BenTha'er-Horizons

Why Do Birds Fly in V Formation

Scientists have been looking into further the reason why birds often fly in a V formation. There has been a lot of speculation and theory though not a lot to substantiate the reason. Certainly, airplanes flying in the military will mimic that V. It is felt that it adds in air flow to those flying behind and to the side and is more fuel efficient. Here is an article that explains it in more depth.

“Just as aerodynamic estimates would predict, the birds positioned themselves to fly just behind and to the side of the bird in front, timing their wing beats to catch the uplifting eddies. When a bird flew directly behind another, the timing of the flapping reversed so that it could minimize the effects of the downdraft coming off the back of the bird’s body. “We didn’t think this was possible,” Usherwood says, considering that the feat requires careful flight and incredible awareness of one’s neighbors. “Perhaps these big V formation birds can be thought of quite like an airplane with wings that go up and down.” “
blog comments powered by Disqus
RapidWeaver Icon

Made in RapidWeaver