Wind tunnel helps show how birds fly so far without water

[n2doc]

By Eryn Brown, Los Angeles Times
September 9, 2011, 4:42 p.m.

Twice a year, bar-tailed godwits migrate more than 7,000 miles so they can spend their summers in Alaska and their winters in New Zealand. Bar-headed geese fly about 2,000 miles between Mongolia and India, traveling at altitudes high enough to clear the top of Mt. Everest.

Such flights are physically draining, requiring birds to expend enormous amounts of energy without stopping for food or water. For years, scientists have wondered how they do it.

Now researchers think they've figured out how birds stay hydrated on their marathon journeys.

Observing tiny songbirds as they flew for hours in a state-of-the-art wind tunnel, biologists at the University of Western Ontario in Canada discovered that the animals conserve water by burning muscle and organs instead of fat.

more

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-migrating-birds-muscle-20110910,0,1539627.story

[fascisthunter]

1. interesting (nt)

[virgogal]

2. Fascinating. After seeing "Winged MIgration" any fact on these

wonderful birds intrigues me.

[fascisthunter]

3. has that film been aired on any cable channel...

...such as Discovery, Science Channel or Animal Planet?

[virgogal]

4. I don't know. I only watched it because it was a bad TV night

and I became totally,utterly, transfixed.

A wonderful piece of filming.

I don't even remember how I viewed it---TV or DVD,it was about 3 years ago.

It must have been incredible in the theaters with the large screens.

[fascisthunter]

5. I saw a similar show, but it was just a show, and not a movie

I agree with you.... I happen to be a nature show junky! It's almost all I care to watch on my free time.

It probably was amazing in the theatre, especially with today's technology.

[fascisthunter]

6. I Just Saw "Great Migrations"(I think) on the Discovery Channel

just yesterday.... very well done!