Why do migrating birds fly in v formation ?

Answer 1

Aerodynamics. The front bird is punching a hole in the air in front of it, and the birds behind it are "drafting" it, or utilizing that hole in the air so that there is less drag on themselves. The birds take turns being in front so that no bird ever gets too tired.

Answer 2

It's more efficient. The beat of the birds wing causes airflow that can be utilized by the bird behind it and use less energy to stay aloft.

The bird at the very front of the formation expends the most energy because it has to generate all it's lift from it's own wings.

Next time you get a chance, watch a formation of geese, ducks, etc...Notice that the lead bird will drop back in the V and another bird will take over the lead. Being the lead bird is (I suppose) very tiring.

Answer 3

To minimize the friction due to air. Compare it with shape of arrow. An arrow with reverse head will not travel fast. Compare it with the swimming competition. In most of the occasions of the swimming competition, the person swimming in the middle line has the chance of coming first because, the middle line will give less resistance to the swimmer than to the person swimming in the peripheral lines. Now come to the point. Mostly the first bird in a migrating group acts as guide to other younger birds (followers). This first (old) bird may have experience of searching its destination from its previous migrations. It is my assumption that the youger birds are following the old (experienced) birds on both the sides of it, so that the experienced bird remains in the mid of the migrating group. Due to above said reasons, the middle bird (experienced and old) takes the lead position in the 'v' shape and this also helps the old bird to show direction of the destination of the migrating group of birds. This is my assumption only.

Answer 4

A lot of good answers. In addition, the bird at the very back is the one in charge and calling the direction and formation. The Air Force thinks their ideas are best since that's where they derived their formations from.

Answer 5

with the aid of fact the upwash is produced off a chook’s wing advice, it may look effective for birds to fly shoulder-to-shoulder like the offensive line of a soccer team. yet, in accordance to the technology article, one in all those formation could rigidity the birds on the exterior of the formation to artwork lots extra stable than those flanked by making use of birds on the two aspects. those with associates at the two wing advice could savor two times the raise of those on the tip of the line. The V formation ensures that some birds don’t finally end up looking like bodybuilders at the same time as others cruise alongside of their wake. Researchers got here upon that a flock of 25 birds in formation can fly 70 % farther than a single chook making use of the comparable volume of capacity.

Answer 6

So that the birds farther back in the formation can draft off the bird in front. This is the same thing competitive bike riders do.

Answer 7

Most of us have probably seen large groups of migrating birds like geese or ducks flying in formation. These large groups of birds are particularly common in late autumn and early winter when birds migrate from their summer homes in Canada to the warmer climate of the southern United States. Such groups of birds will typically fly in a large "V" shape with one bird in the lead and others trailing behind in two lines.

Scientists who have studied formation flight believe that birds fly in this way for two reasons. The first reason is that the shape of the formation reduces the drag force that each bird experiences compared to if it were flying alone. This decrease in drag occurs thanks to the formation of wingtip vortices described in previous articles.

These vortices are generally undesirable because they create a downwash that increases the induced drag on a wing in flight. However, this downwash is also accompanied by an upwash that can be beneficial to a second wing flying behind and slightly above the first.

A bird flying in one of these upwash regions essentially gains free lift so that it can fly at a lower angle of attack. As angle of attack is reduced, the induced drag is also lowered so that the bird does not need to flap its wings as hard or as often to generate the thrust needed for forward flight. Flapping the wings less often means that the bird's muscles do not work as hard and its heart rate drops. As a result, the bird does not tire as quickly and is able to fly farther.

Researchers explored this theory by monitoring pelican heartbeats during flight. Examination of the data showed that the heart rates of pelicans flying in formation were much lower than that of a bird flying alone. Other studies have estimated that a flock of 25 birds in formation can fly as much as 70% further than a solo bird using the same amount of energy.

Theoretical investigations further support these observations of birds in formation flight. By spacing themselves apart properly, birds can achieve optimum positions that reduce the drag of every bird in the formation. However, not all birds benefit equally. Your speculation about the lead bird being in the best position is actually incorrect. This bird has to work the hardest since it flies into undisturbed air. The upwash that this bird creates improves the aerodynamics of the two behind it, and these two further improve conditions for the next two birds in line.

The majority of the benefit goes to the birds further aft, but the front bird does still gain some reduction in drag. The presence of the two birds flanking the leader helps to dissipate the downwash off the lead bird's wingtips and reduces the induced drag this bird experiences. These two flanking birds also benefit from a similar reduction in drag if outboard birds flank them as well. In other words, the birds in the middle of each of the lines forming the V are in the best position. These birds benefit from the upwash off the lead birds as well as off the trailing birds. This additional bonus means that birds in the middle experience less drag than either the lead bird or the bird at the end of each line.

Another theory as to why birds fly in formation is that this orientation allows the birds to communicate more easily. The V formation provides the birds with good visual contact of each other to keep the flock together. This communication minimizes the possibility of losing birds along the way as the formation crosses vast distances during migration.

Answer 8

Crabs in the caribbean do this as well when they are traveling to the reef for the winter. It helps them move faster so they don't get eaten.