The wings of the wings of the Andean condors ‘only flap their wings 1% of the time’

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Facundo Vital

The researchers found that the world’s heaviest flying bird flaps its wings only 1% of the time during flight.

The Andean condor, which can weigh up to 15 kg, uses air currents to stay in the air for hours at a time.

Flight recorders found that one bird flew for five hours without flapping, covering approximately 172 km (107 miles).

The study is part of a collaboration between Professor Emily Shepard of the University of Swansea and Dr. Sergio Lambertucci in Argentina.

They wanted to know more about how birds’ flight efforts vary based on environmental conditions.

Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study found that 75% of bird flapping was associated with takeoff.

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Swansea University

Professor Shepard said the research showed “how flexible their flight strategies are.”

“Human glider pilots can fly all day if conditions are right, so in some ways the performance of the condor may not seem surprising,” he said.

“But the glider pilots look at the weather and decide whether or not it is good to fly.

“Condors will probably do this to some degree, but at some point they will be hungry and will have to fly to find food.”

“They feed on corpses, but they don’t necessarily appear in ideal places for condors to fly.”

“So we were hoping that they might encounter some difficult conditions, or at least conditions that make them flap their wings, in search of food.”

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Alvaro Moya Riffo

Dr. Lambertucci said the birds needed to find upward air to “avoid an unplanned landing.”

“These risks are greater when moving between thermal updrafts,” he said.

“Thermals can behave like lava lamps, with air bubbles rising intermittently from the ground when the air is hot enough.

“So birds can get to the right place for a thermal, but at the wrong time.”