“ Thermals can behave like lava lamps, with bubbles of air rising intermittently from the ground when the air is warm enough. These risks are higher when moving between thermal updrafts,” Dr. “ This is a critical time as birds need to find rising air to avoid an unplanned landing.
The researchers obtained data for more than 230 hours of flight time from eight tracked condors.Ĭloser examination showed the condors were seen to flap more as they reached the end of the glides between thermals when they were likely to be closer to the ground. However, they finally learned something more shocking.Įven on mountains, where condors have to mitigate complex airflow conditions, they are able to navigate air currents with very little movement. This research originally aimed to study the effects of different weather conditions on condor flights. This suggests that decisions about when and where to land are crucial, as not only do condors need to be able to take off again, but unnecessary landings will add significantly to their overall flight costs.“ “ Our results revealed the amount the birds flapped didn’t change substantially with the weather. This question is important because, by the time birds are as big as condors, theory tells us they are dependent on soaring to get around,” said Dr. “ Watching birds from kites to eagles fly, you might wonder if they ever flap. One bird even flew for five hours without flapping, covering a distance of around 172 km or more than 100 miles. It’s almost impossible to believe a condor can stay in the air without flapping its wings. Once in the sky, condors can sustain soaring for long periods in a wide range of wind and thermal conditions. Instead, they make use of air currents to keep them airborne for hours at a time. Because of its size and weight, it takes a lot of energy for a condor to take off. The researchers discovered that more than 75% of the condors’ flapping was associated with take-off. To study how the Andean condor flies, the team attached custom-made “flight recorders” to heaviest soaring birds to track every single wingbeat and when and how individuals gained altitude. They are capable of soaring more than 100 miles (160 km) without flapping its wings. Recent research by the scientists from Swansea University and the Universidad Nacional del Comahue in Argentina shows that heaviest soaring birds in the world flap their wings only 1% of the time during the flight.
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