Almost all birds stand on one leg. Some can even sleep while standing on
one leg. Why do they do it and why don’t they fall over?
Long-legged birds, such as storks and flamingos, often stand on one leg,
but so do short-legged birds, such as ducks. Birds generally don’t have
feathers on their legs. Standing on one leg reduces heat loss. Birds tuck one
leg under their feathered body to keep it warm, leaving only one leg exposed. Studies
at the Dormund Zoo in Germany show that flamingos stand on one leg more often
in cooler temperatures of below 20 Celsius (68F). This reduces heat loss by
half. Some scientists theorize that it may prevent muscle fatigue, but there is
no evidence of this.
When humans stand on one leg, they must concentrate to maintain balance –
and they can’t sleep while standing on one leg. But it’s not a balancing act
for birds, because they have an in-built stabilizer.
Birds have in-built stabilizers in two ways: (1) stabilizing joints, and
(2) an equilibrium sense organ.
Birds have special hip joints and inter-tarsal joints (foot joints) to
stabilize their body. There also seems to be an equilibrium sense organ in the
lumbosacral vertebral canal – the lower part of the backbone (spine) – that helps
to keep balance.
Birds also have a different centre of gravity than humans. Birds have a
centre of gravity (COG) in their lower body near their legs, whereas humans
have their COG in the midpelvic region. When birds are standing on two legs,
they bend their knees slightly to maintain balance. On one leg, the standing
leg is directly below the centre of gravity.
MARTINA NICOLLS is the author of:-
The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends
(2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan
Curse (2009).
Comments
Post a Comment