How do birds fly?

Birds are rightly termed nature’s perfect flying machines. Every day we watch birds fly. They do many acrobatic things like taking off, flying with twists and turns, soaring high in the sky and sometimes taking deep dives. It’s amazing the kind of stunts birds can do.

Birds have feathers which are unique to them. These feathers are light while they are strong and they are flexible while they are tough. Clearly it is because of these feathers that birds are able to fly; but it is not as simple as that.

Birds fly because in addition to their feathers they also have a light body and their light feathers are backed by strong muscles that help move these feathers. It is the flapping of these feathers that keeps birds airborne. The tail of a bird acts like a rudder allowing the bird to stir in any direction.