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A comment on Andean condor can fly for 100 miles without flapping wings. Parent comment

Re:Andean condor can fly for 100 miles without flapping wings by tim333 on Tuesday July 14, 2020 @04:09AM (#23829614)
There's research that they use dynamic soaring more, getting energy from the different wind speeds at sea level and a bit above https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMX2wCJga8g
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Re:Andean condor can fly for 100 miles without flapping wings by crubier on Tuesday July 14, 2020 @06:18AM (#23830242)
Gotta love the end of the video aha! But the whole video is very interesting. As a kayaker myself I can definitely “feel” the phenomenon they are talking about of extracting energy by alternating on two sides of a flow gradient.
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Re:Andean condor can fly for 100 miles without flapping wings by frandroid on Tuesday July 14, 2020 @10:48AM (#23832590)
Next up in kayagliding...
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Re:Andean condor can fly for 100 miles without flapping wings by sails on Tuesday July 14, 2020 @06:40AM (#23830367)
That is very interesting. I always assumed sea birds used combination of wing in ground effect [1] and the lift of wind hitting the front of waves to cover long distance, but this explanation makes much more sense for birds crossing oceans.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkVVnx70FgI

Edit: It just occurred to me that the albatross is in some way surfing the wind in much the same way a surfer pumps along a wave to generate speed.

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