Tagged: birds

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 […]

Tail-or Made For Flight

Many people, myself included, often wish they had a tail. Wouldn’t it be cool to have an extra functional limb? Well, birds are one of the lucky animals that do have tails. However, they’re often overlooked because humans are so fascinated by their wings. Humans can fully function without tails, but the opposite is actually […]

Obstacle avoidance in flying robots

Researchers at Harvard and MIT have been hard at work trying to understand the mechanics of in flight collision avoidance in birds. the goal of this project is to develop small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles that can navigate a forest or urban setting without crashing into trees or buildings, while still being able to fly relatively […]

Owl: Silent and Swift

Bats aren’t the only aerial predator of night. Owls with their stealth abilities and quick moves dominate the night. Owls are known as the most silent flying animal. How do owls approach their prey so fast without being noticed? Can we take their solution of silence and apply it to our aircraft?

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 […]

The Plane that Lands Like a Bird

Have you ever wondered how birds can switch from barreling forward at full speed to gently touching down on a target as narrow as a telephone wire? And, how can we use this to improve the way our planes land? These are the topics that are going to be covered within this article.

Why do birds fly in formation?

Migratory birds have many flight formations, called echelons. Each have their own set of advantages. The most common of these is the  V  shaped formation,  which can be called a Skein. Anyone who sees a flight of migrating geese will see its distinct shape. This flight pattern provides the birds with two main advantages. The […]

An Acrobatic Speed Demon-The Peregrine Falcon

The Peregrine Falcon is the fastest bird known to man. At speeds approaching 200 miles per hour while diving, it surely deserves its title. This may seem surprising for a bird about the size of a simple crow, but the falcon accomplishes this feat by tucking its wings into its body,reducing its angle of attack–the […]

The Hummincopter

We as humans have always marveled at the sight of birds and insects soaring through the air. But eventually we achieved flight with airplanes and even hovering with helicopters. One comes to think, do birds marvel at the wonder of the hummingbirds? Hummingbirds are quite a special species of birds. Like many other birds, hummingbirds […]

It’s Not Only Fine Feathers That Make Fine Birds

We touch keratin every day of our lives. It makes up our hair, nails, and some clothing. The keratin present is mammals is called α-helix keratin, which you can think of protein folded in a helix. The same protein that makes up these materials is what the feathers of a bird, but it is folded differently. Imagine a helix stretched […]