Date: June 19, 2019
Source: Swansea University
We marvel at flying animals
because it seems like they can access anywhere, but a first study of its kind
has revealed that wind can prevent seabirds from accessing the most important
of habitats: their nests.
If human pilots or animals are to
land safely, they must monitor and respond to the wind. These ideas are well
established in aeronautical engineering, but how the win affects the ability of
birds to land has never been considered before.
In a paper published
by eLife, biologists including Dr Emily Shepard at Swansea University
observed common guillemots and razorbills attempting to land on their breeding
cliffs on Skomer Island, Wales. They then teamed up with Dr Andrew Ross, a
meteorologist at Leeds University, to assess how the number of successful and
aborted landings varied with the wind and turbulence around Skomer.
Seabirds live in windy, often
remote places. Many species choose to breed on steep cliffs, where nests cannot
be reached by land-based predators. Here, adults must land on small ledges, and
they must do this with sufficient control that they do not dislodge their egg
or chick.
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