QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by SPEDDING, G. R. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by SPEDDING, G. R.

Journal of Experimental Biology 127,45-57 (1987)
Published by Company of Biologists 1987

The Wake of a Kestrel (Falco Tinnunculus) in Gliding Flight

G. R. SPEDDING ¹

¹ Department of Zoology, University of Bristol, Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1UG; Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Southern California, University Park, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0192, USA.

The wake of a kestrel gliding down a 36 m long corridor was examined using multiple-flash stereo photographs of small bubbles of helium in soap solution. Qualitatively and quantitatively, the wake is very similar to that which would be measured behind an elliptically loaded aerofoil of the same span. The significance of this close agreement with classical aerodynamic theory is briefly discussed and the results are compared with others measured or assumed in the bird flight literature.

Key words: kestrel, wake, flight

Accepted on August 19, 1986

This article has been cited by other articles:

				U. M. L. Norberg and Y. Winter Wing beat kinematics of a nectar-feeding bat, Glossophaga soricina, flying at different flight speeds and Strouhal numbers J. Exp. Biol., October 1, 2006; 209(19): 3887 - 3897. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. R. Spedding, M. Rosen, and A. Hedenstrom A family of vortex wakes generated by a thrush nightingale in free flight in a wind tunnel over its entire natural range of flight speeds J. Exp. Biol., July 15, 2003; 206(14): 2313 - 2344. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. N. Askew, R. L. Marsh, and C. P. Ellington The mechanical power output of the flight muscles of blue-breasted quail (Coturnix chinensis) during take-off J. Exp. Biol., January 11, 2001; 204(21): 3601 - 3619. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M Rosen and A Hedenstrom Gliding flight in a jackdaw: a wind tunnel study J. Exp. Biol., January 3, 2001; 204(6): 1153 - 1166. [Abstract] [PDF]

				G. V. Lauder Function of the Caudal Fin During Locomotion in Fishes: Kinematics, Flow Visualization, and Evolutionary Patterns Integr. Comp. Biol., February 1, 2000; 40(1): 101 - 122. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Rayner Estimating power curves of flying vertebrates J. Exp. Biol., January 12, 1999; 202(23): 3449 - 3461. [Abstract] [PDF]