Have you ever wanted to fly like a bird?
Spread your wings and soar?
But like what kind of bird would you like to fly?
My name is Steve Bush.
I take care of birds professionally, and I'm going to show you a cool trick.
You can look at any bird and guess where and how it flies!
Long Soaring Wings The easiest wing to describe is the long soaring wing.
These wings are looooong.
The albatross has a wingspan up to 11 feet!
But you'll notice their wings are also very thin, and they are very streamlined.
These are on birds that stay up in the air for days in a row, usually over the ocean,
so these birds rely on efficient wings that catch as much air as possible without lots
of drag or turbulence slowing them down.
Albatross are able to stay up in the air so long because they get up to 90% of the energy
required for flying from the air itself.
They can catch rising air currents or move to a different altitude where the wind is
blowing in the right direction.
An airplane that borrows this design is the glider.
This is great for efficient flight, but there is a cost.
Albatross take a while to take off from the ground, or to land, because their streamlined
wings don't catch enough air to stop or turn quickly.
Delta wings Now let's take a streamlined soaring wing
and make it short.
You want to have short wings to flap really fast so we can fly really fast.
That way we can chase prey.
You know what's a way to go even faster?
You can fly up high, then dive down.
So you want your wings to fold in a triangle like a fighter jet so you can steer just a
little bit but mostly your wings get out of the way and let you go really fast.
Then you come screaming in like a peregrine falcon after its prey going 240 miles an hour
and catch it or like a swift that is literally named for being fast and does these complex
aerial maneuvers to catch bugs.
And yeah delta wings are about going FAST.
Slotted Wings These wings are almost the opposite of what
we've been talking about so far.
They are big fat wings that have feathers sticking out all over the place, especially
on the tips where you'll notice deep slots between each feather.
The broad wings and slots are for catching lots of air.
These wings can be used to soar on rising warm air currents, but they have one amazing
use: they let you pick up something heavy and carry it into the air.
So an eagle can swoop down and grab a prey animal, then use its slotted wings to get
up and away from the ground with its meal.
Slotted wings are also great for taking off from the ground quickly.
Elliptical Wings These wings are a compromise between the other types.
They have extended feathers to help catch air so they can turn quickly as they fly through
a forest.
The feathers also allow them to take off quickly and efficiently as they explore different
trees looking for food.
On the other hand, their wings are narrower and shorter than a slotted wing bird, so they
can fly fast for short amounts of time.
They can't lift as much as a slotted wing, and they can't fly as fast as a delta wing,
but they can do a little of both, as needed.
Now that we've learned these four wing types, let's see if you can guess how this paper
airplane will fly.
Look at its wings and see if you can figure it out.
It it like a long soaring wing?
Is it like a delta wing?
A slotted wing?
Or an elliptical wing?
This airplane looks like the delta wing.
The wings are tucked in to go fast.
And it does!
Now you know a new trick you can look at a bird and guess how it flies.
You don't have to... wing it!
So go try your wings and see if you can earn them.
Be sure to subscribe and there will be lots more animal facts winging their way to you,
and there's more videos on this channel waiting in the wings.
Thanks for stopping by.