5/30/2023 0 Comments Flying monal bird![]() ![]() "Again, this maximizes oxygen uptake." "A roller-coaster strategy"Īnd part of the birds' secret could simply be not staying up high for too long.Īccording to Bishop, bar-headed geese use " a roller-coaster strategy" during their long migrations, which can span 1,243 to 3,107 miles (2,000 to 5,000 kilometers), covered in flight periods that last from 5 to 200 hours. "Finally, the hemoglobin in their blood has quite a high affinity for oxygen binding," Bishop told Live Science. This rapid breathing makes their blood more alkaline, a change that in humans affects circulation to the brain (which is why hyperventilating makes people feel dizzy or faint).īut geese are very tolerant of high pH (alkaline conditions), Bishop explained, so blood flow to the animals' brains and bodies remains healthy. The geese also hyperventilate to increase their oxygen intake while flying. So what keeps these high fliers going? There are certainly physical adaptations that allow birds to reach exceptional heights, said Charles Bishop, a senior lecturer in zoology at the School of Biological Sciences at Bangor University in the United Kingdom.īishop, who studies high-flying bar-headed geese, told Live Science in an email that the geese do not appear to suffer from altitude sickness or from cerebral or pulmonary edema, "so that, unlike humans they do not feel ill when at high altitude." And the air gets drier - they're more likely to lose water from breathing and evaporation, and be thirsty." At high altitudes, it gets colder, and they need to keep their bodies warm. "As they go higher, they have to flap harder to stay aloft, so their metabolic demands increase. "The first big challenge is that the air gets less dense," he said. "Longer wings are better for generating lift to keep the body aloft."īut it takes more than longer wings to navigate high altitudes, which come with enormous physical trials, Scott added. "That's something we consistently see," Scott said. But what allows them to navigate the air up there? While these birds vary in size, they have one thing in common: a longer wingspan relative to their bodies, compared with birds that fly lower. Somehow, these high flyers can exert themselves at exceptional altitudes. Mallard ducks are known to reach altitudes of 21,000 feet (6,401 m), and Central Asia's bar-headed geese have been directly tracked at 23,917 feet (7,290 m). According to Scott, birds as small as sparrows and hummingbirds in the Alpine region can be found at altitudes of 16,404 feet (5,000 m), while massive Andean condors glide on air currents at heights of 18,044 feet (5,500 m). ![]()
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