national aviary >> wing shapes and sizes

LIFT OFF!
How do birds do it? You can figure it out by building different bird models, with different features that may or may not help it fly.

A BIG ENOUGH WING
Hummingbirds beat their tiny wings hundreds of times a second. Condors glide for hours without flapping once. Compare the biggest and smallest wings..

MIGRATION HOPSCOTCH
Think flying is hard? How about flying thousands of miles every spring and fall, navigating to the same spot year after year. Play this game to try to make the journey.

The ratio of the length of the wings to its width is called the aspect ratio.

Doves and woodpeckers have a low aspect ratio. To get away from predators
quickly these birds make sharp turns. The shape of their wings allows them
to do so. On the other hand, falcons and frigate birds have high aspect ratios,
giving them the ability to sustain high-speed flight for long periods. However,
these birds do not have wings that can be flapped as rapidly as their
woodpecker cousins who have better maneuverability.

Wing loading is the relationship between wing area and body mass given in
grams per square centimeter of wing surface area. Birds can have small
wings relative to body mass, others have proportionately large wing areas.
If a bird is small but has rather large wings, it will have a low wing loading.
A large bird with small wings will consequently have a high wing loading.

Its elliptical wings allow the Spitfire to turn sharply without causing so much drag that its acceleration is hampered. This odd shaping allowed it a maneuverability advantage over other airplanes with similar wing areas and weights.

Probably the most maneuverable of all birds is the Cooper's Hawk. Its long tail acts as a rudder when flying through heavily wooded areas, allowing it to catch up to other birds which must slow down to turn efficiently.

A glider's wing is shaped in a way to maximize lift. This is achieved by its ultra low weight and minimal wing area, allowing maximum hangtime with a fair amount of maneuverability.

Generally, however, wind controls how fast a glider can reach a specific location.

The Albatross lets wind do nearly all of the work when it glides over the sea, catching updrafts from the swells as well as riding breezes for miles without ever landing.

It can cover areas of up to 900 kilometers looking for a single meal, so gliding is crucial for its survival.

The Concorde is one of the fastest airplanes around. Its wing ratio is just enough to keep it level while accelerating at speeds of up to Mach 2, that's around 1500 miles per hour! The harsh angle of the wings greatly reduces drag.

The Peregrine Falcon, the fastest animal on earth, attains such high speeds of up to 180 miles per hour by tucking in its highly maneuverable wings and darting down towards the earth in order to reduce drag.

The wing ratio of a U2 spyplane is ideal for moving slowly and not consuming a lot of energy, allowing it to stay aloft longer - all necessary for spying!

This vulture can stay aloft for long periods of time just by riding on columns of warm, rising air and rarely flapping its massive wings.

The helicopter is the most versatile flying machine, with the ability to rotate in one place, hover, and climb, all at a moments notice.

The main rotor controls the height coupled with the tail rotor controlling the rotation, added together, the two circles these blades make are quite similar to the figure eight control a hummingbird uses.

The Rufous Hummingbird, like other hummingbirds, has the ability to hover in one place or even fly backwards. It does this by rotating its wings in a figure 8.

This bird is the most maneuverable hummingbird. Because of this, it usually maintains control over food sources like birdfeeders or flowers as it can get there before less maneuverable hummingbirds.

Its migration route is also far longer than other hummingbirds.