A Little Bit More
The very demanding physics of flight requires that birds make anatomy “choices’ in their wing construction. I use the word “choice” but of course, evolution is what is acting on the anatomy of these animals. And it isn’t just birds that are subject to the physics of travel in the air. The physics involved in aircraft design of a Boeing 747 or Airbus 380, for example, is a crucial component that makes these aircraft not only airworthy, but efficient enough to make money commercially. Aircraft manufacturers know that just by tweaking the design of a wing, for example, the aerodynamics of a plane can be markedly improved. And, just as with bird wings, no single aircraft wing is best for all kinds of aircraft.
As the unit poster illustrates, depending on the shape and size of a bird’s wing, different aerodynamic abilities are gained or lost. Some birds tend to be rather general in their wing structure while others are specialists. Those with rather “general” (elliptical) wing design include most of the songbirds, especially the non-migratory ones. Those species that migrate do have wings that are a bit longer than their stay-at-home relatives.
Those birds with high speed wings require a more energetically “expensive” wing beat to stay in the air and these include the ducks and falcons. The eagles, hawks, pelicans and vultures have large wings, with slotted feathers at the end that make them excellent at soaring but they’re not very good at taking off or in sustained flapping flight. If you watch a hawk for a short while you’ll soon realize that it flaps a few times and then soars, flaps a few times and soars again. And then there are the hummingbirds with their extremely specialized wings that allow for hovering and even backward flight but their wings never stop flapping until they alight. Just looking at the wings of an unknown bird, if you know about these different design elements, will help you figure out what kind of aerial abilities it has.
Activities
Science - Wings
Objectives: Better sense of the different wings on birds
Materials: Materials: Access to the library
Have each student find a picture of a bird (photos or drawings/paintings) that has its wings spread in flight. Once an assortment of different bird pictures is assembled, have students look at the shape of each wing and see if they can categorize these wings based on the 4 different kinds illustrated on the unit poster.
1. Broad, soaring wings with slotted tips
2. Medium length but pointed wings for speed
3. Medium length wings that are rather rounded for generalized flight
4. Short, stubby wings for hovering
Key Concepts
Structures and Functions, Identification, Adaptations and Diversity
Questions
Do you have a question for a naturalist? Go ahead and ask!
It's easy -- just fill out this form, submit your question and you'll receive an answer shortly.