Swifts fly non-stop for 10 months

Kochi: The common swift, with long, blade-like wings, is born to fly. There is nothing else that can explain how these birds can fly for as long as 10 months non-stop. It effortlessly swoops and soars through the air, riding the wind like a creature from mythology. Speaking about the bird, Anders Hedenstrom,  a biologist at Lund University in Sweden, and lead author of a study  in the journal Current Biology says, “It's the most extreme example [of nonstop flight] that we know of.”

In order to study these birds, Hedenstrom and his colleagues spent two years tracking 13 swifts. They placed tiny light sensors and accelerometers loaded into backpacks attached to the birds. The sensors helped them to geolocate the birds by tracking the time of sunrise and sunset. The accelerometers tracked the beating of the swift’s wings and the speed of their forward movement. Thus, the scientists were able to calculate how far and fast the birds were travelling and the amount of time they spent on the ground.

What they found in the study was amazing. The swifts spend 99.5 per cent of their migration time from northern Europe to Central Africa and back in the air. Whenever they did touch down, it was only for an hour or two. They are then back on air for a marathon flight. It would seem that rest is something alien to them. Three of the birds in the experiment, never landed at all. They spent the entire time on air, flying over 10,000 miles without stopping to rest.

Moreover, they also need to do everything to survive on air. They mate on air, and eat airborne insects. In order to drink water, they glide over a water body and dip their beaks to take sips. It has been assumed that they even sleep during the flight. The birds are members of Apodidae lineage. Bird lovers have admired its aerial agility and seemingly endless flight. Ornithologists are puzzled that swifts are capable of flying for 10 months without once touching land - a world record for time on the wing. (Rewritten copy)