What do birds do when the weather goes IFR?

BiffJ

BiffJ

Pre-takeoff checklist
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BiffJ
I know I've seen them flying in clouds. Do they have some sort of an air traffic control system in place?

54 Robin cleared to descend to 12 feet, converging sparrow traffic at your 4 o'clock not a factor.
17 blackbird cleared to land 3rd spruce on the right, advise when you have branches in sight fog layer lifting to 7 feet at this time

Just wondering


Frank
 
How do they even stay right-side-up? Do they have built in attitude gyros?
 
I live at the edge of a steep ~400-foot hill overlooking a wide valley. The local crows nest in the forest behind my house, and "commute" into the valley to hunt for food (commercial area with fast-food restaurants, etc.). They fly overhead, then down to the valley in the morning, and reverse the trip in the evening.

I couple of years back, I'd gotten up for work and was sitting in my second-floor office checking email. The day was seriously foggy, probably no more than 50-100 foot visibility. I noticed a lot of scraping and rattling on the gutters above my office window.

Looking out the window, I saw crows (apparently lining my gutters) launch in singles and in groups to try to fly down the hill. They'd glide down a bit, start fading into the fog, then whirl around to fly back to my gutter. They were refusing to continue VFR into IMC conditions....

Ron Wanttaja
 
They stay covered up in that little nest under the cowling of your airplane until the weather turns VFR. Duh
 
I walked into a punch bowl valley with a trail around a small pond. A great blue heron saw me. And, surprisingly, flew toward me, landed, turned around and then flew out, barely clearing the trees at the other end.

It was obvious that he'd checked the distance and needed a longer flight path.
 
tinerj said:
I walked into a punch bowl valley with a trail around a small pond. A great blue heron saw me. And, surprisingly, flew toward me, landed, turned around and then flew out, barely clearing the trees at the other end.

It was obvious that he'd checked the distance and needed a longer flight path.
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Maybe he was trying to takeoff at max gross? Might've just ate his dinner.
 
MassPilot said:
How do they even stay right-side-up? Do they have built in attitude gyros?
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I'm no scientist by any stretch but what I have read, if true, they not only have a built-in gyro but also have a built in magnetic compass and great situational awareness. I have seen geese fly in conditions even the most proficient IFR pilot would avoid. They also alert other traffic by frequently honking their horns. Description is oversimplified to be sure but is the best I can offer.
 
Worst bird strike I've ever had was at 6000 ft in hard IMC in a 1900. Hit just outside the prop, put a hole the size of a football in the leading edge, where it hit directly on a rib cap.
 
From what I've read while staying in a Holiday Inn Express, they have a more stable gyro like/unlike our inner ears and a magnetic sensing organ for navigation. No clue how they make the final approach to Landing in IMC so I assume they fly until VFR.

Cheers
 
They go to birdie bars and laugh at humans and their noisy flying machines.....
 
Of course the original post was intended tongue in cheek and seemed to be taken that way....it was prompted by watching a couple birds pop out of the cloud layer this morning though. Clouds were nearly on the deck and we could hear thunder. I was definitely not flying.....

Frank
 
Around my area it's not uncommon to see the perimeter of large towers littered with snow geese during the fall and winter after lengthy periods of fog. So they may be able to keep attitude in check but their TAWS is certainly inop.
 
Not sure what they do when the encounter IFR conditions. I know at least 2 or 3 times of the year they fly into the windows at our house. Controlled flight into terrain under VFR conditions..
 
If birds fly in IMC, what about icing? I've iced up working outside on the ground in freezing fog and freezing rain conditions. Can birds have TKS installed? I'm sure they don't have boots...
 
Given their relatively slow stall speeds, it seems that they don't need quite as much visibility to make a safe landing. They just need to be able to keep right side up and navigate.
 
Norman said:
I'm no scientist by any stretch but what I have read, if true, they not only have a built-in gyro but also have a built in magnetic compass and great situational awareness. I have seen geese fly in conditions even the most proficient IFR pilot would avoid. They also alert other traffic by frequently honking their horns. Description is oversimplified to be sure but is the best I can offer.
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Do you know how when you see geese flying in a V formation, one leg of the V always seems to be longer than the other? Do you know why that is?



Because there are more geese on that leg.
 
JOhnH said:
Do you know how when you see geese flying in a V formation, one leg of the V always seems to be longer than the other? Do you know why that is?



Because there are more geese on that leg.
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Because there are more birds on one side than the other.
 
JOhnH said:
Do you know how when you see geese flying in a V formation, one leg of the V always seems to be longer than the other? Do you know why that is?
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It's equivalent to the needle deflection of the CDI. Once on the correct course the additional goose/ geese will adjust to even things out.
 
JOhnH said:
Do you know how when you see geese flying in a V formation, one leg of the V always seems to be longer than the other? Do you know why that is?
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Because some are left wing and some are right wing.

Cheers
 
I hunt ducks and they fly when it is what pilots consider zero /zero. What all birds don't like is flying in rain.
 
In Alaska I have seen ravens flying with frost on the leading edge of their wings and nose. I am guessing it came from the moisture in their breath.
 
Perhaps an urban legend but I remember reading that seabirds will congregate in the eye of hurricanes until they dissipate over land. That's some serious flight skill.
 
gotta understand that wx is too low for birds maybe 100 minutes out of the year in the average location - they just stay put.
 
I've see birds do interesting things. Geese that nest in narrow holes high in bluffs along the MissourI River.

Once I saw two black birds step off a cliff, kept their wings folded and fell straight down for about 30 feet, then popped open their wings as parachutes to soft touchdown on a narrow ledge.
 
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Collided with a flight of two Canadian geese in a 172; night, marginal VMC/light IMC, about 700 AGL, right after dropping below some scud. Took a couple loaves of bread to the lake a few days later, to feed the geese, as way of apology and atonement. Geese, ducks, and other B1RDs are people. . .piegeons and gulls, on the other hand, are sky rats.
 
Tower told them to squawk 1200, they are still outside making noise to this day.
 
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