Pigeons trade efficiency for stability in response to level of challenge during confined flight
Abstract
The real world is a cluttered environment and animals traversing it are faced with innumerable obstacles in their normal locomotion. During normal flight, birds have to avoid hitting trees, lampposts, and other members of flocks. To investigate flight strategies used in these circumstances, we presented pigeons with a simplified challenge, a series of vertical gaps with variable spacings. The pigeons used two discrete postures. One posture granted them greater flight efficiency but was more disrupted when they collided with obstacles, and was used for traversing larger gaps. An alternate flight posture was less efficient but more stable when slight collisions occurred, and was used for traversing smaller gaps. To our knowledge, this is the first time we have seen flight strategies tuned during use in cluttered environments.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Mar 02, 2015
- Source ID
- 10.1073/pnas.1407298112
Entities
People
- Andrew A Biewener
- C. David Williams
Organizations
- Harvard University
- National Science Foundation
- Office of Naval Research