Scientists: Flamingo save energy, standing on one leg
Flamingos spend less energy when standing on one foot than when standing on two feet, American scientists have found.
According to a study conducted by experts from Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University in Atlanta, the one-legged posture is forcing birds to expend no muscular energy, and in this position they can fill.
The study authors conducted experiments on live and dead flamingos, and found that the bodies of the birds can stand on one leg without any support.
This phenomenon scientists call “passive gravitational mechanism of state.”
“If you look at the birds in front, as they stand on one leg, you will see that the second leg is under the body. This means that the foot is tucked inside. This is the position they should occupy to enable the mechanism of standing,” says one author of the study Professor Yong Hu Chang.
While dead birds can’t stand on two legs, if they are not supported. This means that such a posture requires active muscular effort.
Watching living birds, the researchers drew attention to the fact that standing on one leg Flamingo can hardly move. At the same time, standing in the same position, they can draw or caress each other.
However, scientists can not yet explain the anatomical mechanism which allows birds to easily stand in this position.