Avian flight

Contents......Page 14
1.1 Introduction......Page 18
1.2 Ancient thoughts......Page 19
1.3 A chronicle of cognition......Page 22
1.4 The rise of aerodynamics......Page 26
1.5 Application of principles......Page 31
1.6 Accumulation of knowledge in the twentieth century......Page 34
1.7 Novel initiatives......Page 40
1.8 Summary and conclusions......Page 41
2.1 Introduction......Page 42
2.2 Wing morphology......Page 43
2.3 Dynamic wing properties......Page 51
2.4 Scaling wings......Page 54
2.5 Attempts to a functional interpretation of bird wings......Page 56
2.6 Tail structure and function......Page 57
2.7 The rest of the body in relation to flight......Page 60
2.8 Summary and conclusions......Page 61
3.2 General description of contour feathers......Page 63
3.3 Mechanical properties of feathers......Page 67
3.4 Functional interpretation of flight-related microstructures......Page 72
3.5 Tail feathers......Page 78
3.6 Feather muscles and nerves......Page 79
3.7 Summary and conclusions......Page 81
4.2 Rough estimates of forces and power......Page 83
4.3 Visualization of the wake......Page 89
4.4 The flow near a steadily gliding wing......Page 93
4.5 Aerodynamics of flapping flight......Page 104
4.6 Tail aerodynamics......Page 105
4.7 Summary and conclusions......Page 106
5.1 Introduction......Page 108
5.2 Archaeopteryx......Page 109
5.3 Landing after an arboreal or cursorial start?......Page 113
5.4 The Jesus-Christ dinosaur hypothesis......Page 115
5.5 How could Archaeopteryx run over water?......Page 119
5.6 Other fossils with characteristics possibly related to the beginning of flight......Page 130
5.7 Summary and conclusions......Page 133
6.1 Introduction......Page 135
6.2 The flight plan......Page 136
6.3 Cruising flight characteristics......Page 141
6.4 Hovering......Page 153
6.5 Windhovering......Page 155
6.6 Techniques to reduce the energetic demands of flapping flight......Page 159
6.7 Gliding......Page 164
6.8 Manoeuvring......Page 168
6.9 Accurate measurements of speed......Page 169
6.10 Summary and conclusions......Page 170
7.2 A glimpse under a starling\'s cowling......Page 173
7.3 Muscle activity......Page 177
7.4 Pectoralis force and work: using the deltopectoral crest as a strain gauge......Page 182
7.5 The main upstroke muscle......Page 186
7.6 Tail steering......Page 188
7.7 Wing beat cycles and respiration......Page 190
7.8 Summary and conclusions......Page 191
8.1 Introduction......Page 193
8.2 Mass loss estimates......Page 194
8.3 Respirometric results from cunning experiments......Page 203
8.4 Gas exchange measurements in wind tunnels......Page 205
8.5 Measurements based on the turnover of stable isotopes......Page 209
8.6 The cost of hovering......Page 217
8.7 Summary and conclusions......Page 220
9.1 Introduction......Page 222
9.2 How to make fair comparisons?......Page 223
9.3 Flight costs related to body mass......Page 224
9.4 Birds compared with other flyers......Page 229
9.5 Metabolic rates as units of energy expenditure......Page 231
9.6 Predictions from aerodynamic models......Page 232
9.7 Hovering flight......Page 237
9.8 Summary and conclusions......Page 240
Appendix 1......Page 241
Appendix 2......Page 245
Appendix 3......Page 249
References......Page 252
C......Page 269
F......Page 270
J......Page 271
O......Page 272
S......Page 273
W......Page 274
Y......Page 275