Getting to grips with how birds land stably on complex surfaces

Biewener, Andrew A.

doi:10.1038/d41586-019-02959-w

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07 October 2019

Getting to grips with how birds land stably on complex surfaces

Tree-dwelling birds can land on perches that vary in size and texture. Force measurements and video-footage analysis now reveal that birds rely on rapid and robust adjustments of their toe pads and claws to land stably.

Andrew A. Biewener ⁰

Andrew A. Biewener
1. Andrew A. Biewener is in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Massachusetts 01730, USA.
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Even casual observations of flying birds, bats and insects reveal the adept and seemingly effortless ability of these creatures to land and take off safely from a wide variety of surfaces, whether these are tree branches, telephone wires, flowers or rocks. By contrast, passenger aircraft usually require long, flat runways to accomplish the same feats, and, even so, accidents can occur during take-off or landing. With the rise in the use of aerial drones for a range of applications¹^–⁴, and the challenge of improving the aerodynamics and energy efficiency of drones, given their small size⁵, there is interest in developing drone design to boost their success in landing on a range of complex surfaces. Writing in eLife, Roderick et al.⁶ report their analysis of how Pacific parrotlets (Forpus coelestis) land on different types of perch, providing insights into the landing approach taken by these birds.

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Nature 574, 180-181 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-02959-w

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