But on the whole, the birds swapped around a lot and the flock had no constant leader. As each bird flaps its wings, the trail of upwash left by its wingtips also moves up and down. The birds behind can somehow sense this and adjust their own flapping to keep their own wings within this moving zone of free lift. Imagine that a flying ibis leaves a red trail with its left wingtip as it moves through the air.
The right wingtip of the bird behind would travel through almost exactly the same path. This is a far more active process than what Portugal had assumed. The ibises can also change their behaviour very quickly. As they switch places in the flock, they sometimes find themselves directly behind the bird in front, and caught in its downwash. Rather than tracing the same path with its wingtips, it flies almost perfectly out of phase. How do they manage? No one knows. They might be using their wing feathers to sense the air flow around them.
Or they could just be relying on simple positive feedback. When they first followed the microlight, they were all over the place. It took time for them to learn to fly in a V… and that adds one final surprise to the mix.
They learned [V-formation flying] from each other. Upwash exploitation and downwash avoidance by flap phasing in ibis formation flight. All rights reserved. Why do some birds fly in a V? Here is the standard explanation for the V-formation: As a bird flaps, a rotating vortex of air rolls off each of its wingtips. Share Tweet Email. Go Further. It seems interesting because when I was a kid, I seemed interested why the birds made a "V" shape.
What shocked me is that, I didn't think that the "V" shape is efficient because it would save more energy. Expending less energy allow geese to fly longer distances because flying takes a lot of energy like flapping their wings. I think that it is intelligent and fascinating that the birds have a sort of system of flying. They all have an eye on one another and have techniques to fly longer distances.
I am not sure how they learned this type of flying formation but I think that it is cool and pretty amazing. There are some really intelligent animals that use different techniques and skills for their use. Birds are flying in a way how they are making it better for themselves. These birds are flying in a bird formation because they are using less energy and makes them go the right direction and also not leaving them behind.
Expending less energy allows geese to preserve their energy and fly farther distances usually done during migration season. I think it is pretty cool how geese are smart enough to know how to stay in the right direction and notice that there V formation helps them.
When the tired front bid drops back another shifts up to lead. It is a cool way to see an inside perspective on birds. Flocks contain both experienced and new migrants, so communicating information about rest and feeding areas is vital. Geese go to great lengths to maintain their formation as best as possible, so Badgerow suggests that while both communication and efficiency play a role in V-formations, energy efficiency is the primary motivator.
More recent studies have confirmed that flying in the lead is the most tiring position, so geese take turns at the head of the V in order to allow leaders to rest.
JSTOR is a digital library for scholars, researchers, and students. Privacy Policy Contact Us You may unsubscribe at any time by clicking on the provided link on any marketing message. By: James MacDonald. November 9, March 15, Share Tweet Email Print. Have a correction or comment about this article? Please contact us. Join Our Newsletter.
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