Join us as we countdown the 50 Top Natural History Moments for #EarthDay

#Stayinandexplore #EarthDay2020 https://www.bbcearth.com/blog/?article=the-top-natural-history-moments

50. Dance moves, construction skills and no problems at all with commitment issues. The picathartes bird mates for life and has been consistently doing so for the past 44 million years. What’s their secret? #EarthDay

49. Not for the faint of heart. A group of wildebeest learn an important lesson about the dangers of casual drinking. Especially taking a tipple from a river that is teeming with hungry crocodiles. And yet they still go back for more.
#EarthDay

48. If you thought @GameOfThrones was brutal, wait until you see the final moments of this long-established ant colony invaded by a rival group. It climaxes in the queen getting legless. But not in a good way.
#EarthDay

47. Rutting on a sheer cliff face would seem to be treacherous enough. But that’s what the large Himalayan goat called the markhor engages in every year. A nimble, hungry snow leopard only adds a further layer of danger to the whole enterprise.
#EarthDay

46. You’ll find one in every workplace. That joker who gains your confidence, sneakily distracts you and then swipes your lunch out of the fridge. In the Kalahari, the drongo bird ingeniously gets a free meal from some unsuspecting meerkats.
#EarthDay

45. Ever wondered why wolves howl? This could be one of the reasons. A young female and a mysterious stranger. When their tryst is discovered unexpectedly, the young pair finds that, quite literally, love will keep them together. Painfully.
#EarthDay

44. Here are some more sexy shenanigans as a huge group of humble grunion fish perform their extraordinary mating regime involving surfing, jumping, drilling and beaching. Who ever said that love was easy?
#EarthDay

43. The Spy in the Wild robo-cameras have unearthed a number of unbelievable sights over the years. But who would have ever suspected that an adorable robotic hippo would witness a full spa treatment on its companions?
#EarthDay

42. Dinosaurs aren’t known for their subtlety or good manners, so try to act surprised when you see a male Majungasaurus not only fend off a feeding rival in a fairly brutal way, but then decide to enjoy this slain rival for dessert.
#EarthDay

41. Its might versus bite as a burly Spinosaurus does battle with the awesome jaws of a Carcharodontosaurus over the chance to gorge on a nearby carcass. Will power or technique prevail?
#EarthDay

40. If you were going to pick an animal parent to be adopted by, you could do far worse than the penguin. As well as studiously looking after their own chicks, they will often do battle over the chance to raise any orphans in the flock.
#EarthDay

39. At 6m long and four tons in weight, the enormous elephant seals are not a mammal to be trifled with. Especially if you park your car slightly too close to where they’re sleeping.
#EarthDay

38. Many of us are prone to exaggeration when it comes to online dating. Well, the six-plumed bird of paradise goes the extra mile, by not only painstakingly cleaning his display area, but really throwing some amazing shapes on the dance floor.
#EarthDay

37. If you were going to select something delicious for your tea, why would you pick a giant swordfish with lethal barbs lining its snout? That’s a question you need to ask the Spinosaurus.
#EarthDay

36. As we’ve recently witnessed, the bird of paradise is an impressive mover and shaker when it comes to meeting a lady friend. Sample even more of their extraordinary balletic skills in one of nature’s most eye-catching events.
#EarthDay

35. More outstanding motherhood on display as the female Oviraptorid valiantly guards her nest from a variety of pests, predators and annoying passers-by. But there are some hazards that even the most vigilant parent can’t overcome.
#EarthDay

34. Shamefully, the DIY skills of this orangutan, who finds a discarded saw in the jungle, are far superior to ours. And if, like us, you’ve dreamed of seeing a robot ape doing a bit of woodworking, now is your chance.
#EarthDay

33. You can keep your Avengers! We’ve discovered a spider with almost as many superpowers as legs. They can leap, they have incredible vision and they can plot 3D plans of attack. It’s like they’re some kind of spider-based superhero.
#EarthDay

32. Pity the poor flying fish who, in order to escape predators in the water, have evolved to leap from the sea and glide through the air using their fins. Unfortunately, they must also deal with predators that are lurking in their flightpath.
#EarthDay

31. Are you barnacle gosling tough? This fluffy, plucky seabird has to take a leap of faith from a cliff top to reach its parents 400 feet below, bouncing off jagged rocks as it goes. It’s like the Steve Backshall of the goose world.
#EarthDay

30. We’ve all tried to impress a potential mate with some amazing moves. For this spider, the odds are even more important as if his dance isn't appreciated, there’s a really good chance he’ll be the main course for the watching female spider.
#EarthDay

29. Despite having one of the coolest names in nature, the hot rod ant doesn't have a happy life. If they stand still, they’ll be fried in the desert heat. Then there’s the sneaky antlion and his ‘cone of death’ which is not as fun as it sounds.
#EarthDay

28. You can run, but you can’t hide. Especially if you’re a crab who might think a rock pool at low tide is the perfect place to avoid trouble. But they didn’t plan on this octopus suddenly deciding to stroll from pool to pool.
#EarthDay

27. Surely the bowerbird is the art student of the avian world - trying to impress with their weird movements, colourful attire and generous use of props. And, as art students know, that effort doesn’t always guarantee a decent grade.
#EarthDay

26. A cat's eyesight, close-up, is not all that great, so how do they trap their prey? It’s all down to some pretty nifty whisker manipulation.
#EarthDay

25. So you're the world’s largest land carnivore and think any other animal is fair game? Not when that animal is a wall of blubber, impenetrable hide and enormous tusks. This polar bear soon learns an important lesson: never mess with a walrus.
#EarthDay

24. But when polar bears select prey that’s a slightly more manageable size, the results can be surprisingly effective, pulling off some amazing manoeuvres and formidable hunting techniques to trap a plump, delicious seal.
#EarthDay

23. Like some ultra-violent version of the shepherding show One Man and His Dog, a pack of wolves work in tandem to pick off a bison. But when you’re dealing with North America’s largest land animal, you can expect a few challenges.
#EarthDay

22. It’s no bigger than a thumbnail, but it’s able to produce and shoot silk over a 25m stretch and NO ONE KNOWS HOW! It’s the incredible Darwin Bark spider that dangles a delicate web over a river using a bridging line of its own construction.
#EarthDay

21. Cat communication is far more complex than you might imagine. They appear to have two differing strands of language - one for each other and one for us, their owners. Which seems a bit rude - but then, they are cats after all.
#EarthDay

20. This poor creature has been injured by a poacher’s snare, but trying to provide medical relief to alleviate its suffering is a dangerous proposition.
#EarthDay

19. A caterpillar, trying to chomp some balsam plants, they might not expect this kind of self-defence. There’s a reason the plants are known as ‘touch-me-not’.
#EarthDay

18. Cheetahs are built for speed and as a result they are a little fragile and can’t tackle larger, heavier prey on their own. That’s why they have learnt that hunting in a pack is more efficient, as this ostrich learns to its cost.
#EarthDay

17. You would think a creature called a catfish would have a certain amount of kinship with a big cat, but the peace treaty between them completely breaks down as one smart, juvenile leopard learns how to wrangle this rather slippery foe.
#EarthDay

16. Do you ever get the feeling you aren’t popular? This astonishing shoal of sardines can’t seem to catch a break as a growing group of deadly sea predators line up to pick them off.
#EarthDay

15. Watch the plucky mudskipper, a fish that breathes air and spends a lot of its time out of the water, seek a mate by leaping, in a fairly ungainly fashion, high in the air like some filth-splattered stage diver.
#EarthDay

14. Ever wondered how your dog is able to grab a frisbee or ball out of mid-air so effectively? You can find out the answer by watching this video of an adorable puppy. If only we could discover the solution to all of life’s secrets in this way.
#EarthDay

13. Remember the time a national treasure startled a rare jungle creature? Sir David Attenborough even jokingly calls his new pal a ‘giant compost heap’ but the sloth appears to be unmoved by the entire encounter.
#EarthDay

12. This is just exhausting. These wolves need to work as a dedicated hunting unit. Hares are fast, agile and annoyingly spry. All the wolves can do is try to keep up as it runs, leaps and evades them like some long-eared parkour participant.
#EarthDay

11. The equivalent of a nightclub car park on a Saturday night after closing time – here are two massive male kangaroos engaging in some random acts of pouch-punching, crotch-kicking, eye-gouging and neck-knocking.
#EarthDay

10. Emperor penguin chicks form an adorable, fluffy barrier to this potential predator as they make their way to the sea. Watch out for a cameo from a particularly feisty Adelie!
#EarthDay

9. Have you ever been to an escape room? Shoved in an enclosed space and forced to engage in a number of puzzles to get out? This tiny penguin has escape room issues of their own as they dodge and flit from a huge leopard seal.
#EarthDay

8. A wild European hamster bites off a bit more than it can chew after plunging its head inside a jar containing delicious candle wax, while forgetting that it has a vast cheek surface area. Hilarious… if a little embarrassing (for the hamster).
#EarthDay