Gallery: High-Speed Animal Flight Videos Show Hidden Aerial World
01dueling-sparrows
With good lighting and a little luck, amateur videographers can use inexpensive digital cameras to transform blurred flight into breathtaking glimpses of animal behavior. In that spirit, a Dutch program called Vilegkunstenaars, or [Flight Artists](http://www.flightartists.com/), sent high-speed video tools to amateurs around the world. The challenge: Capture nature in flight. Over the course of a year, the contest drew 460 amateurs who uploaded more than 2,400 slow-motion video clips shot with their complimentary cameras. A jury of scientists, philosophers and video experts then picked their favorites, which can be seen on these pages. The rest can be [watched on Flight Artists](http://www.flightartists.com/videos2/newest). __Above:__ Dueling Sparrows ---------------- Sparrows seem pleasant, but fluttering feathers can hide vicious claw-to-claw combat at feeders. One judge, science philosopher Bas Haring of Leiden University, said in a [press release](http://www.wageningenuniversity.nl/UK/newsagenda/news/P001e_Vliegkunstenaars_EN_.htm) that the “harsh reality unveils the ongoing struggle between these so-called sweet birds.” *Video: [Liset Karman and Cees Keyer](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHPnXmxpKQ0)/Flight Artists*
02somersaulting-fly
Somersaulting Fly ----------------- Before you swat an unsuspecting fly, consider its capacity for beautiful acrobatics. “Research into fruit flies has shown that when trying to escape, they first jump and then topple into flight before eventually gaining control,” said experimental zoologist David Lentink of Wageningen University in the release. “This film illustrates the same behavior in a larger fly, the main difference being that \[this\] fly is exceptionally quick in getting the whole maneuver under control,” he said. *Video: [Joris Schaap and Emile van Wijk](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVgfihgYB2U)/Flight Artists*
03great-tit-dances-in-air
Great Tit Dancing in Air ------------------------ The largest tit bird in the United Kingdom, called the great tit, is a remarkable flying machine. In this clip around a bird feeder, a great tit precisely navigates around a pair of pigeons by intermittently pausing the flapping of its wings. *Video: [Remco Brand and Ansa Fiaz](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K--Z38juuCY)/Flight Artists*
04bee-to-bumblebee-collision
Bee-to-Bumblebee Collision -------------------------- A bed of spring flowers seems to be a calm and organized place for bees to harvest pollen. But as shown in this video, it's really a mad rush. “You can almost hear the bumblebee thinking, ‘Hey Dumbo! Watch where you’re landing,’” said judge Rob van Hattum of Science Center NEMO in the Netherlands in the press release. *Video: [Marjolein van der Stoep](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlFqwVBrvJw)/Flight Artists*
05buzzing-bee
Buzzing Flight -------------- Although mid-air collisions happen, as shown in the previous clip, the flight of a bee can be a graceful affair. *Video: [Iris van der Veen](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcOpExthJF0)/Flight Artists*
06geese-flying-upside-down
Geese Flying Upside-Down ------------------------ Migrating geese not only like to fly in V's, but sometimes they prefer to fly upside down. *Video: [Hans de Koning and Lodewijk van Eekhout](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4j1tKVzicU)/Flight Artists*
07clumsy-longhorn-beetle
Clumsy Longhorn Beetle ---------------------- Count the number of times this persistent yet clumsy longhorn beetle bonks its head on an overhanging twig before flying away. Wired counts three, plus one tangle of the bug’s antennae as a bonus. *Video: [Agnieszka Malinowsk](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVDyu0zz9R0)a/Flight Artists*
08angelic-dove
Angelic Dove ------------ “It is so difficult to get a bird to fly just above the camera in the wild,” said Hattum in the press release. “You can imagine what angel wings would look like. A fabulous achievement in which art crosses into science.” *Video: [Willem Hoebink and Xander van der Sar](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RmaVl4Sw0Y)/Flight Artists*
