WEBVTT - How Long Can Andean Condors Fly Without Flapping Their WIngs?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren bogel Bomb Here. Imagine your average three year old

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<v Speaker 1>human child, something around three ft or a meter tall,

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<v Speaker 1>probably covered in jam. Now imagine that child trying to

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<v Speaker 1>get off the ground with a pair of wings. They

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<v Speaker 1>have to be pretty big wings. Welcome to the plight

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<v Speaker 1>of the Andean condor, species name Voltore griffiths, the heaviest

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<v Speaker 1>flying bird in the world, weighing in it up to

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<v Speaker 1>thirty three pounds or fifteen kilos. They keep their heavy

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<v Speaker 1>bodies in the air with some of the longest wings

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<v Speaker 1>in the world. Their wingspan can range over ten ft long,

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<v Speaker 1>that's over three meters. There are only a handful of

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<v Speaker 1>birds currently living on our planet that have larger wingspans,

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<v Speaker 1>and they're all pelagic birds. Polagic birds being seabirds that

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<v Speaker 1>soar over the open ocean for weeks at a time,

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<v Speaker 1>such as albatross, petrols, and shear waters. As far as

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<v Speaker 1>we know, the largest bird ever to fly was the

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<v Speaker 1>polygornous sandersy, which lived twenty five to twenty eight million

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<v Speaker 1>years ago and was twice as large as the biggest

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<v Speaker 1>bird living today, with a wingspan of twenty four ft

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<v Speaker 1>or over seven ms. The seabirds can accomplish this thanks

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<v Speaker 1>in part to the literally uplifting winds that flow over oceans.

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<v Speaker 1>The Indian condor, however, mostly relies on up drafts high

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<v Speaker 1>in the Andes Mountains across much of western South America.

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<v Speaker 1>The problem with being such a huge bird is that

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<v Speaker 1>it makes getting off the ground or even flapping those

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<v Speaker 1>giant wings in flight a bit of an ordeal. Soaring

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<v Speaker 1>is easy once they're up in the sky, and that's

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<v Speaker 1>mainly what Andian condors do. They just float like hang

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<v Speaker 1>gliders in the air currents, sometimes surveying the ground for

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<v Speaker 1>dead animals to eat as it's a scavenger, and sometimes

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<v Speaker 1>just having a nap. But this means that taking off

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<v Speaker 1>is the most costly part of the bird's overall energy supply,

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<v Speaker 1>a sign Tists have always known that they spend very

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<v Speaker 1>little time flapping their wings, but a study published in

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<v Speaker 1>July in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

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<v Speaker 1>found the Antian condors flap their wings a sum total

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<v Speaker 1>of almost never. Not only did the researchers find that

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<v Speaker 1>the colossal birds only flap their wings around one percent

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<v Speaker 1>of their total flight time. They discovered a bird could

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<v Speaker 1>fly for five hours and more than a hundred miles

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<v Speaker 1>or a hundred and fifty kilometers without flapping them once.

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<v Speaker 1>The research team found that weather didn't affect how much

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<v Speaker 1>flapping the condors were doing. Study co author Hannah Williams,

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<v Speaker 1>a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behavior,

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<v Speaker 1>said in a press release. This suggests that decisions about

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<v Speaker 1>when and where to land are crucial, as not only

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<v Speaker 1>do condors need to be able to take off again,

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<v Speaker 1>but unnecessary landings will add significantly to their overall flight costs,

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<v Speaker 1>all of which means that Indian condors must understand how

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<v Speaker 1>to use thermals thermals being invisible patterns and bubbles of

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<v Speaker 1>air moving all around in the atmosphere to their advantage,

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<v Speaker 1>and they must understand this much better than scientists previously

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<v Speaker 1>gave them credit for. Today's episode was written by Jesselyn

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<v Speaker 1>Shields and produced by Tyler Clang. For more on this

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<v Speaker 1>and lots of other high flying topics, visit how stuff

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