NATURAL FLIGHT:
BIOLOGY &
PHYSICS
A Web page by Roy J. Beckemeyer
Last updated: 20 November 2004.
The photograph to the right shows many of the variable-geometry
aspects of a bird's wings. Airplanes have flaps, slats and other exotic
movable devices to alter the size and shape and thereby the flow of air over the
wing to allow flight at a variety of airspeeds. Most of those devices can
be found, in prototype form, in the wings of birds.
Photo by Roy J. Beckemeyer, Asian Openbill Stork (Anastomus
oscitans), one of thousands nesting at Wat Phai Lom Buddhist Monastery near
Bangkok, Thailand. 15 January, 2000.
FLIGHT
IN NATURE
(Photo at right taken at Blackfire Ranch, NM in Aug. 2000
using 70-200mm Sigma f2.8 lens with a 2x telextender on a Nikon camera without
flash. Aeschna palmata dragonfly hovering at lake edge. Fore
wings on downstroke, hind wings on upstroke. Photo by Roy J. Beckemeyer.)
The following links are to pages relating to work I have been doing in areas
directly or indirectly dealing with the flight of insects, birds, bats or
pterosaurs:
- VIDEO SEQUENCES OF INSECTS AND BIRDS IN FLIGHT (mpg files):
- VIDEO of a
damselfly, Enallagma civile, taking off from a perch - 1000 fps - large
(1.9 MB) file.
- Another VIDEO of a damselfly take-off -
1000 fps - large file (2.5 MB)
- VIDEO of a damselfly landing - 1000 fps -
large file (1.5 MB)
- VIDEO of a dragonfly turning - 1000 fps -
large file (2.4 MB)
- VIDEO of a bumblebee in hovering flight -
1000 fps - large file (0.95 MB)
- (The above 1000 fps high-speed video segments played back in slow
motion were taken by Roy Beckemeyer, Bill Wentz, and Velvet Hutson
using equipment loaned by the National
Institute for Aviation Research in developing exhibit content for displays
at Exploration Place, a science
museum in Wichita, Kansas.)
- VIDEO of a Royal Albatross soaring over the
waves of the Drake Passage (1.4 MB file).
- VIDEO of Webspinner in flight
(Insecta: Embiidina: Archembia species. (NEW
as of 20 Nov. 2004)
- PHOTOS OF VARIOUS BIRDS AND
INSECTS IN FLIGHT:
- More PHOTOS of birds and insects flying.
- Below are some additional photos and photo sequences of Odonata flight.
- Photo of Protoneura cara, a
damselfly, in flight above the Devil's River, Dolan Falls, TX, at the DSA
2001 post trip in July. The hind wings are forward, and have begun
their back stroke, the fore wings are back, and have not quite reached the
most aft position
- Photos of a pair of Enallagma
exsulans in tandem flight, with the male and female flapping
nearly in synchrony with one another.
- Link HERE to see some of the photos of L.
composita in tandem flight as well as photos of a single female
ovipositing. On this page the photos can be more easily compared,
as they are on the same web page.
-
For a copy of my recent paper on Libellula composita:
Beckemeyer,
R.J., 2004, Notes on the behavior and mechanics of scooping
oviposition in Libellula composita (Hagen)
(Anisoptera: Libelullidae), Odonatologica,
33(1):11-23
email
your request to the address listed at the bottom of this web page.
Link HERE to see photos of Sympetrum
corruptum in tandem and oviposition flight, including an abrupt dive in
which the male appears to be dragging the female behind him.
- BIOMECHANICS REFERENCES:
- SPECIFIC STUDIES:
Photo, right: A male Gomphidae: Erpetogomphus designatus hovering
over a riffle in a small stream in the Hill Country of Texas. Photo taken
with Nikon 990 digital camera with built-in flash, July, 2001 by Roy Beckemeyer.
Link here to series of articles from ARGIA: The Newsletter
of The Dragonfly Society of The Americas on dragonly flight.
LINKS TO OTHER SITES OF
INTEREST:
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