ABOUT
BIRD FLIGHT
 
 Introduction
 Teachers Guide

NATURE'S FLYING MACHINES
 
 Insects  Birds  Bats
 Pterosaurs  Fish
 Wing Structures

HOW BIRDS FLY
 
 Gliding
 Soaring
 Flapping
 Migration

FUN PROJECTS
 
 Seed Helicopter
 Build a Bird

RESOURCES
 
 Ornithopter Zone
 Web Site Links
 

 



































Hatchetfish

Often overlooked, this may be the most recent group to evolve flapping-wing flight. You’ve probably heard of the so-called "flying fish", which glides over the ocean, dipping its tail in the water for propulsion. Because it relies on the water for propulsion, the flying fish isn't really capable of powered flight.

There is another fish, called the freshwater hatchetfish, which may have a more developed flight adaptation. The nine species of hatchetfish inhabit the rivers of tropical South America. They often leap out of the water to catch their flying insect prey. Some books say the hatchetfish can rapidly beat its pectoral fins to propel itself through the air. The body of the fish has a deep, keeled shape, which is said to contain powerful muscles that attach to the front fins. Other sources say the hatchetfish only skims along the surface of the water, using its caudal (tail) fin, or that it merely jumps from the water like any other fish.

 

.