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Common Swift (Apus apus)

Common Swift (Apus apus)
Common Swift (Apus apus)

About Common Swift (Apus apus)

  • Kingdom: Animals
  • Phylum: Chordates
  • Class: Birds
  • Order: Hummingbirds and Swifts
  • Family: Swifts

Change increases aerodynamic performance: common swift
 

Wings of gliding birds increase aerodynamic performance by continuously changing shape and size.

 
Move or stay put > Move > In gases 
 
  "Gliding birds continually change the shape and size of their wings, presumably to exploit the profound effect of wing morphology on aerodynamic performance. That birds should adjust wing sweep to suit glide speed has been predicted qualitatively by analytical glide models, which extrapolated the wing's performance envelope from aerodynamic theory. Here we describe the aerodynamic and structural performance of actual swift wings, as measured in a wind tunnel, and on this basis build a semi-empirical glide model. By measuring inside and outside swifts' behavioural envelope, we show that choosing the most suitable sweep can halve sink speed or triple turning rate. Extended wings are superior for slow glides and turns; swept wings are superior for fast glides and turns. This superiority is due to better aerodynamic performance—with the exception of fast turns. Swept wings are less effective at generating lift while turning at high speeds, but can bear the extreme loads. Finally, our glide model predicts that cost-effective gliding occurs at speeds of 8–10 m s-1, whereas agility-related figures of merit peak at 15–25 m s-1. In fact, swifts spend the night ('roost') in flight at 8–10 m s-1 (ref. 11), thus our model can explain this choice for a resting behaviour. Morphing not only adjusts birds' wing performance to the task at hand, but could also control the flight of future aircraft." (Lentink et al. 2007: 1082)
  Learn more about this functional adaptation.
The Biomimicry Institute

Lifelists

Trips

Visits

  • 2006-03-25
    Goksu Delta, Turkey
  • 2006-03-30
    Antalya, Turkey
    Nesting in some of the buildings.
    Image from 2006-03-30
  • 2008-07-14
    Moscow, Russia
  • 2008-07-29
    Barnaul, Russia
  • 2013-11-01
    Kalokol, Kenya
    Not 100% sure on ID.
  • 2013-11-05
    Lokichar, Kenya
    Not 100% sure on ID.
  • 2015-03-31
    Casar de Caceres, Spain
  • 2015-04-03
    Parque del Retiro, Spain
  • 2017-01-08
    Queen Elizabeth II National Park, Uganda
  • 2025-02-18
    Marrakesh, Morocco
  • 2025-03-05
    Guadalmesi, Spain