Gliding for a free lunch: biomechanics of foraging flight in common swifts (Apus apus)
International audience Although the biomechanics of animal flight have been well studied in laboratory apparatus such as wind tunnels for many years, the applicability of these data to natural flight behaviour has been examined in few instances and mostly in the context of long-distance migration. H...
Published in: | Journal of Experimental Biology |
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Online Access: | https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01928514 https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01928514/document https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01928514/file/Hedrick_et_al_-_J_Exp_Biol-2018.pdf https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.186270 |
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ftnormandieuniv:oai:HAL:hal-01928514v1 2023-05-15T14:17:16+02:00 Gliding for a free lunch: biomechanics of foraging flight in common swifts (Apus apus) Hedrick, Tyson, Pichot, Cécile de Margerie, Emmanuel University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (UNC) University of North Carolina System (UNC) Ethologie animale et humaine (EthoS) Université de Caen Normandie (UNICAEN) Normandie Université (NU)-Normandie Université (NU)-Université de Rennes (UR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) National Science Foundation Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Université de Rennes 2018-11-15 https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01928514 https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01928514/document https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01928514/file/Hedrick_et_al_-_J_Exp_Biol-2018.pdf https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.186270 en eng HAL CCSD The Company of Biologists info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1242/jeb.186270 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pmid/30455382 hal-01928514 https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01928514 https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01928514/document https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01928514/file/Hedrick_et_al_-_J_Exp_Biol-2018.pdf doi:10.1242/jeb.186270 PUBMED: 30455382 info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess ISSN: 0022-0949 EISSN: 1477-9145 Journal of Experimental Biology https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01928514 Journal of Experimental Biology, 2018, 221 (22), pp.jeb186270. ⟨10.1242/jeb.186270⟩ Rotational stereo videography Kinematics Thermal Soaring Glide polar Wind [SPI.MECA.BIOM]Engineering Sciences [physics]/Mechanics [physics.med-ph]/Biomechanics [physics.med-ph] [SDV.BA.ZV]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology/Vertebrate Zoology [SDV.NEU.PC]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Neurons and Cognition [q-bio.NC]/Psychology and behavior info:eu-repo/semantics/article Journal articles 2018 ftnormandieuniv https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.186270 2023-03-15T00:02:06Z International audience Although the biomechanics of animal flight have been well studied in laboratory apparatus such as wind tunnels for many years, the applicability of these data to natural flight behaviour has been examined in few instances and mostly in the context of long-distance migration. Here, we used rotational stereo-videography to record the free-flight trajectories of foraging common swifts. We found that, despite their exquisite manoeuvring capabilities, the swifts only rarely performed high-acceleration turns. More surprisingly, we also found that despite feeding on tiny insects probably moving with ambient flow, the birds adjust their air speed to optimize cost of transport over distance. Finally, swifts spent only 25% of their time flapping; the majority of their time (71%) was spent in extended wing gliding, during which the average power expended for changes in speed or elevation was 0.84 W kg−1 and not significantly different from 0. Thus, gliding swifts extracted sufficient environmental energy to pay the cost of flight during foraging. Article in Journal/Newspaper Apus apus Normandie Université: HAL Journal of Experimental Biology 221 22 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Normandie Université: HAL |
op_collection_id |
ftnormandieuniv |
language |
English |
topic |
Rotational stereo videography Kinematics Thermal Soaring Glide polar Wind [SPI.MECA.BIOM]Engineering Sciences [physics]/Mechanics [physics.med-ph]/Biomechanics [physics.med-ph] [SDV.BA.ZV]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology/Vertebrate Zoology [SDV.NEU.PC]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Neurons and Cognition [q-bio.NC]/Psychology and behavior |
spellingShingle |
Rotational stereo videography Kinematics Thermal Soaring Glide polar Wind [SPI.MECA.BIOM]Engineering Sciences [physics]/Mechanics [physics.med-ph]/Biomechanics [physics.med-ph] [SDV.BA.ZV]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology/Vertebrate Zoology [SDV.NEU.PC]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Neurons and Cognition [q-bio.NC]/Psychology and behavior Hedrick, Tyson, Pichot, Cécile de Margerie, Emmanuel Gliding for a free lunch: biomechanics of foraging flight in common swifts (Apus apus) |
topic_facet |
Rotational stereo videography Kinematics Thermal Soaring Glide polar Wind [SPI.MECA.BIOM]Engineering Sciences [physics]/Mechanics [physics.med-ph]/Biomechanics [physics.med-ph] [SDV.BA.ZV]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology/Vertebrate Zoology [SDV.NEU.PC]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Neurons and Cognition [q-bio.NC]/Psychology and behavior |
description |
International audience Although the biomechanics of animal flight have been well studied in laboratory apparatus such as wind tunnels for many years, the applicability of these data to natural flight behaviour has been examined in few instances and mostly in the context of long-distance migration. Here, we used rotational stereo-videography to record the free-flight trajectories of foraging common swifts. We found that, despite their exquisite manoeuvring capabilities, the swifts only rarely performed high-acceleration turns. More surprisingly, we also found that despite feeding on tiny insects probably moving with ambient flow, the birds adjust their air speed to optimize cost of transport over distance. Finally, swifts spent only 25% of their time flapping; the majority of their time (71%) was spent in extended wing gliding, during which the average power expended for changes in speed or elevation was 0.84 W kg−1 and not significantly different from 0. Thus, gliding swifts extracted sufficient environmental energy to pay the cost of flight during foraging. |
author2 |
University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (UNC) University of North Carolina System (UNC) Ethologie animale et humaine (EthoS) Université de Caen Normandie (UNICAEN) Normandie Université (NU)-Normandie Université (NU)-Université de Rennes (UR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) National Science Foundation Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Université de Rennes |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Hedrick, Tyson, Pichot, Cécile de Margerie, Emmanuel |
author_facet |
Hedrick, Tyson, Pichot, Cécile de Margerie, Emmanuel |
author_sort |
Hedrick, Tyson, |
title |
Gliding for a free lunch: biomechanics of foraging flight in common swifts (Apus apus) |
title_short |
Gliding for a free lunch: biomechanics of foraging flight in common swifts (Apus apus) |
title_full |
Gliding for a free lunch: biomechanics of foraging flight in common swifts (Apus apus) |
title_fullStr |
Gliding for a free lunch: biomechanics of foraging flight in common swifts (Apus apus) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Gliding for a free lunch: biomechanics of foraging flight in common swifts (Apus apus) |
title_sort |
gliding for a free lunch: biomechanics of foraging flight in common swifts (apus apus) |
publisher |
HAL CCSD |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01928514 https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01928514/document https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01928514/file/Hedrick_et_al_-_J_Exp_Biol-2018.pdf https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.186270 |
genre |
Apus apus |
genre_facet |
Apus apus |
op_source |
ISSN: 0022-0949 EISSN: 1477-9145 Journal of Experimental Biology https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01928514 Journal of Experimental Biology, 2018, 221 (22), pp.jeb186270. ⟨10.1242/jeb.186270⟩ |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1242/jeb.186270 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pmid/30455382 hal-01928514 https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01928514 https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01928514/document https://hal-univ-rennes1.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01928514/file/Hedrick_et_al_-_J_Exp_Biol-2018.pdf doi:10.1242/jeb.186270 PUBMED: 30455382 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.186270 |
container_title |
Journal of Experimental Biology |
container_volume |
221 |
container_issue |
22 |
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1766289145886408704 |