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Sound when flying

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Sound when flying

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kathy

Post subject: Sound when flying

Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 1:20 pm

SCB Staff

Joined: Thu Apr 13, 2006 3:07 pm
Posts: 3980
Location: Arizona
I am a: Female
How many birds do you have: 7
Bird Species in Your Flock: GW Macaw, U2 & G2, Hawkhead, Red Lored Amazon, Timneh Grey, Cockatiel!

Spike is flighted again but we noticed that when he flies now, he sounds like a hovering helicopter. His wings make a sound which we have never heard before - with any of our birds. Is this a normal flying sound?

_________________
With a Broken Wing and a Dream, You oughta see Him Fly!
Now I lay me down to sleep, to dream of a home that I may keep.
Bo-Innocent & Brave ((((Diamond))))

:HH:

Sonoma

Spike

Sadie

Opus

Kaiser

Timmy

Reagan

Bird Profile

HelloBaby

Post subject:

Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 1:33 pm

Admin

Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2006 6:08 pm
Posts: 2639
I am a: Female
How many birds do you have: 1
Bird Species in Your Flock: Greenwing Macaw

I think you're hearing the air moving through the feathers. If you take a molted feather and move it rapidly (as if to capture the air under it) through the air, you will notice a version of the same sound.

_________________
If you must cripple a creature to keep it, perhaps you should reconsider its suitability as a pet.
We must never forget the one who inspired me... my precious Baby!

M2Mom

Post subject:

Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 1:54 pm

Site Admin

Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2005 11:22 pm
Posts: 4004
Location: Southeast USSA
I am a: Female
How many birds do you have: 7
Bird Species in Your Flock: Eclectuses
Moluccan Cockatoos
Umbrella Cockatoo
Galah Cockatoo
Goffins Cockatoo

If he is newly flighted you may be hearing him breath too. Just to be safe locate and look for any ruptured air sacs. HB is most likely right though so DON'T PANIC, LOL!

_________________
Cockatoos are not obedient. No to a Cockatoo means try again later.

"Some say they don't believe that angels can be seen or heard.
What a shame, such blindness. What a pity, such deafness. When the Song of songs abounds and Heaven's flyers are all around only thinly disguised as birds"

Unseen they suffer ~ Unheard they cry ~ In agony they linger ~ In loneliness they die

kathy

Post subject:

Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 5:10 pm

SCB Staff

OMG, M2Mom, I told you to quit Effen with me! :mrgreen:

I checked Spike thoroughly. I have just never heard their flights do that before. Learn something every day.

_________________
With a Broken Wing and a Dream, You oughta see Him Fly!
Now I lay me down to sleep, to dream of a home that I may keep.
Bo-Innocent & Brave ((((Diamond))))

:HH:

Sonoma

Spike

Sadie

Opus

Kaiser

Timmy

Reagan

Bird Profile

Goofy's dad

Post subject:

Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2007 11:21 pm

Admin

Joined: Mon Jan 30, 2006 1:11 pm
Posts: 1016
Location: San Fran East Bay
I am a: Male
How many birds do you have: 8
Bird Species in Your Flock: GW,U2,CAG,SC,Tiels

When Gabby first flew, as she had never flown as a fledgling, her breathing sounded like the worlds worst asthma attack :shock:

After she built some muscle, she has not had this sound to her flying. She sure can hover waiting for an arm to land on. Sometimes after she lands, she will utter a long "wheeeew" as though she is still amazed that her wings work!

GD

Elanus

Post subject:

Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 1:30 pm

SCB Staff

Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2006 10:08 pm
Posts: 1036
Location: Sunbelt
I am a: Male
How many birds do you have: 2
Bird Species in Your Flock: Moluccan Cockatoo, Umbrella Cockatoo

The wing whistling sound will vary with the status of the primary and secondary feathers, depth of wing beat, rapidity of wing beat, angle of flight, speed of flight, and efficiency of flight muscles. In powered flight, the bird is actually moving air - compressing it into the adjacent air, especially on the down beat. You can mimic this by doing the following:

Find a quiet location in your house. Get 4-5 sheets of printer paper or a thin piece of cardboard, or a manila file folder. Grasp your wannabe wing between your thumb and four fingers, spread wide. This works best with the wannabe wing held lengthwise and up against the web between your thumb and fingers. This keeps the "wing" stable, reducing the noise you hear from the ends of the "wing" bending. Flap your "wing" slowly back and forth at a diagonal across your chest. Watch what happens to papers and other items on your desk (or wherever you are). Note how it feels on your other arm. Listen carefully for sound. Then increase the speed of your flapping, while keeping the "wing" steady and make the same observations. How does the air pressure feel on your arm (or other body part) now? You should also start hearing a very low pitched sound, somewhat like that made when opening your mouth wide, puckering your lips into an "O" shape and blowing out air using your diaphragm muscle.

In a completely feathered wing, the feathers overlap to form one solid, smooth surface over which air passes uninterrupted. The trailing edge of the wing (the tips of the feathers) is flexible (note how thin the "quill" of a flight feather is compared to the end attached to the body), so it bends with the change in air pressure, which reduces resistance and hence sound. If a feather is broken, missing, or only partially grown in, the wing surface is no longer uniform and smooth. Air no longer passes smoothly over a streamlined surface. Some gets diverted through the gaps, so instead of 2 different air pressures around the wing (lower above, higher below) there are several. It's those changes in air pressures that generate the sound.

In birds that are "out of shape" the finely tuned coordination of the flight muscles (those large ones that make up the breast), the muscles that control extension and angle of the wing, and the tiny ones that control each feather, is poor. Thus, the flight is inefficient and noisy, and the bird labors hard because the breathing muscles are also not coordinated well with the demands of the muscles' changing need for oxygen delivery and carbon dioxide removal.

If you've ever done any training for running, swimming, or weight lifting, you might recall that you were also instructed on how and when to breathe relative to specific motions (muscle exertions). Coordinating breathing with motion adds efficiency, and in competitive running or swimming, results in better (faster) times.

If you can, visit a natural history museum, nature center for kids, state or national park that has a visitor's center, or a rehabber that does educational programs. Very often they will have a real wing available to demonstrate how birds stay up in the air. Use the wing as a fan, holding it at different angles, using different power strokes, etc. to see the difference angle, depth of movement, speed, etc. make on the air and on sound produced. You can actually feel the differences in resistance with the hand that is holding the wing.

_________________
We are too close to ourselves, much of the time, to see our proper relation to the natural world, on which we depend for survival. Watching birds and other animals seems to clarify my perspective. Roger Tory Peterson

kathy

Post subject:

Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2007 1:30 pm

SCB Staff

Quick update...

I did notice a couple of feathers in between Spikes wings that were not grown out at the time. They must be fine now because I don't hear the "helicopter" sound any longer.

Spike loves his wings and loves flying!! He is constantly flying all around the whole house.

_________________
With a Broken Wing and a Dream, You oughta see Him Fly!
Now I lay me down to sleep, to dream of a home that I may keep.
Bo-Innocent & Brave ((((Diamond))))

:HH:

Sonoma

Spike

Sadie

Opus

Kaiser

Timmy

Reagan

Bird Profile

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