There is such a bird in the world, its whole life eats and drinks Sarah, it is carried out in the air, even if it is sleeping,
And it will hardly land, for it, it is equal to death, so this bird is also called "the bird born for the sky", this bird is the swift.
So why is this bird so strange? Almost everything in its life is carried out in the air, won't it stop at the ground to rest its feet?
Swifts who love to travel
The scientific name of the Beijing Swift "Apus apus" means "no feet", because it has almost always flown in the air all its life without the opportunity to land, so it is normal to call it "no feet".
Although as birds, other birds are also very fond of flying, but no bird has ever been able to be as good as a swift.
So keen to travel, some scientists in order to record the swift's flight route, with technology to monitor its flight route.
For example, according to 2015 data, the Beijing Swift migrated south around late July, passing through Iran,
Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Angola and other countries finally arrived in southern Africa around the end of October.
According to statistics, its migration journey is about 38,000 kilometers, and the migration journey of a lifetime is equivalent to the distance from the earth to the moon.
For the swift, it spends its entire life in flight, while it is one of the fastest birds in nature, with speeds of up to 353 kilometers per hour.
Its whole life almost never stopped, eating and drinking Sarah in the air
For Swift, its life is almost never stopped, almost all spent in flight,
For example, researchers have found that between September 2013 and April 2014, one swift rested only 4 nights in a 2-month period, and the rest time was extremely short.
And when they rest, they are not like ordinary birds, staying on trees, treetops or on the roof of human beings.
Because even sleeping is carried out in a state of flying in the air, some people may have doubts, that is, they have entered the state of sleep, how to fly?
In fact, this is entirely due to its different brain structure, Swift's two brains can be divided into two relatively independent parts,
Whenever it wants to go to sleep, one of the brains will go to sleep, while the other brain will stay awake, and this behavior belongs to "single hemisphere sleep".
Not only swifts, but also some animals in nature, there are also such animals that can keep them in a state of half awake and half sleep,
While staying asleep, you can also be alert to protect yourself or to achieve other daily activities.
As for eating, they are not like ordinary birds staying in trees or going underground to catch food.
Instead, it is caught directly in the air, it usually feeds on mosquitoes, flies or other insects, etc., and when it is thirsty, it is skipped directly from the surface of the water.
As for solving the problem of convenience, it is natural to say that they are solved by themselves when flying.
One of the more surprising things is that even things like mating are in the air.
Every spring, they rush back from thousands of miles away, and on this journey, they can find their partner.
When a suitable object is found, the male swift maintains its balance by gliding, and then slowly approaches the female swift, brings the body closer, and completes the mating process through cloaca contact.
In order to proceed with the process more smoothly, their flight speed will remain consistent, and soon after their mating process is complete, they will separate.
When swifts lay their eggs, it is a rare rest time among their birds, and they will first choose the address of the nest,
Generally, the location will be selected at cliffs, caves, chimneys, broken trees, etc., and the thin branches, buds, feathers, mosses, etc. will use their own saliva as a dose of mucus, stick these things together, and finally form a "bird's nest".
And those newly born swifts, soon able to learn to fly, I have to say, this is also one of the innate skills of this creature.
Why did Swift fly almost all her life without landing on the ground?
No bird can be like a swift, even if it flies in the air, there are times when it stops and walks to the ground.
But Swift does not, almost all its life in the air, so why is this?
In fact, this is mainly related to the shape of its toes, generally speaking, birds have 4 toes, one of which is backwards, but the four toes of swifts are all forward.
Because the spacing between the toes is too small, the contact area with the ground is limited, so it is difficult to stand on the ground.
Not to mention that when taking off like other birds, they will take off with the help of the power of their legs and pedal the ground, which is indeed a very difficult thing for Swift to complete.
This causes them to be reluctant to fall to the ground once they are in the air, because once they land, it is difficult to take off again.
Even when they build their nests, they will choose places such as cliffs, because these places only need to dive to be able to take off, which is more convenient.
Therefore, it is not that Swifts are unwilling to stop and rest, but because their unique body structure does not allow it.
This creates the "footless bird" Swift, so they can only fly in the air almost all their lives, flying, to accomplish everything in life.