Study: Andean condors can fly up to 100 miles without flapping wings

Talk about the path of least resistance.

An observation from a recent study on flight habits of large birds followed an Andean condor that soared in the skies for 100 miles without having to flap its wings even once.

Scientists tracked a soaring Andean condor for 100 miles (172 kilometers) and didn't flap its wings even once. The study found that condors only flap their wings for about 1% of their flight time, mostly during takeoffs and when flying near the ground: https://t.co/Ui1SZu0IgY pic.twitter.com/00HWxMqBcb

— Roman Sheremeta (@rshereme) July 16, 2020

Andean condors are easily one of the largest birds of flight on Earth, with wing spans of up to 10½ feet and weighing in at 33 pounds.

Researchers have been awed by the birds’ flying stamina as they can be seen soaring — while taking advantage of air currents — over the Andes Mountains in South America. However, flapping wings exerts energy — especially in larger bird species.

So, scientists were looking at the connection between environmental conditions and effort that large birds put into flights. One of the main ways they gathered data was by attaching instruments to Andean condors that allowed them to log the number of wing flaps from the birds and their flight paths.

The team strapped recording equipment they called “daily diaries” to eight of the birds in the Patagonia region of Argentina, to record each wingbeat over more than 250 hours of flight time.

The study from researchers at Swansea University in the UK was published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It found that Andean condors only flap their wings for about 1% of their flight time. Most of that happened during takeoffs and when flying near the ground.

Soaring is a helluva flight strategy. Birds are on to something!

"The Andean condor - the world's heaviest soaring bird which can weigh in at up to 15kg - actually flaps its wings for one per cent of its flight time.” https://t.co/623Vb5n5B0 pic.twitter.com/hqOFfVcwdJ

— Steven Ross Pomeroy (@SteRoPo) July 14, 2020

“Our results revealed the amount the birds flapped didn’t change substantially with the weather,” said study co-author Hannah Williams of the Max Planck Institute for Animal Behaviour. “This suggests that decisions about when and where to land are crucial, as not only do condors need to be able to take off again, but unnecessary landings will add significantly to their overall flight costs.”

The study also draws a connection between today’s condors and some extinct giants that were “more like a dragon.” “Overall, this can help explain how extinct birds with twice the wingspan of condors could have flown,” according to the research.