Top 5 lists: Nature
7 lists
Top 5 Animals That Look Like They Were Designed by a Committee
Creatures where every department got its feature approved and nobody checked how it all fit together.
1–3: Platypus · Star-Nosed Mole · Shoebill
Top 5 Things in the Night Sky Worth Driving Away From the City For
Light pollution steals the best show on Earth, and these are worth a tank of gas, a folding chair, and a thermos.
1–3: The Milky Way Core in Summer · The Perseid Meteor Shower · The Aurora Borealis
Top 5 Animal Migrations Worth Planning an Entire Trip Around
Nature's biggest commutes, ranked by how hard they make you rethink your own complaints about traffic.
1–3: Great Wildebeest Migration — Serengeti and Maasai Mara · Monarch Butterflies — Michoacán, Mexico · Sandhill Cranes — Platte River, Nebraska
Top 5 Trees Worth a Detour Just to Stand Underneath
Trees so old, huge or strange that standing under one makes your problems feel like a rounding error.
1–3: General Sherman — Sequoia National Park, California · Árbol del Tule — Santa María del Tule, Oaxaca · Angel Oak — Johns Island, South Carolina
Top 5 Weather Phenomena Worth Pulling the Car Over For
Sky events that justify hazard lights, a gravel shoulder, and a passenger asking what on earth you're doing.
1–3: Aurora Borealis · Mammatus Clouds · Sun Dogs
Top 5 Backyard Birds That Make You Put Your Coffee Down
Common North American birds that make an ordinary morning at the window feel like a nature documentary.
1–3: Northern Cardinal · Black-capped Chickadee · Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Top 5 National Parks Worth Setting a 4 a.m. Alarm For
Sunrise spots where the cold, the dark and the terrible gas station coffee all turn out to be worth it.
1–3: Haleakalā National Park — Maui, Hawaii · Arches National Park — Utah · Acadia National Park — Maine