wind tunnel
- Flight muscle protein damage during endurance flight is related to energy expenditure but not dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids in a migratory bird
Summary: Migration is oxidatively challenging for birds, and in yellow-rumped warblers, the oxidative challenge is strongly related to energy expenditure during flight but not dietary long-chain PUFA.
- Effects of experimental manipulation of hematocrit on avian flight performance in high- and low-altitude conditions
Summary: Manipulation of hematocrit in yellow-rumped warblers provides experimental evidence that the relationship between hematocrit and exercise performance is dependent on altitude.
- Kinematic control of male Allen's hummingbird wing trill over a range of flight speeds
Summary: The sexually selected 9 kHz wing trill of male Allen's hummingbirds is substantially louder in maneuvers than in rectilinear flight, and appears to be produced in supination.
- Light oiling of feathers increases flight energy expenditure in a migratory shorebird
Highlighted Article: Light to moderate contamination of feathers with crude oil increases the energy cost of flight by 22–45% and has important implications for all activities requiring flight, including long-distance migration.
- Aerodynamic consequences of wing morphing during emulated take-off and gliding in birds
Summary: Wing posture has a greater effect on aerodynamic performance during emulated flapping than during emulated gliding. Extended wing morphology (i.e. emarginate primaries) may be more important during take-off and landing than during gliding.
- Wake analysis of aerodynamic components for the glide envelope of a jackdaw (Corvus monedula)
Summary: Measurements of aerodynamic drag on a jackdaw indicate that lift-induced drag increases with wing flexing and with tail use, while tail use also increases body drag.
- Smithornis broadbills produce loud wing song by aeroelastic flutter of medial primary wing feathers
Highlighted Article: Smithornis broadbills produce a loud klaxon-like wing song by aeroelastic flutter of wing feathers P6 and P7, and not the outer primaries P9/P10.