Posted on 07/02/2016 9:36:55 AM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
A new study shows that frigatebirds routinely fly for months at a time without landing, skimming the sea surface only occasionally to catch floating prey. Previously, scientists thought these birds and another bird species, known as swift birds, only remained aloft for many days at a time... To stay aloft for so long, the study found, these birds use some of the same techniques that glider pilots do. They take advantage of upward-moving air underneath tropical cumulus clouds — the clouds that often look like popping popcorn kernels in the sky.
(Excerpt) Read more at mashable.com ...
Something different. "Using such techniques, the study shows that these birds can travel for up to 260 miles in a single day for up to 48 straight days or more."
“The birds, as if preprogrammed with a particular flight plan, make giant loops around the tropical Indian Ocean, skirting the edges of calm areas known to ancient mariners as the doldrums.”
Amazing birds, they can stay in the air for months and they know where to find MH 370.
Interesting. Thanks!
Frigatebirds are on the short list of animals that should never, ever be kept in captivity. Their very nature is to move in an vast open space. This bird would not be happy were it taken from the wild and then kept in a small aviary, next to the Canada Geese or the Penguins. Maybe the song “Freebird” was made with the Frigate in mind.
Sorry, I’m not buying this. (Not a personal attack, DG).
How would they sleep then? Try to make it up to 60 Angels and try to snooze on the way down?
Does not compute...
So.... what’s in it for the tree-huggers to report this.....
these birds use some of the same techniques that glider pilots do
Duhhhhhh, Ya think maybe!!
"Since these birds are so highly dependent on weather patterns, as the climate warms in response to human-caused global warming and atmospheric circulation is altered, frigatebirds may have different flight paths in the future, the study notes."
Their RALT is much more advanced(at this time) then ours.
Plus no batteries
Basically, yes. They climb thermals and then glide down on a long slope to the base of the next cloud where they find another thermal. They sleep on the down glide. Their heart rates have been measured as equal in relaxing as to when they are sitting on their nests.
They sleep just like a shark. If a shark stops moving through the water, they die.
Not all animals have human like sleep/wake schedules.
The most interesting part of this story was left out—how do these birds sleep?
"It is impressive," said Henri Weimerskirch, an ornithologist at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in France. "There is no other bird species like them."
It's still not clear how the birds sleep during these epic journeys. Weimerskirch said there's evidence that they can shut down half their brains as they ascend on updrafts.
"They are probably getting small bouts of sleep at this time — maybe two to three minutes," he said.
I guess before glider pilots taught them, they walked a lot.
Same mother, different brother...
Except when nesting, swifts spend their lives in the air, living on the insects caught in flight; they drink, feed, and often mate and sleep on the wing. No other bird spends as much of its life in flight.
Larger “screaming parties” are formed at higher altitudes, especially late in the breeding season. The purpose of these parties is uncertain, but may include ascending to sleep on the wing, while still breeding adults tend to spend the night in the nest.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_swift
There was a Magnificent Frigatebird that wandered to Lake Michigan last year. I was one of the last people to see it. Its climb from 20 feet above the Lake, to losing it in a scope was relatively quick with no wing flaps. Puts the local Turkey Vultures and Red-tailed Hawks to shame.
That is just amazing.
I found another article about these birds with a short video.
http://phys.org/news/2016-07-great-frigate-birds-months.html
Thanks for posting the article. Months at a time without landing is amazing.
Maybe, more like the pilots learned from the birds.
Like the famous 'Gimli Glider'.
Is that true about sharks, that they are in constant motion, and must remain that way? I didn’t know.
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