How Birds are Adapted for Flight

Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic (warm-blooded), egg-laying,

vertebrate animals. Birds are the only animals with feather. Birds rely on liftan
upward force that counters gravityin order to fly. Birds generate lift by pushing
down on the air with their wings. This action causes the air, in return, to push the
wings up. The shape of wings, which have an upper surface (dorsal) that is slightly
convex and a lower surface (ventral) that is concave, contributes to this effect. To
turn, birds often tilt so that one wing is higher than the other. Different wing shapes
adapt birds for different styles of flight. The short, rounded wings and strong breast
muscles of quail are ideal for short bursts of powered flight. Conversely, the
albatrosss long narrow wings enable these birds to soar effortlessly over windswept
ocean surfaces. The long, broad wings of storks, vultures, and eagles provide
excellent lift on rising air currents. Feathers play a crucial role in flight. The wings
and tails of birds have specialized flight feathersthe largest and strongest type of
feathersthat contribute to lift. Because each of the flight feathers is connected to
a muscle, birds can adjust their position individually. As a bird pushes down on the
air with its wings, its flight feathers overlap to prevent air from passing through. The
same feathers twist open on the upstroke, so that air flows between them and less
effort is needed to lift the wings. Feathers also help to minimize drag, a force of
resistance that acts on solid bodies moving through air. Contour feathers, which are
the most abundant type of feather, fill in and cover angular parts of a birds body,
giving birds a smooth, aerodynamic form. Bird tails are also important to flight.
Birds tip their tail feathers in different directions to achieve stability and to help
change direction while flying. When soaring, birds spread their tail feathers to
obtain more lift. When landing, birds turn their tails downward, so that their tails act
like brakes.
The internal body parts of all birds, including flightless ones, reflect the evolution of
birds as flying creatures. Birds have lightweight skeletons in which many of the
major bones are hollow. A unique feature of birds is the furculum, or wishbone,
which is comparable to the collarbones of humans, although in birds the left and
right portions are fused together. The furculum absorbs the shock of wing motion
and acts as a spring to help birds breathe while they fly. Several anatomical
adaptations help to reduce weight and concentrate it near the center of gravity. For
example, modern birds are toothless, which helps reduce the weight of their beaks,
and food grinding is carried out in the muscular gizzard, a part of the stomach
located near the bodys core. The egg-laying habit of birds enables young to
develop outside the body of the female, significantly lightening her load. For further
weight reduction, the reproductive organs of birds atrophy, or become greatly
reduced in size, outside of the breeding season.

Flight, especially taking off and landing, requires a huge amount of energymore
than humans need even for running. Taking flight is less demanding for small birds
than it is for large ones, but small birds need more energy to stay warm. In keeping
with their enormous energy needs, birds have an extremely fast metabolism, which
includes the chemical reactions involved in releasing stored energy from food. The
high body temperature of birds40 to 42 C (provides an environment that
supports rapid chemical reactions.

To sustain this high-speed metabolism, birds need an abundant supply of oxygen,

which combines with food molecules within cells to release energy. The respiratory,
or breathing, system of birds is adapted to meet their special needs. Unlike humans,
birds have lungs with an opening at each end. New air enters the lungs from one
end, and used air goes out the other end. The lungs are connected to a series of air
sacs, which facilitate the movement of air. Birds breathe faster than any other
animal. For example, a flying pigeon breathes 450 times each minute, whereas a
human, when running, might breathe only about 30 times each minute.

The circulatory system of birds also functions at high speed. Blood vessels pick up
oxygen in the lungs and carry it, along with nutrients and other substances essential
to life, to all of a birds body tissues. In contrast to the human heart, which beats
about 160 times per minute when a person runs, a small birds heart beats between
400 and 1,000 times per minute. The hearts of birds are proportionately larger than
the hearts of other animals. Birds that migrate and those that live at high altitudes
have larger hearts, relative to their body size, than other birds.
A special advantage that flight confers is that of migration, and the ease at which
they can do it. Many bird species undergo annual migrations, traveling between
seasonally productive habitats. Migration helps birds to have continuous sources of
food and water, as well as to avoid environments that are too hot or too cold. Some
of the most spectacular bird migrations are made by seabirds, which fly across
oceans and along coastlines, sometimes traveling 32,000 km (20,000 mi) or more in
a single year. Migrating birds use a variety of cues to find their way. These include
the positions of the sun during the day and the stars at night; the earths magnetic
field; and visual, olfactory, and auditory landmarks. The strict formations in which
many birds fly help them on the journey. For example, migrating geese travel in a Vshaped formation, which enables all of the geese except the leader to take
advantage of the updrafts generated by the flapping wings of the goose in front.
Young birds of many species undertake their first autumn migration with no
guidance from experienced adults. These inexperienced birds do not necessarily
reach their destinations; many birds stray in the wrong direction and are sometimes
observed thousands of kilometers away from their normal route.

The details above sums up how birds are adapted for flight and the special
advantage that flight confers on most of them.