How Birds Fly

BirdNote^®

How Birds Fly

Written by Conor Gearin

This is BirdNote.

    [Trumpeter Swans taking off]

When birds take to the air, what actually lets them leave the ground and fly?

The secret to birds’ flight starts with the shape of their wings. They’re curved in a way that causes air to flow more slowly under the wing than above it. That creates an area of low pressure just above the wing that pulls the bird up into the sky—a force called lift.

    [Airplane taking off]

Airplane wings are curved in a similar way. Called an airfoil, these curved structures create lift as air flows across them.

    [Canada Geese taking off]

But unlike an airplane, bird wings don’t stay in place – they flap! That lets birds push their way into the air from a dead stop, unlike planes which need a long runway.  

On the upstroke of a wing-flap, birds fold their wings inward, reducing drag on the wing. They can also let air slip through the gaps in their feathers as they raise their wings, making the upstroke even more efficient.

The details of bird flight have influenced many technologies, from new types of aircraft to the design of wind turbines. Who knows what birds will inspire next?

For BirdNote, I’m Michael Stein.

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Senior Producer: John Kessler
Producer: Mark Bramhill
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Conor Gearin
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Trumpeter Swan ML521589031 recorded by Jay McGowan, and Canada Goose ML150637371 recorded by Bill Schmoker.
Airplane sound by user doobit on freesound.org (CC Sampling+)
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2023 BirdNote November 2023
Narrator: Michael Stein

ID# flight-17-2023-12-08    flight-17