News1 min ago
bird flight
hiya, i was recently in finland and i noticed the local birds needed to flap a lot more to take off than they do anywhere else i've been.i was wondering if this was down to the cold,it was about -20,i'm probably talking twaddle but would be interested with your theories.cheers all
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.I think it's more likely there was no wind when you noticed the birds. Birds, and aircraft, get airborne most easily, and more quickly, when they fly into the wind.
I don't think air temperature makes any difference, although it could be that the birds were doing their warm-ups before take-off, or waiting for clearance to take-off. Why didn't you ask them while you had the chance?
I don't think air temperature makes any difference, although it could be that the birds were doing their warm-ups before take-off, or waiting for clearance to take-off. Why didn't you ask them while you had the chance?
Temperature does make a difference to the flight of birds, especially larger birds that rely on thermal currents for sustained flight. The mass and wingspan of the bird also need to be considered, heavy birds with small wingspans need to flap faster than light birds with large wingspans. Hence the humming bird which is heavy for its size with a tiny wingspan has to flap so fast its wings make a humming sound... so they were probably just different birds to what you see in your country.