{"id":770,"date":"2014-02-10T09:51:12","date_gmt":"2014-02-10T09:51:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/?p=770"},"modified":"2016-10-14T16:16:48","modified_gmt":"2016-10-14T16:16:48","slug":"aerial-acrobatics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/en\/aerial-acrobatics\/","title":{"rendered":"Aerial Acrobatics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, Canada\u2019s athletes are competing in the aerials competition.\u00a0 Skiers from across the country, like Travis Gerrits, Sabrina Gu\u00e9rin, and Melissa Corbo, will be dazzling spectators with flips, spins and jumps.<\/p>\n

In our own backyards, wildlife is just as capable of these amazing stunts.\u00a0 To honour their ability, we\u2019ve chosen three medalists for their amazing acrobatics.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bronze Medal Winner \u2013 Saw Whet Owl<\/b><\/p>\n

\"
Brendan Lally<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Northern Saw Whet Owl is our bronze medalist, chosen for its amazing versatility and the way in which it can find prey.\u00a0 Saw Whet Owls most commonly eat small animals like voles, mice and shrews, but can also catch small insects mid-air, like dragonflies, bees, and spiders.\u00a0 Northern Saw Whet Owls live in areas with dense tree cover, meaning that they spend a lot of their time dodging branches and tree trunks to navigate and find prey.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Silver Medal Winner \u2013 Green Darner (Dragonfly)<\/b><\/p>\n

\"
Mike Ostrowski<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Any dragonfly could have qualified for the silver medal, as these species have an amazing aerial agility.\u00a0 With their four wings placed in the center of their bodies, and their long, aerodynamic frames, the Green Darner can fly forwards or backwards, or hover in place.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Gold Medal Winner \u2013 Chimney Swift<\/b><\/p>\n

\"
Jim McCulloch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Our gold medalist for aerial acrobatics is the Chimney Swift.\u00a0 Like all swifts, the Chimney Swift has long, slender wings that help it achieve abrupt changes in speed and flight direction.\u00a0 Swifts can drink while flying, picking up water with their beaks as the skim over the surface of a lake.\u00a0 They can also bathe mid-air, picking up water as they fly, and using it to clean their feathers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


The Swift uses its acrobatic skill to catch its main prey \u2013 flying insects.\u00a0 While flying, Chimney Swifts can spot and catch dragonflies, bees, blackflies, mayflies, and even spiders on their webs!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dragonflies like the Green Darner can find and catch mosquitoes mid-air, making them a welcome addition to your backyard.\u00a0 It is important to remember that these animals, like many species in Canada, are safe to be around if you respect them. If you try to catch and trap a dragonfly, they may get stressed and try to bite.\u00a0 If you let them be, they will enjoy your company, and the carbon dioxide you give off, as it this draws in mosquitoes for them to eat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, Canada\u2019s athletes are competing in the aerials competition.\u00a0 Skiers from across the country, like Travis Gerrits, Sabrina Gu\u00e9rin, and Melissa Corbo, will be dazzling spectators with flips, spins and…<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[633],"tags":[287,282,284,283,277,285,286],"class_list":["post-770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-canadian-wildlife","tag-aerials","tag-chimney-swift","tag-dragonfly","tag-green-darner","tag-olympics","tag-saw-whet-owl","tag-ski"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=770"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":774,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770\/revisions\/774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cwf-fcf.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}