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Author Topic: Flight  (Read 12935 times)

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AGelbert

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Re: Flight
« Reply #30 on: February 17, 2017, 01:42:32 pm »
From egg to flight: Hummingbirds

Quote

IMPORTANT:   Do NOT feed hummingbirds sugar water or "nectar" for more than 24 hours.   It will harm the bird. Babies fed sugar water or "nectar" may develop deformities or die. 

What to Do If You Find a Hummingbird

http://www.gahummer.org/what_to_do.htm
« Last Edit: October 09, 2021, 03:32:28 pm by AGelbert »
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Flight
« Reply #31 on: July 11, 2017, 02:53:33 pm »
When Does an Aging Bird Stop Laying Eggs?     

Laysan albatross in graceful flight

A Laysan albatross typically lives for around 40 years, spending most of its life in the air, flying thousands of miles every year in search of food. Once an albatross reaches adulthood, it’s difficult to determine the bird's age, but ornithologist Chandler Robbins banded one particular Laysan albatross back in 1956, so biologists know that the bird is still going strong. In fact, at around 66 years of age, the bird that Robbins named Wisdom just hatched another chick at her breeding home on Midway Atoll in the Hawaiian archipelago. Wisdom, the world's oldest-known wild breeding bird, is providing scientists with valuable information about reproduction in older animals.

Not ready for retirement:    

The Laysan albatross lays no more than one egg per year, and sometimes none. Wisdom and her mate return to the same spot every year to rekindle their relationship.

Laysan Alabatross Couple


Albatrosses mate for life, but Wisdom has outlived several males  :o  :D. She is believed to have raised 30 to 36 chicks over her lifetime. 

We Albatross ladies may just have one at a time, but we can do that for MANY years!  ;D


Renowned Ornithologist Chandler Robbins     

Chandler Robbins passed away in March 2017 at the age of 98; the renowned ornithologist was still volunteering with the Bird Banding Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, during the last years of his life. 


http://www.wisegeek.com/when-does-an-aging-bird-stop-laying-eggs.htm
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Flight
« Reply #32 on: July 29, 2017, 05:22:52 pm »
Splish, Splash: Why Do Birds Take Baths?

BY JOE SMITH

MARCH 9, 2015

A cardinal at a bird bath. Photo: Flickr user ehpien under a Creative Commons license.

What does science tell us about the importance of a good bath to a bird?

The answer: surprisingly little!
  ;D

A study published in 2009 stated it plainly: “Birds of most species regularly bathe in water, but the function of this behavior is unknown” 1.

This post is about the cool green science of bird baths: what we know and intriguing areas of inquiry for future research.

Rub-a-Dub-Dub, Many Birds in the Tub

Despite the lack of knowledge about the function and importance of baths to birds, we all know that birds (like the rest of us) love having water around for bathing and drinking.

When working with migrant birds in the Yucatan Peninsula, I first began to understand how seriously birds take the business of bathing. We were studying warblers that were typically territorial. These birds frequently engaged in threat postures and even in fights to enforce the boundaries between their exclusive home ranges at our mangrove study sites.

Birds love hanging around water. Photo: Flickr user Prayitno under a Creative Commons license.

But at a communal bird bath, there was a nightly truce.  ;D

Each evening at dusk, in a special spot in the mangroves where a freshwater spring bubbled up from the ground, numerous American redstarts, northern parulas, magnolia warblers, common yellowthroats and yellow warblers took turns bathing.

One by one, they shared this little oasis before going to roost for the night.

Seeing territorial warblers calmly taking turns for a bath tells us that for a bird, having access to water for bathing is worth checking one’s combative tendenciesat least for a few minutes.   

Why Birds Take Baths

So, what’s so important about a bath? ???

Starlings that take baths may be better able to elude predators. Photo: Flickr user NatJLN under a Creative Commons license.

The number of relevant scientific articles can be counted on one hand. There are very basic descriptions of the mechanics of bird bathing in North American2 and Australian birds3, an experimental examination of wetting and drying of disembodied feathers4, and a recent pair of studies that experimentally deprived captive starlings of bath water 5,1.

Although the functions of bird bathing aren’t clearly known at this point, these studies suggest that bathing plays an important role in feather maintenance.

Feathers are a bird’s lifeline: they insulate, waterproof and, of course, provide the power of flight.

Feathers get replaced once or twice a year. In the interim, they need to be kept in good condition. The sun, feather-munching mites, bacteria and gradual wear take a toll on feathers. A set of year-old flight feathers look like they’ve been through the ringer: they are frayed and dull.

Photo: © Larry Niles A good bath may keep those precious feathers in the best condition possible for as long as possible.

Two recent studies on captive starlings have progressed our understanding a bit further. In one paper, Brilot and colleagues hypothesized that depriving a bird of a bath would result in more disheveled feathers and translate into poorer flight performance.

They tested a group of freshly-bathed starlings and a group that had been deprived of a bath for three hours prior to the experiment. The starlings deprived of a bath were clumsier when flying through an obstacle course made of vertically-hung strings, bumping into more strings as they flew.

In their second paper on starlings, the research team examined whether the bath-deprived starlings knew they were clumsier. They did this by presenting bathed and unbathed groups of birds with recordings of starling predator alarm calls – and delicious meal worms – at the same time.

The experiment indicated that birds with access to bath water were more willing to let their guard down and feed, despite the recorded call signaling the presence of a predator. The authors suggest that the unbathed birds were more cautious because they were aware that their ability to escape was impaired.


This work tells us that, beyond preserving feathers over the long term, bathing even makes a bird a more agile flier and more adept at escaping predators in the short term.

These studies are helpful, but the function of bathing still eludes us.

How does it make these birds better fliers? Does it help realign the tiny barbs that hold feathers together? Does it help distribute protective oils? Does it improve feather performance in some other way?

This all leaves me wondering about those birds in the Yucatan. Our research was focused on revealing differences in habitat quality among individuals, mainly by measuring the food resources of the birds. We reasoned that more food equaled birds in better condition with a better chance of survival.

But maybe we were ignoring another important aspect of habitat quality – access to bathing water. We see from the starling work that being deprived of a bath could make an unbathed bird easier to catch, so baths might play a role in survival too.

Until we get an answer from science, we will need to rely on common sense and keep those backyard bird baths full.

Preparing Your Backyard Bird Bath

Many of us with bird feeders also have a bird bath to go along with it. Even in the coldest months of the year, I’ve found that birds are eager to take baths.    :o

I recently poured a warm tea kettle of water into my frozen bird bath and there was an instant scrum as the cardinals and white-throated sparrows jockeyed for position around the bath.

A heater keeps the backyard bird bath operational all winter. Photo: Flickr user techno_nanna under a Creative Commons license.

A more sophisticated approach to maintaining a bird bath in winter is to use a bird bath heater.

Misters keep water fresh and brings a lot more attention to the bird bath. They are a great bird attractor during the spring and summer when people typically aren’t feeding birds.

Although it would be nice to know the exact functions of bird bathing, a lack of scientific knowledge won’t ever get in the way of a good bath.



REFERENCES

Brilot, B. O., Asher, L. & Bateson, M. 2009 Water bathing alters the speed–accuracy trade-off of escape flights in European starlings. Anim. Behav. 78, 801–807.
Slessers, M. 1970 Bathing Behavior of Land Birds. The Auk 87, 91–99.
Verbeek, N. A. M. 1991 Comparative bathing behavior in some Australian birds. J. Field Ornithol. 62, 386–389.
Van Rhijn, J. G. 1977 Processes in feathers caused by bathing in water. Ardea 65, 126–147.
Brilot, B. O. & Bateson, M. 2012 Water bathing alters threat perception in starlings. Biol. Lett. 11.
TAGS: Birds, Research


Joe Smith, PhD, explores the lives of the birds around us by sharing insights from scientific research. As an ecologist for a New Jersey-based conservation services company, he helps to restore coastal ecosystems and the migratory birds that depend on them. Joe lives in the birding hotspot of Cape May, NJ and has done field research with birds throughout the U.S. and Latin America. He writes about nature in his backyard at www.smithjam.com.

https://blog.nature.org/science/2015/03/09/backyard-bird-baths-science-birding-wildlife-habitat/

Agelbert NOTE: If you share your household with a kitty, please make sure the kitty does not have easy access to the bird bath as the following clever kitty has:  ;)

Birds, what birds? I'm just here enjoying the view.   



He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Flight
« Reply #34 on: January 14, 2018, 09:20:36 pm »
Sky Hunters, The World of the Dragonfly

The Secrets of Nature

523,680 views


The Secrets of Nature

Published on Dec 2, 2014

They hover over ponds and pools and inhabit the banks of rivers and streams. With their dazzling metallic colours and unique ways of flying they are truly jewels of the air.

This film presents dragonflies as they have never been seen before. Fascinating close up shots take us into the world of these insects, which have lived on earth since the age of the dinosaurs.

Spectacular super slow motion shots and elaborate computer animation uncover, for the first time, how dragonflies capture their prey at lightning speed while flying and how they mate in the air.

Underwater photography reveals the development of the predatory dragonfly larvae while time lapse sequences show the emergence of the fully grown insect.

However these amazingly colourful flying acrobats are in danger. The dragonfly's preferred habitat in and around water is rapidly diminishing, which, in Europe alone, has pushed around 80 species to the brink of extinction.   
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Flight
« Reply #35 on: October 19, 2018, 02:45:25 pm »
 

New study reveals why dandelions are among the best fliers — they take to the air in a unique way

LAST UPDATED ON OCTOBER 19TH, 2018 AT 4:57 PM BY MIHAI ANDREI


SNIPPET:

Dandelions use a bundle of bristly filaments, called a pappus, to help keep their seeds aloft for dispersal. After the pappus takes to the air, it also prolongs the descent of the seed, enabling it to be carried much farther away. This is not uncommon in the plant world, as many other species employ a similar strategy — but they have a wing-like membrane instead of the spiky pappus.


So Naomi Nakayama, Ignazio Maria Viola, and colleagues set out to study exactly what happens to the dandelion flight. They constructed a vertical wind tunnel to visualize the flow around freely flying and fixed dandelion seeds, employing long-exposure photography and high-speed imaging to monitor any effects. They illuminated the seeds with a laser to make the entire system easier to visualize.

Researchers found that air does indeed flow through the bristles of the pappus, but the amount of air is very closely controlled by the spacing between the bristles, and this is very important. This particular structure formes a stable, doughnut-shaped air bubble, floating around each pappus. They call this air bubble a vortex ring.

Full article:

https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/dandelions-best-fliers-19102018/

Agelbert NOTE: Check out the video below to get a clearer understanding of what they disovered. 👀 🧐   

« Last Edit: October 09, 2021, 03:35:04 pm by AGelbert »
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Flight
« Reply #36 on: April 16, 2019, 09:37:15 pm »
   


Opensource Ornithopter Prototype. Arduino Powered and Remote Controlled


Hi folks! 😀

This instruction is a story about how I made an ornithopter prototype.

For those who do not know, an ornithopter is a machine designed to achieve flight by flapping wings like a real bird. The idea was to create an ornithopter from scratch, to control it remotely, and of course to make it fly.

Please do not judge; I'm not the professional of the aircraft industry. So, not everything works as I would like, but it still does.

Instead of photos, this instruction prevails by graphic schemes. The real result can be seen in a multi-series video on the Youtube channel. If you enjoy this guide, subscribe to the channel. The first series is already online.

The instruction will be corrected and supplemented with material over time. The ornithopter will also be improved.

At this moment the instructable can be divided into the following chapters: 🧐

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Flight
« Reply #37 on: April 23, 2019, 07:40:39 pm »
Opensource Ornithopter Prototype. Arduino Powered and Remote Controlled.

By gabbapeople in Arduino


Learn more:   

https://www.instructables.com/id/Opensource-Ornithopter-Prototype-Arduino-Powered-a/
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Flight
« Reply #38 on: April 28, 2019, 02:15:52 pm »
The Giant Bird That Got Lost in Time
492,198 views


PBS Eons
Published on Mar 12, 2019

The California condor is the biggest flying bird in North America, a title that it has held since the Late Pleistocene Epoch. It's just one example of an organism that we share the planet with today that seems lost in time, out of place in our world.

Thanks as always to Studio 252mya for their wonderful paleoart. You can check out more of their work here: https://252mya.com

Produced in collaboration with PBS Digital Studios: http://youtube.com/pbsdigitalstudios

Super special thanks to the following Patreon patrons for helping make Eons possible:

Katie Fichtner, Anthony Callaghan, XULIN GE, Po Foon Kwong, Larry Wilson, Merri Snaidman, Renzo Caimi, Ordenes, John Vanek, Neil H. Gray, Marilyn Wolmart, Esmeralda Rupp-Spangle, Gregory Donovan, Ehit Dinesh Agarwal, الخليفي سلطان, Gabriel Cortez, Marcus Lejon, Robert Arévalo, Robert Hill, Kelby Reid, Todd Dittman, Betsy Radley, PS, Philip Slingerland, Jose Garcia, Eric Vonk, Tony Wamsley, Henrik Peteri, Jonathan Wright, Jon Monteiro, James Bording, Brad Nicholls, Miles Chaston, Michael McClellan, Jeff Graham, Maria Humphrey, Nathan Paskett, Connor Jensen, Daisuke Goto, Hubert Rady, Gregory Kintz, Tyson Cleary, Chandler Bass, Maly Lor, Joao Ascensao, Tsee Lee, Sarah Fritts, Ron Harvey Jr, Jacob Gerke, Alex Yan

If you'd like to support the channel, head over to http://patreon.com/eons and pledge for some cool rewards!
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Flight
« Reply #39 on: June 25, 2019, 06:31:09 pm »
The ideal shape for a multirotor ‘ducted-fan’ that can dramatically improve thrust and flight time.

Posted on January 14, 2015 by Richard

2018 update: User Wob Barley has built a working model of this duct based on David’s model (see update below) and done some tests which suggest an impressive 40% efficiency/40% thrust increases over open propellers. Here is a video of the test flight.


Learn more: 


https://capolight.wordpress.com/2015/01/14/quadcopter-rotor-duct/
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Re: Flight
« Reply #40 on: June 25, 2019, 07:30:59 pm »
Custer channel wing
252,480 views


Tom Stanton

Published on Oct 5, 2018
Ever wondered if a wing can produce lift at zero ground speed?

Here is some more information about the Custer channel wing:

Full scale test flights -

Channel wing as potential VTOL/STOL (Download link) - https://goo.gl/P14cZs
Air & Space Article -  https://goo.gl/6FaYM7
Robert Novell's Blog - https://goo.gl/SxNegJ

3D printer sponsored by AnyCubic: https://goo.gl/g3Z7yN

3D Printer filament sponsored by 3D Printz UK: https://3dprintz.co.uk/

Enjoy my videos? These are made possible due to help from my Patrons. If you wish for me to continue making videos, please consider supporting my efforts: https://www.patreon.com/tomstanton
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My Other Equipment:
Main camera - http://amzn.to/2vlvlC6
Main lens - http://amzn.to/2gMrhru
Main tripod - http://amzn.to/2tqRjBt
Secondary Tripod - http://amzn.to/2t1NkMh
Microphone - http://amzn.to/2uuv9n0
Audio recorder - http://amzn.to/2v3mjcG

Banggood affiliate: https://www.banggood.com/?p=LT0710618...

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Category Science & Technology
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

 

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