It seems that birds today will often flap their wings while walking up a slope or incline, to enable them to move forward. It is believed that this flap-run movement enables birds to take to flight. It is the same technique that is adopted by chicks, as they are unable to fly when they are born, and need to learn how to conquer this method of movement. The fact that birds are not born with flight abilities, has led researchers to believe that this very method was part of the evolution of flight. This interesting method of movement was noticed by Ken Dial while he was studying chuckars, which are part of the partridge family. After talking to locals and ranchers who have constant contact with these birds, they confirmed that most of the chuckars would rather flap-run up a hill or cliff, as it seems that it takes a lot less energy for them to flap-run instead of flying. This became very intriguing to researchers and they decided to measure how much power is being used while flap-running as opposed to flying.

They managed to record this by implanting electrodes into pigeons’ flight muscles, which could then record the muscle activity. Pigeons are very good flyers, but given inclines and ramps, the difference between flying up the incline and flap-running was analyzed. It was found that much less power was used during flap-running and that this method would therefore be crucial for chicks to learn how to fly, as well as for birds that are still developing their plumage to escape predators. This study has not only given the researchers new insight into birds but a glimpse back into the evolution of flight.

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Raymond Klaassen, a biologist from the Lund University in Sweden, captured ten great great snipes and managed to tag them to collect information in regard to their migration. Captured and let go on the western coast of Sweden, three birds returned and were recaptured to have their tags removed, revealing the most staggering information. For the first time ever, the migration of great snipes could be put on record, but even for scientists and biologists, the information received from the tags was overwhelming. It seems the great snipe tops all other birds when it comes to migration as it is able to fly an impressive four thousand miles without making any stops to eat, drink or sleep. Not only was the flight astounding, given that the great snipe is able to fly ninety-six hours non-stop, but they also averaged speeds of fifty miles per hour. The flights were compared to wind charts showing that the birds had almost no tail winds during their migrations, meaning that they are able to make the flights and maintain high speeds on their own.

One of the recaptured tagged birds completed a migration of three thousand eight hundred miles, while the other two had migrations of two thousand eight hundred miles and four thousand two hundred miles. The first trip took eighty-four hours, while the others took forty-eight hours and eighty-four hours. Klaassen commented that the reason why the great snipes do not stop on their flights is unknown, but it is suspected that this is the unique migration strategy of the great snipe. Even though there are other birds that are also able to travel vast distances, it is the speed the great snipes are able to travel at that has astonished researchers, as their wings are not the most aerodynamic of the bird kingdom. But it seems the fat they store before a migration gives them enough energy to maintain speed and cover large distances. According to this new information and studies, the great snipe can officially be called the king of bird migrations.

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Martin explained his findings saying that birds have a very unique visual system that is different to those of humans. He said: “When in flight, birds may turn their heads to look down, either with the binocular field or with the lateral part of an eye’s visual field.” This makes them blind, so to speak, in regard to the direction they are traveling in. Their frontal vision is mainly used to detect movement, and as bird’s eyes are located on the side of their heads, looking ahead is not as easy for them as it is expected to be. Their vision is at its peak looking laterally and down in search of prey.

Some birds also have another disadvantage – the speed at which they travel. Some birds have extremely fast flight speeds, making it difficult for them to react on information received, especially when sight is further complicated by weather conditions, such as mist and rain.

The study, however, is not only negative, as measures to minimize deaths can now be taken. Prof. Graham Martin stated: “While solutions may have to be considered on a species by species basis, where collision incidents are high it may be more effective to divert or distract birds from their flight path rather than attempt to make the hazard more conspicuous.” Some organizations, such as the Royal Society of Birds have already been lobbying for wind turbines to be constructed in areas that are not directly in the flight paths of birds, and conservationists are supportive of coming up with solutions to reduce bird deaths.

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The discovery may be new, but the evidence has been there all along. Simply put, it is virtually impossible for birds to have evolved from dinosaurs. Researchers at the Oregon State Univserity (OSU) in the US pinpointed the largest significant difference in their skeletal structures – their thigh bones – as proof of this fact. Up until now the relatively fixed position of the bird’s thigh bone and the role that it plays in keeping this creature alive has gone largely unnoticed. While virtually every other land animal has a moveable thigh bone, the bird’s thigh bone, or femur, is largely fixed, making them ‘knee runners’. What is most remarkable about this feature is that it is fundamental to the continued functioning of the animal; it is the fixed position of the femur and other bird bones that keeps their air-sac lung from collapsing when the bird inhales oxygen.

Research has revealed that warm-blooded birds need about 20 times more oxygen than do reptiles which are cold-blooded. As such, they have a unique lung structure which allows for a much higher rate of gaseous exchange and activity. It is this soft and delicate structure which is carefully protected by the fixed skeletal structures that surround the lungs.

According to Devon Quick, an OSU instructor of zoology, their unusual thigh complex and the way it supports the lungs is “fundamental to bird physiology.” Quick noted that “It’s really strange that no one realized this before. The position of the thigh bone and muscles in birds is critical to their lung function, which in turn is what gives them enough lung capacity for flight.” This only adds to other evidence that birds likely did not evolve from dinosaurs – such as the feathers, wings, bones and unique locomotion and lung system that is peculiar to birds – and supports the relatively new theory that they evolved separately on a parallel path to these extinct creatures.

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Other Scientist argue that birds evolved a long period of time before Archaeopteryx. They theorize that the evolution of birds occurred from 4 legged reptiles that died out with the dinosaurs. Such scientists believe that the actual ancestors of our birds today only appeared some 65 to 53 million years ago. This view is not popular amongst scientists though.

There are two theories as to why feathers would have developed in the evolution of birds. One is that because the ancestors of birds where becoming warm-blooded, they required the insulation of feathers. Another is that they develop due to a need for flight and gliding. Whilst many creatures have been and are able to fly, feather-powered flight is unique. This ability to fly gave birds the competitive edge as they could travel over greater distances and areas whilst seeking food. This also allowed them to live in places inaccessible to other animals.

Bird species have adapted to fit into various niches (a place and purpose in relation to the entire ecological community). They have developed instincts to feed, breed and migrate in a way that is species specific.

Birds today continue to adapt to the changing conditions of the world. Unfortunately, these changing conditions have seen many species become extinct. However, increasing awareness of the need to protect the environment and the animals who live in it may ensure that future generations will continue to enjoy these fascinating creatures.

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When you look at the Herald Petrel, you will find that its body measures roughly 36-41 cm in length with a wingspan of 97-102 cm. Generally speaking, the whole bird is gray with some green showing on the nape and upper tail. The body has no patterning whatsoever. The Herald Petrel also has a hooked, seabird-shaped bill and a pointed tail. The wings are also quite pointed in shape while the legs are pink in color. Birdwatchers should note that there are three different color morphs of the Herald Petrel: light, intermediate and dark. The light morph has a white chest and belly, while its upper parts are a dark gray. The dark morph has a dark grey body overall with a silver-grey or white base on its under-wing flight feathers. The intermediate morph is mixture of the light and dark morph.

When the time comes for the Herald Petrel to breed, both sexes will work together to excavate or clean out a burrow. Once this is done, the female lays only one egg in a sparse, un-lined burrow and both the male and female share incubation duties. After 49-54 days, the eggs hatch and a new Herald Petrel is born. Herald Petrels have only one brood a year.

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It has long been known that migrating birds embark on particularly long and grueling journeys when they cross the oceans. What hasn’t been known for sure is whether or not they somehow stop along the way – until now that is. A Bar-tailed Godwit has been bestowed with the title ‘endurance champion of the animal kingdom’ after completing his epic 7,200 mile flight across the Pacific Ocean nonstop.

It’s no secret that Bar-tailed Godwits undertake an annual migration from Alaska to Australia and various islands in the southern hemisphere each year to breed. What scientists really wanted to know was if they made pit-stops along the way. That was the goal behind a recent study wherein nine Bar-tailed Godwits (Limosa lapponica baueri) were fitted with electronic tags before setting off into the sunset on their mammoth migration flights. The birds flew between 4,355 miles and 7,258 miles, depending on which route they chose to take, with their journeys lasting 6-9 days correspondingly. What makes the research particularly interesting is that the flight paths reveal the birds were unlikely to sleep during the time and even more significantly – that they did not feed along the way. That means that their wings did not stop flapping from their point of departure to their point of arrival! This makes their journey even more remarkable, since it sets new precedents for endurance in animals. According to scientists, the energy required to complete this sort of migratory journey is the greatest in the animal kingdom.

The international scientific team, under the leadership of Bob Gill of the US Geological Survey, has said: “These extraordinary nonstop flights establish new extremes for avian flight performance and have profound implications for understanding the physiological capabilities of vertebrates.” According to Theunis Piersma of the University of Groningen (Netherlands) who worked on the study, the energy requirements of the birds was the greatest known energy requirement in the animal kingdom. During their week-long, non-stop journey, the birds would have been consuming energy at around eight times their resting basic metabolic rate (BMR). This is in sharp contrast with other measurements, such as a professional cyclist who may manage to function at around five times BMR for just a few hours. Piersma appropriately summed up the results with this remark: “There is something special going on here. For a vertebrate this kind of endurance is just extraordinary.”

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You might think its cool when your friend calls his bird over and it lands on his arm – but how do you get yours to follow suit? Your bird has been sitting in his cage so long that you’re not even sure he knows how to fly. Target training birds is not very difficult, but it helps to understand how to go about it in a way that benefits the bird and never causes it to become tired or uncomfortable.

To start with you will need to understand that flight requires energy, muscle and strength. If your bird has spent most of his life sitting around in a cage, he’s not going to have what it takes to fly straight off the bat. Just as it takes effort to get off the couch that has been your constant companion for months, it is going to take effort for your bird to get off his perch. You will need to condition him slowly and progressively so that he can successfully enjoy the sensation of flight. With that in mind you will need to think in terms of encouraging short flights and more activity initially than long flights and specific flight behavior.

To start with, you might want to make sure that your family has not set up any hidden cameras as you will need to start encouraging flapping behavior my imitating this activity yourself. Your goal is to persuade the bird that it wants to fly, and this means never pushing it past a level that is comfortable for the bird. If you hurt the bird in any way, it will become discouraged and your work up to that point could well be lost. Once his wings are a little more exercised, its time to get him moving. Choose a perch that is familiar to the bird and start encouraging it to move to the perch via a series of short hops. This can be done once or twice a day, and it usually helps to choose a time of day when the bird really wants to get back to that particular perch. Doing it just before feeding time is usually best. Your ultimate goal is a short flight to the perch, but for some birds it may take a long time to reach that goal. So be persistent and move slowly and when the time is right, your feathered friend will eventually get the idea. Once your bird is better at making little hops or short flights towards his perch, its time to increase the distance. If the bird looks uncomfortable at any time, you are pushing it too far. Take your time and help your bird build his confidence as he develops his athletic ability. If your bird is clinging to your arm and is reluctant to hop, you are probably pushing him too fast and should go back a step by shortening your distance, ensuring that he is motivated and helping him to continue to strengthen his muscles by making use of flapping exercises.

The turn-around point comes when your bird initiates the hops of his own choice. This is when you know he is getting comfortable with flying and you can start to cue the behavior and so reinforce it. Once he gets to his perch, praise him and give him a treat. Before long he’ll figure out that he gets rewarded for his efforts and that’s when you’ll have him eating out the palm of your hand. Once he has fully grasped the concept, you can start to point to the perch and ask him to fly to it, rewarding him once he reacts accordingly. Once you’ve got this right, all you need to do is continue to build on it slowly and you’ll soon have your bird flying exactly where you want, all the while getting healthy exercise and enjoying a change of environment.

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A recent study conducted by researchers from the Illinois Natural History Survey and the University of Illinois has resulted in statistical data to prove that during their nocturnal migration birds fly together in loose flocks. This is the first conclusive data that confirms what many ornithologists and bird-watchers have suspected for some time.

Researchers have spent decades attempting to unlock the mysteries of the nocturnal migration of birds. Considering the size of a bird and the altitude at which it flies, together with the fact that it is nighttime, this has proven to be very difficult. Previous studies have indicated that, although migrating birds may have been flying tens of meters apart, they nonetheless stayed together by flying at the same speed and at approximately the same altitude. However, these studies have not provided convincing proof to support this assertion. Even if a study could establish that the birds were in fact traveling together, there was no way of knowing if this flight pattern was intentional.

The new research project, which has been conducted by professor of animal biology, Ronald Larkin together with Robert Szafoni, analyzed bird-flight data which had been collected by Larkin by means of a low-power-density tracking radar during the 70s and 80s. This radar works by pointing a narrow cone, referred to as a “pencil-beam”, at any target within range. The target, in this case a bird, appears as an echo on the radar screen. With a flip of a switch, the radar locks on the target and tracks it while recording data with regard to the target’s distance from the radar, as well as its altitude and direction of flight. Moreover, the radar provides data which can be used to calculate the frequency of the target bird’s wing beats.

Once the radar has locked onto a bird and is tracking its flight, if another bird appeared in the radar’s beam, the radar operator could switch back and forth between the two birds and thereby track the flight details of both birds simultaneously. Upon analyzing dozens of sets of data, researchers came to the conclusion that a significant number of tracked birds were flying at the same speed, same altitude and in the same direction, even though some of the pairs were more than 200 meters apart.

Ongoing research continues to reveal that birds are fascinating creatures with astounding abilities – and no doubt bird-lovers everywhere agree.

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People who keep birds as pets, generally do so because they enjoy their company and entertaining antics. Yet many of these bird lovers inadvertently allow their pet birds to become overweight, even to the point of obesity, exposing them to a host of possible health problems. Pet birds are very often confined to a cage and have their wings clipped to prevent flight and possible injury, resulting in a lack of exercise. Add to this the temptation to offer tasty tidbits to your feathered friend, and it is easy to see why pet birds can have the tendency to gain excess weight.

Of course prevention is better than cure, but if your bird is already a little on the chubby side don’t despair, with some patience and discipline, this situation can be corrected. There is no clear cut definition for obesity in birds, but dogs and cats are considered to be obese if they are 15% above their ideal weight, so this is can be used as a guideline. In a nutshell, obesity results from a bird taking in more calories than it can burn off. Lack of daily exercise is therefore a major contributing factor to obesity. Also, most bird owners incorrectly feed their birds a diet which consists mostly, or completely, of seeds. Birds love seeds because they are high in fat and taste good, however, this type of diet is not only deficient in many essential vitamins and minerals, but is the leading cause of obesity in birds.

Obese pets – cats, dogs, birds – have an increased risk of a number of life-threatening diseases, including heart disease, arthritis and cancer. Additionally, obese birds run the very real risk of developing hepatic lipidosis, more commonly known as “fatty liver disease”, making them very susceptible to stress and repeated infections. Health problems lead to an increased number of visits to the veterinarian, which is a stressful event for any animal, but for an unhealthy obese bird this type of stress may prove to be too much to bear, and could even result in death.

To maintain optimum health, pet birds should have a daily diet consisting of pellets, fresh fruit and fresh vegetables, with a limited quantity of seed. Any switch in diet must be done very gradually or your bird could become stressed and refuse to eat. Remember that it took a period of time for your bird to gain its excess weight and it will take possibly even a longer period of time to lose that weight. Rest assured though that your bird’s eating habits can be changed, and the resultant health benefits, along with the extended lifespan of your beloved pet, will make the effort well worth while.

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