Secrets Behind Efficient Bird Flight
By: NDTVNewsDesk
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Birds fly efficiently due to a combination of specialised physical adaptations and efficient physiological systems.
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Key factors include their lightweight, hollow bones and streamlined bodies to reduce weight.
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This also allows them to drag powerful and enlarged chest muscles for flapping.
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Their highly efficient respiratory systems, powered by lungs and air sacs, allow for sustained flight.
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Their flight feathers are lightweight and their shape allows for powerful wing strokes, with air passing between them to generate lift.
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In cross section, a bird's wing is blunt at the leading edge, narrow at the trailing edge, and arced downwards (concave).
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This shape, known as an aerofoil, is perfect for flight and has long been copied by aircraft designers.
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It ensures that air passing over the top of the wing has to flow more quickly to meet the air taking the 'short cut' underneath the wing.
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