Baptiste Garde

TL;DR: In this paper , the authors used body-mounted accelerometers for estimating power use in flying birds, as the signal varies with the two major kinematic determinants of aerodynamic power: wingbeat frequency and amplitude, and found that birds were more likely to modulate amplitude for more energy-demanding flight modes, including climbing and take-off.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors equipped homing pigeons with high-frequency loggers to examine how flight speed, and hence effort, varies in relation to topography and land cover and found that pigeons showed mixed evidence for an energy-saving strategy, as they minimized climb rates by starting their ascent ahead of hills, but selected rapid speeds in their ascents.

TL;DR: In this article , a range of pressure and acceleration proxies were tested against independent turbulence measurements from a tri-axial anemometer mounted onboard an ultralight flying the same route, with stronger turbulence causing increasing vertical displacement.

TL;DR: Thermal soaring, previously thought to be limited to birds with low wing loading, is observed in red-tailed tropicbirds, suggesting diverse seabirds may use this strategy to reduce flight costs, particularly with tailwinds and during non-breeding seasons.