edstrom@Elmer.cns.ucalgary.ca (John Edstrom) (12/19/90)
I`ve heard that some birds are capable of prolonged flight and spend many days in the air. I can believe this of birds like albatrosses that are adapted to gliding. But I`ve heard also that some swallows will spend months in the air without landing. This sounds a little far fetched to me. Could anyone confirm or refute these stories and point me at a good, short review of the subject? John -- RM 2104, HSc Building, Div. Neuroscience U. Calgary School of Medicine, 3330 Hospital Drive NW Calgary, Alberta T2N 3Y4 (403) 220 4493 (wk)
A.S.Chamove@massey.ac.nz (A.S. Chamove) (12/20/90)
Some swallows are reputed never to land except to nest. They (presumably) sleep on the wing. If you look at their feet, it is clear that they are not designed to land, and if they do land on the ground they have great trouble getting airborne. -- ----------------------------------------------------------------- Arnold Chamove Massey University Psychology Palmerston North, New Zealand
andrewt@cs.su.oz (Andrew Taylor) (12/20/90)
In article <1990Dec18.162433.20027@cpsc.ucalgary.ca> edstrom@Elmer.cns.ucalgary.ca (John Edstrom) writes: > > I`ve heard that some birds are capable of prolonged flight and spend many > days in the air. I can believe this of birds like albatrosses that are adapted > to gliding. But I`ve heard also that some swallows will spend months in the > air without landing. This sounds a little far fetched to me. Outside migration I doubt if any swallows spend more than a day in the air. There would seem little reason for them not roosting at night. Some swifts spend months and perhaps even years on the wing. Similarly sooty terns spend almost all their time on the wing. They are birds of the open ocean but they can not land for long on the water before becoming waterlogged. Such birds are not easy to study, your best chance for more detailed information is probably work on the European Swift (Apus apus) Andrew