3:26 AM on March 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
Osprey feet are one of the coolest things ever.
posted by gingerbeer at 8:55 AM on March 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by gingerbeer at 8:55 AM on March 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
Love the hyper-serious look of focus on this hawk's face. Reminds me of the way cats look, all predators, really. Beautiful (and a little scary) indeed!
Also, I'm pretty sure this is what my face looks like when I'm pushing a cart at the grocery store.
posted by valkane at 9:34 AM on March 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
Also, I'm pretty sure this is what my face looks like when I'm pushing a cart at the grocery store.
posted by valkane at 9:34 AM on March 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
Thanks for all the extra awesome links, Eyebrows McGee. This'll be this afternoon's rabbit hawk hole.
posted by yoga at 9:45 AM on March 23, 2014
posted by yoga at 9:45 AM on March 23, 2014
Hawks can also fly right into a chicken coop and proceed to decapitate and consume one of its residents while the others stand as far away as possible screaming chicken screams at the top of their lungs. Truly nature is wondrous!
posted by Camofrog at 10:23 AM on March 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Camofrog at 10:23 AM on March 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
Previously on MF, an eagle owl in slow motion. The stare!
posted by jjj606 at 1:41 PM on March 23, 2014
posted by jjj606 at 1:41 PM on March 23, 2014
So very awesome. Freaking majestic. My god is Darwin.
I only wish we had seen Ellie hit whatever prize he was placing in front of that hole.
posted by spitbull at 4:55 PM on March 23, 2014
I only wish we had seen Ellie hit whatever prize he was placing in front of that hole.
posted by spitbull at 4:55 PM on March 23, 2014
Very cool.
posted by homunculus at 5:58 PM on March 24, 2014
posted by homunculus at 5:58 PM on March 24, 2014
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posted by Sys Rq at 5:43 PM on March 22, 2014 [3 favorites]