These ferocious little relatives of dragonflies have been gorging on mosquitoes and other small flying insects for at least 300 million years. While they are often seen clinging to rocks, reeds and other structures near water, they cannot walk at all. Their legs are...
Interesting Nature Facts #146 – Prairie Falcon
Prairie falcons may look very similar peregrine falcons and do share a common extinct ancestor, but live in very different habitats and rarely come in contact with each other. The prairie falcon prefers nesting in the hot dry deserts and scrublands and ca sometimes be...
Interesting Nature Facts #145 – Drone Flies
While bees are the current darlings of the invertebrate world, drone flies deserve a lot of credit as well. Not only do these cousins to mosquitoes, houseflies and horseflies live in almost complete obscurity in the public eye, these bee-mimicking insects play an...
Interesting Nature Facts #144 – Eastern Kingbird
The Eastern kingbird mostly eats flying insects during the summer in North America and maintains a breeding territory that it defends vigorously against all other kingbirds. In the winter along the Amazon, however, it has a completely different lifestyle: it travels...
Interesting Nature Facts #143 – Dragonflies
Roughly 300 million years ago, dragonflies were the among first insects to take to the air. While modern dragonflies have wingspans of only two to five inches, fossilized dragonflies show that they once had wingspans of nearly two feet! VISIT THE DRAGONFLIES GALLERY...
Interesting Nature Facts #142 – Monarch Butterflies
Monarch butterflies use thermals (updrafts of sun-warmed air) to help them ride air currents as they migrate across the United States to Mexico and back. MORE PHOTOS OF BUTTERFLIES MORE INTERESTING NATURE FACTS Interesting Nature Facts is a new series of nature photos...
Interesting Nature Facts #141 – Downy Woodpecker
The smallest woodpecker in North America? That would be the downy woodpecker, which barely weighs over one ounce, and can be found in every state and province of the continental United States and Canada. Interesting note: this tiny woodpecker has special feathers...
Interesting Nature Facts #140 – Sandhill Crane
Sandhill Crane! Welcome to the next installment of a new series of nature photos that will be short & sweet, and all about the native and naturalized wildlife that is all around us with just one or two interesting nature facts that you might not know about. If you...
Interesting Nature Facts #139 – Bison
The American bison stands more than six feet tall and can weigh up to 2,000 pounds, with a massive head and large, humped shoulders. Even at this size it can run up to 35 - 40 miles an hour, for short distances. MORE PHOTOS OF BISON, GOATS AND SHEEP MORE INTERESTING...
Interesting Nature Facts #138 – Honeybees
If a honeybee keeps-waggle dancing in favor of an unpopular nesting site, other workers will head-butt her in an attempt to help the colony reach a consensus. VISIT THE INVERTEBRATES GALLERY MORE INTERESTING NATURE FACTS Interesting Nature Facts is a series about the...
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