In this tangle of Her long tail ivy, a wren has helps her made a nest. balance. A good view The top of a wall is a popular vantage point for cats. Instinctively, this feline feels safer high up, away Ivy from predators. She can watch for prey, too—look out little wren! Moss Mosses don’t grow from seeds. Instead, they produce tiny spores. These cells are then carried off by the breeze. When spores land 49 on damp ground, tree bark, or a shaded bit of wall, new moss grows.
Birds of prey ON THE ROOFTOPS Peregrines sometimes nest on Above the streets of towns and tall buildings. They dive-bomb cities, rooftops and other high spots can be smaller birds at speeds of more safe places for urban animals. They rest or than 200 mph (322 kph)! explore while people bustle below. Far from home Sometimes pets escape and learn to thrive in unexpected places. Wild rose-ringed parakeets come from tropical Africa and Asia, but they survive happily in cities such as London. Scampering around Rich pickings Racoons are skillful climbers, Racoons and foxes are not picky with strong claws for scaling eaters. That’s why they can trees. In towns they scamper onto be common in towns, where roofs, ledges, and windowsills, in there are food scraps and trash search of food. to be raided after dark. 50
Sheltering animals Pigeon ock dove Some bats, such as pipistrelles, will squeeze themselves into holes and cracks under rooftops. Here, they shelter or hibernate during winter. Urban cliffs R City pigeons huddle on high ledges, just as their wild relatives—rock doves—perch on cliffs. It is safer up there, away from predators on the ground—and easier to spot food! A fox’s bushy tail is often called a brush. After dark Foxes are most active at dusk Red foxes can be seen in some and dawn. cities when the sun goes down. They jump onto walls, scramble up fire escapes, and creep along fences, using their tails for balance. 51
NOCTURNAL ANIMALS Night falls and nocturnal animals begin to Fireflies stir. As they fly through the air or scamper up branches, the darkness helps these creatures hide from predators and sneak up on prey. Fireflies are spots of brightness in the night sky. These small beetles use chemicals inside their bodies to make light. They flash brightly to attract a mate. Flying squirrel Many nocturnal animals have huge eyes with wide pupils, for letting in more light. Large, cupped ears can pick up the slightest sound. Townsend’s big-eared bat A keen sense of smell helps animals find food. Special features Opossum Nocturnal animals are active at night and rest during the day. The have evolved special traits, which help them find food and avoid predators in the dark. Whiskers help nocturnal mammals feel their way through the darkness.
A barn ionwtlo’stahledaarriknngeissss—oegvoeonduitncdaenr sfninowd Owls prey Owls have large eyes for hunting An owl’s head can rotate . in the dark. Their eyes don’t move three-quarters of the like ours do—instead, owls must way around its body! swivel their heads to take a good look around. Barn owl Eastern Great screech horned owl owl Orb-weaver spiders Orb-weaver spiders usually spin their webs at night to trap nocturnal insects. Some species tear them down at dawn and eat the silky threads so predators won’t spot them.
BATS Bats flit across the night sky on Megabats tend to be their agile wings. These flying larger than microbats, mammals play an important part with bigger eyes for in keeping ecosystems healthy seeing in the dark. around the world. Bat groups Bats can be divided into two groups—megabats and microbats. Common pipistrelle Megabats feed on fruit, nectar, and pollen. Microbats eat insects and The pipistrelle feeds on gnats, use echolocation to navigate. flies, and mosquitoes across most away. of Europe and North Africa. It can easily fly feast on up to 3,000 insects can in one night! down so they Bats hang upside Roosting Dinnertime Bats often live and rest Some medium-sized microbats together in large groups. This feed on small frogs and lizards as is called roosting. Bats roost well as insects. In Central and South America, vampire bats sip blood from in dark crevices, such as in caves and trees, and under birds, cattle, and horses. rooftops, hanging upside down. 54
Giant fgloyldinegn-fcorxowned Bumblebee bat This is one of the world’s biggest This bat from Thailand is the size of a bats. Its wingspan is wider than bumblebee! It’s the smallest mammal in your outstretched arms! It lives in the world, weighing no more than half a the Philippines and feasts on figs. teaspoon of sugar. Bumblebee bats can hover like hummingbirds (see page 21). can fly. Megabats are useful pollinators. Some fruit trees, such as bananas and PollinationBats that are the only mammals mangos, are pollinated by megabats as they flit from tree to tree, supping nectar from the blossom. Echolocation Saguaro cacti flowers bloom for one night only. Microbats send out high-pitched They are pollinated by sounds, which bounce back off lesser long-nosed bats. objects around them. The echoes 55 help bats find their way and locate their insect prey.
First quarter Waxing gibbous Half of the sunlit More than half of the portion of the moon is illuminated side of the moon is in view. We see a visible. It is still waxing. half-moon. Waxing crescent A thin crescent is visible in the sky. It is waxing, which means it is getting bigger each night. The expression “once in a blue moon” comes from the rare event of two full moons in one month. New moon orbit of the Earth in just under a month. The moon seems to change shape as it orbits (moves around) the Earth. Actually, it is just The moon is lined a full up between the sun and the Earth. The side facing Earth is in darkness, so we can’t see the moon at all. MOON PHASESThe moon makes our view that is changing, as the sun lights up different parts of the moon’s surface. 56
Waning gibbous Third quarter Waning crescent More than half of the Half of the illuminated A thin crescent is illuminated side of the moon is portion of the moon is in visible. It is waning visible. It is waning, or getting view. This phase is the opposite side compared night by night. smaller, now. with the first quarter. Full moon Our view is of the entire sunlit side of the moon. Every three years or so, there is a second full moon in a month. Lunar eclipse When the Earth lines up between the sun and the moon, it casts a shadow over the moon’s surface, which makes areSupermoonThereeightdistinct phases the moon look red. of the moon to spot in the When a full moon happens at the night sky. closest point to Earth in the moon’s orbit, it looks especially big and bright. We call this a supermoon. 57
CONSTELLATIONS Star Finding We call clusters of bright stars constellations. Constellations can help us People once used them to map out the night recognize individual stars. The sky, to navigate, and to track the time of year. North Star, or Polaris, can be found by tracing a straight Here are some constellations to look for. line from the Big Dipper. North Star A different view Sailors once Ursa Minor used the North The Northern and Southern Star’s height to Hemispheres (the halves of the Earth) figure out their position at sea. have different views of the sky. The constellations appear in different TmheanAymnccyoitenhnsitcteaGlllrabeteeiikonsngsnsaa. mfteerd places, or are nowhere to be seen! This is a section of the northern sky. Ssokuythern Crux Boötes This constellation’s name means “the herdsman.” It contains one Teapot of the brightest stars in the night Sagittarius sky, Arcturus, which blazes a red-orange color. Some constellations, such as Sagittarius, can be seen on the other side of the world during certain months. Scorpius Canis Major Capricornus Libra
Gemini Cancer Corona Borealis Aries Andromeda Northern sky The Big Dipper Ursa Major Pegasus Perseus Ursa Major, or the Great Bear, is Cepheus the largest constellation in the northern sky. Its brightest stars form an asterism, or a group of stars within a constellation, called the Big Dipper. The Sickle Equatorial sky Leo Cassiopeia Virgo The bright stars of Leo were thought to look like a lion. Leo’s head and shoulders form an asterism called The Sickle. Orion Hydra Pisces Taurus 59
GLOSSARY air pressure ecosystem global warming Weight of air pushing An environment and all the An increase in Earth’s against objects living things within it that temperatures over a long depend on each other for period of time airborne food, pollination, and more insect Carried by the air environment Living thing with a body atmosphere Everything that surrounds made up of three parts— us. Home to plants a head, middle, and Layer of gases around and animals end section a planet Equator mammal bird of prey Imaginary line around Warm-blooded animal, with Bird that hunts other the middle of the Earth, a backbone and fur or hair, animals for food between the North and that usually gives birth to South Pole babies rather than lays eggs cell fertile microbe Basic building block of all living things Suitable for growing things Tiny organism, such as a bacterium, that can often constellation gas only be seen with a microscope Group of stars that form a Substance that has no pattern in the sky fixed shape, such as oxygen in the air deciduous Tree that loses its leaves in winter 60
navigation pollination season How an animal finds its How flowering Period of similar weather way around plants reproduce caused by Earth’s position in its orbit around the sun nocturnal pollution seed Active at night Harmful substances in the environment, such as a gas Beginning of a new plant, nutrient or particles that make the air encased in a protective cover less healthy Chemical used by living species things to help them grow predator and stay healthy Group of similar animals or Animal that hunts plants. For example, all dogs organism other animals for food are a single species Living thing prey venomous particle Animal that is eaten by Type of creature that another animal releases a harmful Tiny part of something, such substance through as dust or a fragment rainforest a bite or sting of pollen Tall forest with a lot of rain water vapor photosynthesis reproduce Water in the form Process plants use to make of a gas their food When a living thing produces young 61
INDEX chlorophyll 33 G chrysalises 17 A cliffs 46–47 gases 8 climbing plants 48–49 ginkgo trees 39 aeroplankton 11 clouds 5, 42–43 global warming 9 aerosols 9 constellations 58–59 golden wattles 39 air 8–9 gravity 20 anteaters 41 D ants 7, 18, 29 H aphids 11, 29 damselflies 10 arboreal animals 30–31 dawn chorus 25 hemispheres 58, 59 atmosphere 5, 8 deciduous trees 32–33 honey 14–15 dragonflies 12 hummingbirds 21, 26 B E I baobab trees 39 bark 28, 30, 31 echolocation 55 ice crystals 42, 43 bats 35, 51, 52, 54–55 eclipses, lunar 57 insects 7, 10–19, 28, 29, bees 7, 11, 14–15, 32 eggs 4, 13, 15, 16, 26, 40, 47 beetles 12 32–33, 40, 48–49 bioluminescence 52 F birds 7, 20–27, 30, 32–33, 35, J fireflies 52 40, 47, 49, 51 flies 12 Japanese cherry trees 39 birds of prey 47, 50, 53 flight 20–21 birdsong 4, 24–25 flocks 20 K blossom 32, 39 flowers 4, 6–7, 14, 18, 19, 35, branches 31, 32–33, 40 kapok trees 38 butterflies 4, 7, 16–19, 46 36, 39, 47, 48, 55 koalas 30 fossil fuels 9 C foxes 50, 51 L frogs 40 carbon dioxide 9, 33 fruit 33, 36–37 ladybugs 13 caterpillars 16–17, 18, 19 fungi 10, 29 leaves 29, 30, 31, 32–33, chestnuts 37 38–41 62
lichen 28 P silkworms 19 lizards 46 silver-birch trees 39 locusts 13 perfumed flowers 4, 7, 19 sloths 40 photosynthesis 9, 33 snakes 41 M pine martens 31 spiders 5, 11, 48, 53 pollen/pollination 7, 9, 13, 14, spores 10, 49 metamorphosis 16–17 squirrels 31, 33 mice 28 32, 35, 55 stars 58–59 microbes 10 pollution 9 sugar maples 38 migrations 16, 22–23 pupae 17 sun 6–7, 8, 10, 22, 44, 45 monarch butterflies 16–17 sunlight 33, 40, 41, 44, 45 monkey-puzzle trees 38 R monkeys 41 T moon phases 56–57 racoons 50 mosquitoes 13 rain 40, 41 thermals 10 moss 49 rainbows 44–45 thrift 46 moths 16, 17, 18–19, 46 rain forests 38, 40–41 trees 4, 26–39 murmurations 21 redwoods 38 refraction 45 V N reptiles 7, 41, 46 rock samphire 46 vines 40, 41, 48 navigation 7, 22, 58 rocks 46–47 nests 4, 15, 22, 26–27, 28, 30, rooftops 50–51 W roosting 54 31, 49 roseroot 47 walls 48–49 nuts 37 Rufous Horneros 27 weavers 26, 27 wind 9, 33, 35 O S woodpeckers 30 oaks 39 sap 29 owls 53 seabirds 47 oxygen 8, 9, 33, 38 seasons 6, 22, 32–33 ozone layer 8 seeds 34–37 63
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Zoë would like to thank: Super-editor Kat Teece for Sander Meertins (tc). 26 Alamy Stock Photo: William Leaman bringing all of this together, Philip Armstrong for his (tc); Kristo Robert (crb). 27 Alamy Stock Photo: Prakash excellent physics advice, and Alice Williams for being Chandra (crb). Dorling Kindersley: Natural History Museum, an all-round fantastic agent. London (cb). Dreamstime.com: Fazle Abbas (cr). 28 123RF. com: Sergio_Ksv (c). 29 Alamy Stock Photo: Greg C Grace (bl). DK would like to thank: Marie Greenwood for her Dreamstime.com: Hudakore (cra); Ievgenii Tryfonov (tl). 30 editorial help, Polly Goodman for proofreading the 123RF.com: Alein (crb); Eric Isselee / isselee (bl). Fotolia: Eric book, Helen Peters for the index, and the publishing Isselee (c); maxcom (cra). 31 123RF.com: Eric Isselee / isselee team at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, for their advice (cra). Dorling Kindersley: British Wildlife Centre, Surrey, UK about plants. (cl). Dreamstime.com: Isselee (tl). Fotolia: Eric Isselee (crb). 35 Alamy Stock Photo: Konrad Wothe / naturepl.com (tr); Janet The publisher would like to thank the following for their kind Griffin-Scott (cl). 36 Dreamstime.com: Mahira (tc). 37 Alamy permission to reproduce their photographs: Stock Photo: www.pqpictures.co.uk (tr). 38 Alamy Stock Photo: Clynt Garnham (cb). Dreamstime.com: Aoldman (c); Melinda (Key: a-above; b-below/bottom; c-centre; f-far; l-left; r-right; Fawver (tc). Getty Images / iStock: Nirian (ca). 39 Alamy Stock t-top) Photo: Stephanie Jackson - Aust wildflower collection (crb); Thorsten Negro / imageBROKER (cl); Frank Teigler / Premium 4 123RF.com: Vasiliy Vishnevskiy (cb). Alamy Stock Photo: Tim Stock Photography GmbH (ca); Frank Sommariva / Plowden (cr). Shutterstock.com: Lucid Formation (clb). 6 Alamy imageBROKER (c); Alex Segre (cra). Dreamstime.com: Stock Photo: imageBROKER (cla). 7 Dorling Kindersley: Enticksnap (cla). 40 Alamy Stock Photo: Kalmi / Panther Natural History Museum, London (ca). Fotolia: Eric Isselee (c). Media GmbH (cl); Anton Sorokin (bl); Nodramallama (tr); 10 Dreamstime.com: Corinazone (ca). 12 Alamy Stock Photo: Glenn Bartley / All Canada Photos (crb). 41 Alamy Stock All Canada Photos (cl). Dreamstime.com: Feathercollector (b). Photo: Amazon-Images (cra); Zizza Gordon - Panama Wildlife 13 Alamy Stock Photo: Amazon-Images (c); Papilio (cla); (c); Francesco Puntiroli (clb). 42 Alamy Stock Photo: Alan Dyer INSADCO Photography (bl). 15 Dreamstime.com: / Stocktrek Images (br). Getty Images / iStock: MRRTxPilot (tc). Andreykuzmin (ca). 16 123RF.com: Richard E Leighton Jr (cra); 46 Alamy Stock Photo: Krystyna Szulecka Photography (bc); Thawat Tanhai (cla). 18 Alamy Stock Photo: David Plummer Tony Peacock (c). 47 Alamy Stock Photo: Photimageon (clb). 48 (tc). Dorling Kindersley: Thomas Marent (bl); Natural History Alamy Stock Photo: Scenics & Science (tl). 49 Alamy Stock Museum, London (cr). Dreamstime.com: Fotofred (cla). 19 Photo: blickwinkel / Hecker (tl); Ian McGlasham (tr); Andrew Alamy Stock Photo: Robert Pickett / Papilio (cra). Dorling Walmsley (ca); Michael Piepgras (bl). 50 Alamy Stock Photo: Kindersley: Natural History Museum, London (tl); Natural Frank Hecker (bl). 51 Alamy Stock Photo: Gregorius Krisna History Museum (bl). Dreamstime.com: Acharaporn Adhi / EyeEm (tc); Michael Clark / FLPA / imageBROKER (cla); Kamornboonyarush (cl). 20 Alamy Stock Photo: GTW / Toby Houlton (tr). 52 Alamy Stock Photo: Phil Degginger (tr); imageBROKER (bc); Glenn Bartley / All Canada Photos (ca); Joe McDonald / Steve Bloom Images (cl); Mansell, Barry / UDAZKENA (cb). 21 Alamy Stock Photo: Steven Blandin (cb); SuperStock (cb); Ivan Kuzmin (br). 53 123RF.com: Evelyn Tom Langlands Photography (tr); Glenn Bartley / All Canada Harrison (cra). Alamy Stock Photo: Dominique Braud / Photos (c); Sense2 (bl). 22 Alamy Stock Photo: B.A.E. Inc. (cra); Dembinsky Photo Associates (cb); Piumatti Sergio / Prisma by Doug Lindstrand / Design Pics Inc (tc); Paul R. Sterry / Nature Dukas Presseagentur GmbH (cl); Rosanne Tackaberry (c). 57 Photographers Ltd (crb). Dreamstime.com: Delmas Lehman Alamy Stock Photo: Dorset Media Service (bl); Kevin Ebi (cr) (cla). 23 Alamy Stock Photo: Juniors Bildarchiv / F312 / Juniors Bildarchiv GmbH (tl); Volker Lautenbach / imageBROKER All other images © Dorling Kindersley (cra); Manjeet & Yograj Jadeja (cb). 25 Dreamstime.com: For further information see: www.dkimages.com 64
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