Tagged: albatross

Quetzalcoatlus: largest flying animal…or not?

Quetzalcoatlus was a type of pterosaur and is one of the largest flying animal of all time, or was it? A study by Sankar Chatterjee, a Texas Tech University professor, claims that the Quetzalcoatlus would not have been able to fly. Instead the pterosaur would soar and glide in a similar fashion as the albatross. Take-off […]

Gust soaring as a basis for the flight of petrels and albatrosses (Procellariiformes)

It’s a bird… It’s a plane… It’s Superman! Flying without the use of energy has always been seen a superpower that people have dreamed of. Such an ability has already been achieved by such birds as the Albatross and Petrel. By using the gust soaring, the Albatross can fly hundreds of miles without so much […]

A Downside to Dynamic Soaring?

Dynamic soaring is the ability that allows albatrosses to travel great distances without constantly expending energy to flap their wings.  Due to it, some birds are even able to fly around the entire Southern Ocean in only 46 days. However, this same evolutionary adaptation may restrict the range of environments that the various (endangered) species […]

Flying Without Flapping: The Wandering Albatross and the Mechanics of Dynamic Soaring

Imagine a plane able to travel immense distances with no propulsion save the power of the wind. Such a capability, though unfathomable to most humans, has already been realized by the natural world in the unique capabilities of the Wandering Albatross. Without even flapping their wings, Wandering Albatross can travel 500-600 miles in a single […]

The Albatross-The Master of Dynamic Soaring

The albatross is one of nature’s most interesting creatures. They seem to fly for hours and hours and yet they only flap their wings on rare occasions. The instinct and evolutionary advantage that permits the albatross to decrease the flapping needed to stay in flight is called Dynamic Soaring. The albatross is perhaps the most famous […]