Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2021, issue 84, Greatest Gliders i Eco Kids Planet Magazine

Hello, Eco Kids. I’m a white-tailed eagle – the UK’s LARGEST bird of prey! There is a burial site on the island of Orkney in Scotland known as the Tomb of the Eagles. This is because the remains of 14 white-tailed eagles were found there, along with thousands of human bones. Researchers believe sea eagles played an important role in ancient Celtic culture… Can you see why? “Majestic, magnificent, big-beaked and beautiful” is how my life-partner describes me. Well, I do have an even broader wingspan than a golden eagle! We are certainly glorious gliders and fantastic fishermen. Our huge talons are perfect for grabbing and our powerful hooked beak is great at snatching prey straight from the water! What’s that you say? You’ve never seen a white-tailed eagle? Hmm, perhaps…

Charlie: I’m in a high forest in Vietnam – though it looks more like a jungle. It’s called a cloud forest, and there is lots of cloudy mist about. The air’s so damp here, my clothes are getting soggy. And it’s the rainy season, so I might get truly soaked. But my biggest fear is that something creepy will suddenly swoop out of the mist above me. Something green, wearing a cape – and after my blood! I’ve heard that vampire flying frogs live around here. Hey, there’s a frog up that tree. Phew – I can’t see any fangs, so I don’t think it’s one of the vampire frogs. Hey, Miss Frog, you’re not a bloodsucker, are you? Frog: Of course not. Blood? Bleurgh! Insects are my favourite meal.…

Autumn Nature Art October is the perfect month for creating some colourful nature art. Collect autumn leaves, spiky acorns, sticks, gluey tree sap or anything else that captures your eye. Use these natural objects to create an animal, a landscape or a magical place. You can stick bits and pieces on the paper or around a standalone base object. Get creative and have lots of fun! Featured on this page are beautiful creations from last year’s competition winners. Eco Kids Planet has teamed up with HEXBUG to offer three lucky readers the chance to win a HEXBUG Dragon! 3 TO WIN! HEXBUG Dragon Rising from the fires of myth and legend, the HEXBUG Dragon is here. This remote-controlled creature projects flames and roars with the onboard LED lights and speakers!…

Many of us would love to be able to move through the air like birds. Mind you, all that flapping looks like hard work. But what if you only had to hold your arms out and the air flowing around them did all the work? Well, Andean condors can fly for over 160 kilometres without flapping their wings. Wheeeeeeee! These large birds often only flap during take-off and when they’re flying near the ground and don’t wish to land. When birds glide, they don’t do much work or use any energy. They take energy from movements of air – called air currents – in the atmosphere. And it’s not just birds that do it. So can some mammals, reptiles, spiders and insects – even wingless insects! Open wide! Almost all…

California condors were almost poisoned to the point of extinction. Luckily, humans stepped in to save these sky-scraping raptors… World wide wings The California condor has the widest wingspan of any bird in the whole of North America – it can measure up to three metres from wing tip to wing tip! These whopping wings are perfectly adapted for soaring over the mountains and savannahs of the USA and Mexico, where these vast vultures live. Wind beneath their wings To fly, condors simply spread their massive wings and launch themselves off steep cliff ledges and rocky perches. Columns of warm air, known as thermals, rise vertically from the hot ground and lift the birds high into the sky – up to 4.6km up! These big birds of prey glide effortlessly…

Wing Tricks American white pelicans are among the champion soaring birds. Like many other birds, pelicans migrate in flocks. They move in a typical V-formation, rarely flapping their wings. They don’t have to. When one bird raises its magnificent wings, the long separated feathers at their tips create mini tornadoes. These give a lift to the next bird in line, helping it glide for longer periods and save energy. What un-beak-lievable team work!…

Eastern barred bandicoots are back from the edge of extinction. Thirty years ago, there were only about 150 of these long-nosed Australian animals left. After three decades of conservation work, there are now about 1,500! Teams created predator-free sites for the bandicoots and some were moved to fox-free islands. (Many animals prey on them, including snakes and owls.) They’re still endangered but no longer almost extinct in the wild. Bandicoots look like rodents but are actually marsupials. Unusually, their pouches open backwards. It stops dirt getting in when they dig for food in the ground!…

My next creature definitely has wings. In fact, it has the planet’s widest bird wingspan, up to a whopping 3.5 metres. But it’s a bird of such legend and superstition that it’s perfect for one of my weirdness reports! An albatross can spend up to half its life gliding over the open ocean. They can travel 16,000 kilometres in a single journey and can fly around the world in just 46 days. Despite that, they don’t use much energy! They rarely flap those mega-wings – instead, they glide. With such abilities, it’s no wonder that sailors of old thought they had special powers. Some sailors thought an albatross brought bad luck, but the birds were mostly believed to bring good fortune. If sailors saw one following their ship for a…