Sent from my iPhone
Begin forwarded message:
From: "William Laverty (FIDELITY CAPITAL MKT)" <wlaverty1@bloomberg.net>
Date: October 27, 2016 at 12:12:55 PM EDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: (WPT) These Amazing Little Birds Just Broke the World Record for
Reply-To: "William Laverty" <wlaverty1@bloomberg.net>
(WPT) These Amazing Little Birds Just Broke the World Record for
Nonstop Flight
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This communication is prepared by Fidelity Capital Markets (FCM), a division of National Financial Services LLC, Member NYSE, SIPC. It is for your information only and is not an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security or a
recommendation or endorsement of any security or issuer. FCM makes no representation about the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of this information. FCM may from time to time underwrite, hold a position in, and buy or sell as principal the securities of any issuer mentioned. This e-mail may contain information that is proprietary or is otherwise confidential in nature. Any
dissemination or copying of this e-mail is prohibited.
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
These Amazing Little Birds Just Broke the World Record for Nonstop Flight
2016-10-27 16:10:38.956 GMT
By Sarah Kaplan
Oct. 27 (Washington Post) -- The common swift is "the
greyhound of the sky," Anders Hedenström says. Shaped like a
torpedo, with long, blade-like wings, it effortlessly swoops and
soars through the air, riding the wind like a creature out of
mythology. For millennia, bird lovers have admired its aerial
agility and seemingly endless flight.
But even the most ardent ornithologists were amazed to learn
that common swifts are capable of flying for 10 months without
once touching land — a world record for time on the wing.
"It's the most extreme example [of nonstop flight] that we
know of," says Hedenström, a biologist at Lund University in
Sweden and lead author of a study published Thursday in the
journal Current Biology examining common swifts'
astonishing abilities.
Hedenström and his colleagues spent two years tracking 13
swifts via tiny light sensors and accelerometers loaded into
backpacks they attached to the birds. The light sensors allowed
them to geolocate the birds by tracking the time of sunrise and
sunset. The accelerometers tracked the beating of the swift's
wings and the speed of their forward movement, so scientists
could calculate how far and fast the birds were traveling and the
amount of time they spent on the ground.
The data revealed that common swifts — which make a 10-month
journey from Northern Europe to Central Africa and back each year
— spend 99.5 percent of their migration in the air. When they did
touch down, on a tree branch or patch of ground, it was only for
an hour or two. Then back into the air to continue their marathon
journey.
"It's absolutely minuscule, the time they actually spend
resting," Hedenström says.
Three of the birds never landed at all. Instead they spent
their entire migration aloft, traveling more than 10,000 miles
without rest. No other migratory bird — not even the tenacious
frigate bird, which spends weeks on the wing during long ocean
crossings — is known to spend so long in the sky.
Common swifts must do everything they need to survive while
aloft. They mate in the air and consume airborne insects. They
drink by gliding over smooth water and dipping their beak in to
take sips. It's assumed that they even sleep while in flight —
Hedenström's study found that the birds ride updrafts to
extremely high altitudes at dawn and dusk, and it's possible that
they nap while drifting downward. But no one has documented
this, so scientists can't say for sure.
The birds are members of the ancient bird lineage Apodidae,
which may extend as far back as the Cretaceous Period more than
65 million years ago, and they are perfectly evolved for flight.
Their long, narrow wings are adapted for maneuverability and for
soaring long distances on currents of air and a single flap.
Their bodies are streamlined and their crescent-shaped tails can
be manipulated for extra efficiency.
But they fare poorly on land. The birds' legs are so short
that ancient observers thought they didn't exist at all (their
scientific name, Apus apus, literally means "no foot" in Greek).
Young swifts are unable to take off from flat ground — they have
to drop out of trees and then soar upward. Hedenström believes
that this may explain their penchant for staying airborne: The
birds are simply more at ease in the sky. Not to mention safer
from predators, parasites and other threats.
Physical adaptations aside, swifts' ability to fly for
months at a time remains a biological enigma.
"Flight is very energetically costly," Hedenström says. "To
lead a life in the fast lane, so to speak, that would be
associated with low survival. But the swifts are actually the
opposite: They live for very long life spans for birds of their
size" — tiny swifts that weigh less than a clementine live for an
average of 5 and as many as 20 years, and their accumulated
mileage is equal to seven journeys to the moon and back.
"They can disprove this 'live fast, die young' concept we
have in biology," he adds.
Scientists know that rapid energy consumption and high
workloads usually compromise mammals' immune systems, making them
more vulnerable to predators and disease. It's possible they have
physiological adaptations that strengthen their immune systems —
something that biologists from all fields would be eager to know
about.
"It's going to be fascinating to learn more," Hedenström
says.
More incredible bird stories:
Why don't birds get lost? They may have mastered quantum
mechanics.
These birds use a linguistic rule thought to be unique to
humans
How to find the dinosaurs that hide inside modern birds
Fine feathers: Why red birds look so fit and sexy
New study asks why birds fall in love
-0- Oct/27/2016 16:10 GMT
0 comments:
Post a Comment