Page 74 - The Miracle of Migration in Animals

THE MIRACLE OF MIGRATION IN ANIMALS

In a V formation, each bird flapping its wings creates an airflow that lifts
the bird following behind. A group of geese in this formation can increase
their flight range by up to 70%, using the airflow created by the flapping of
their wings. Thus they can travel almost twice as far as a group than they
could fly individually.

sides. The V formation restores the balance. In a regular V formation,
each bird expends the same amount of energy. If one member moves
ahead of the V line, it must use more power to keep up with the flight
and its speed falls until it is back in line. In this way, the formation is
self-stabilizing. Even young birds new to flight adjust immediately to
it.
The energy saved as a result is quite significant. According to
scientific reports, a flight of 25 birds can have a 70% range increase
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over a solo bird using the same amount of energy. As we have seen,

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