How High Can Birds Fly?

Get started with Brilliant's tutor for free and get 20% off an annual subscription at https://brilliant.org/minuteearth In 1973, an airliner struck a bird called a Rüppell's griffon vulture – which, on its own, isn't that weird; planes hit birds pretty regularly during takeoffs and landings. But this collision happened at a cruising height of over 11,000 meters – WAY above the height at which most birds fly – which makes us wonder: what is the highest a bird can actually fly? LEARN MORE ************** To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords: - Lift Coefficient: A dimensionless number that represents how effectively a wing generates lift based on its shape and angle. The higher the coefficient, the more lift produced. - Square Cube Law: A principle stating that as an object increases in size, its volume grows much faster than its surface area. This affects heat loss/gain and strength, impacting flight feasibility. SUPPORT MINUTEEARTH ************************** If you like what we do, you can help us!: - Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth - Our merch: http://dftba.com/minuteearth - Our book: https://minuteearth.com/books - Sign up to our newsletter: http://news.minuteearth.com - Share this video with your friends and family - Leave us a comment (we read them!) CREDITS ********* Cameron Duke | Script Writer, Narrator and Director Arcadi Garcia i Rius | Storyboard Artist Sarah Berman | Illustration, Video Editing and Animation Nathaniel Schroeder | Music MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC https://neptunestudios.info OUR STAFF ************ Lizah van der Aart • Sarah Berman • Cameron Duke Arcadi Garcia i Rius • David Goldenberg • Melissa Hayes Henry Reich • Ever Salazar • Leonardo Souza • Kate Yoshida OUR LINKS ************ Youtube | https://youtube.com/MinuteEarth TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@minuteearth Twitter | https://twitter.com/MinuteEarth Instagram | https://instagram.com/minute_earth Facebook | https://facebook.com/Minuteearth Website | https://minuteearth.com Apple Podcasts| https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/minuteearth/id649211176 REFERENCES ************** Special thanks to Dr. Maria Stager and Dr. Bret Tobalkse Grubb, B.R. (1983). Allometric relations of cardiovascular function in birds. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpheart.1983.245.4.H567 Bishop, C.M. (1999). Heart mass and the maximum cardiac output of birds and mammals: implications for estimating the maximum aerobic power input of flying animals. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.1999.0919 Hawkes, L.A., et al (2011). The trans-Himalayan flights of bar-headed geese (Anser indicus). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1017295108 Hawkes, L.A., et al (2013). The paradox of extreme high-altitude migration in bar-headed geese Anser indicus. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.2114 Tennekes, H. (2009). The Simple Science of Flight: From Insects to Jumbo Jets (revised and expanded ed.). MIT Press. ISBN: 9780262700658 Senner, N.R., et al (2018). High-altitude shorebird migration in the absence of topographical barriers: avoiding high air temperatures and searching for profitable winds. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2018.0569 McKechnie, A.E. & Swanson, D.L. (2010). Sources and significance of variation in basal, summit and maximal metabolic rates in birds. https://doi.org/10.1093/czoolo/56.6.741 Tucker, V.A. (1968). Respiratory physiology of house sparrows in relation to high-altitude flight. https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.48.1.55 Shyy, W., Aono, H., Kang, C., & Liu, H. (2013). An Introduction to Flapping Wing Aerodynamics. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139583916 Scott, G.R., et al (2015). How bar-headed geese fly over the Himalayas. https://doi.org/10.1152/physiol.00050.2014 Meir, J.U., et al (2019). Reduced metabolism supports hypoxic flight in the high-flying bar-headed goose (Anser indicus). https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.44986 Scott, G.R. (2011). Elevated performance: