David D Miller wrote:
>> On the topic of birds in the sky, most usually Canada geese in this case,
>> they often form a letter "V" formation with one arm of the V noticeably
>> shorter than the other.
>>
>> The question is, why is the one arm shorter than the other?
>>
>
> The bird flying point has the hardest job, pushing through undisturbed air
> and creating a wake that others behind can fly in more easily. The formation
> needs to change leader frequently to avoid any one member of the
> team getting too tired. To change, the leader just needs to drop back very
> slightly to one side - and the next bird on the other side moves forward to
> take the point.
>
I agree up to this point.
> Several such changes in the same direction will leave one side of the
> formation very much shorter than the other.
>
Here, I just don't believe it is random. I'll bet there is an aero/fluid
dynamics reason. I guess that once the distance between birds on the two
sides of the vee exceeds a certain amount, interaction/interference
between the waves caused by their winds flapping causes drag, loss of
lift, tiring bumpiness, something, that outweighs the other advantages
of the vee formation.
Moose
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