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The flight of some species is characterised by a distinctive "flicking" action quite different from swallows. Swifts range in size from the pygmy swiftlet ( Collocalia troglodytes ), which weighs 5.4 g and measures 9 cm (3.5 in) long, to the purple needletail ( Hirundapus celebensis ), which weighs 184 g (6.5 oz) and measures 25 cm (9.8 in) long.
In nature, birds of the same species in flight often form homogeneous groups for various reasons, such as to defend against predators. This behavior of birds has been observed by people since time immemorial, and is the source of the idiom ("of a feather" means "of the same plumage," that is, of the same species).
Bird flight is the primary mode of locomotion used by most bird species in which birds take off and fly. Flight assists birds with feeding, breeding , avoiding predators , and migrating . Bird flight includes multiple types of motion, including hovering, taking off, and landing, involving many complex movements.
Flocking is the behavior exhibited when a group of birds, called a flock, are foraging or in flight. Sheep and goats also exhibit flocking behavior. Computer simulations and mathematical models that have been developed to emulate the flocking behaviours of birds can also generally be applied to the "flocking" behaviour of other species.
Birds (flying, soaring) – Most of the approximately 10,000 living species can fly (flightless birds are the exception). Bird flight is one of the most studied forms of aerial locomotion in animals. See List of soaring birds for birds that can soar as well as fly. Townsends's big-eared bat, (Corynorhinus townsendii) displaying the "hand wing"
Communal roosting is an animal behavior where a group of individuals, typically of the same species, congregate in an area for a few hours based on an external signal and will return to the same site with the reappearance of the signal. [1] [2] Environmental signals are often responsible for this grouping, including nightfall, high tide, or ...
The following cladogram is based on the analysis by Hartman et al. (2019), which found flight likely evolved five separate times among paravian dinosaurs, two of those among Avialae (in Scansoriopterygids and other avialans). Archaeopteryx and "anchiornithids" were placed in Deinonychosauria, Avialae's sister group. [5]
During spring, barring on the underwings and flight feathers is a better indicator of a young bird, due to wear on the upperparts. [29] In flight, the osprey has arched wings and drooping "hands", giving it a gull-like appearance. The call is a series of sharp whistles, described as cheep, cheep, or yewk, yewk.