This wild photograph shows a goose flying upside down with its head turned 180 degrees in a behavior known as whiffling. In this orientation, the bird’s typical lift characteristics are Keep reading
Tag: birds
Hovering Hawk
Birds have a level of control in flight that would make any engineer jealous. This 2021 Audubon Photography Award winning video by Bill Bryant shows off the skills of a Keep reading
Fish Versus Bird
You’ve seen birds catch fish, but have you ever seen a fish that catches birds? In this video, giant trevally fish hunt fledgling terns — including those in flight! To Keep reading
Loopy Networks and Bird Lungs
When mammals breathe, air flows back and forth inside our lungs. But in birds that inhale and exhale get transformed into one-directional flow inside their lungs. To figure out how, Keep reading
Adjusting for Gusts
In flight, birds must adjust quickly to wind gusts or risk crashing. Research shows that the structure of birds’ wings enables them to respond faster than their brains can. The Keep reading
The Best of FYFD 2020
2020 was certainly a strange year, and I confess that I mostly want to congratulate all of us for making it through and then look forward to a better, happier, Keep reading
Audubon Photography Awards
Several of this year’s Audubon-Photography-Award-winning photos feature birds interacting with fluids. The Grand Prize Winner, by Joanna Lentini, features a diving double-crested cormorant. Like many other species, these cormorants launch Keep reading
How Animals Stay Dry in the Rain
Getting wet can be a problem for many animals. A wet insect could quickly become too heavy to fly, and a wet bird can struggle to stay warm. But these Keep reading
Gliding Birds Get Extra Lift From Their Tails
Gorgeous new research highlights some of the differences between fixed-wing flight and birds. Researchers trained a barn owl, tawny owl, and goshawk to glide through a cloud of helium-filled bubbles Keep reading
Morphing Wings Using Real Feathers
Although humanity has long been inspired by bird flight, most of our flying machines are nothing like birds. Engineers have struggled to recreate the ease with which birds are able Keep reading