The flapping motion is more akin to a fish’s tail fin flapping back and forth to propel it through the water than the complicated motions of a bird’s wings, but the basic idea is the same.

"We not only confirmed the way that these birds make sounds with their feathers, but that the sounds are different for the two subspecies." Although it’s not uncommon for birds to communicate with ...

The AlbatrossONE, a model based on the Airbus A321, is constructed from carbon-fiber and glass-fiber-reinforced polymers and has “semi-aeroelastic” hinged wing-tips that flex to reduce drag ...

Some birds fly by flapping their wings, then fixing them in position like an aircraft and gliding, then flap them again; flap flap flap glide glide glide flap flap.

That “vortex breakdown” is similar to the effect seen in the wake turbulence created by airliners, and its challenge to the accepted theories of bird-flight dynamics could have implications for ...

A bird in laser goggles has helped scientists discover a new phenomenon in the physics of flight. To study the complex air currents produced by birds’ flapping wings, the researchers trained a ...

Archaeopteryx had wing bone structures most similar to pheasants and quails, birds that are capable of small bursts of active flapping flight, the researchers report March 13 in Nature Communications.