Don't be fooled by the chunky size of the big sand cone
Moreover, these birds stayed in high-altitude space much longer than previously thought: During the migration, a bird flew continuously at an altitude of nearly 8,700 meters (almost as high as Mount Everest) for 5 hours.
"Any animal behavior researcher will find huge differences between individuals
Big Sand Cone is no stranger to long-distance flights
Previous research only tracked these birds when they passed the radar range, so scientists generally believed that the big sand cone, like many other birds, would maintain a stable and favorable cruising altitude to minimize energy loss
In this study, the Lindström team installed micro data loggers that accounted for only 1% of their total weight on the legs of 14 large sand cones
The researchers found a unique pattern in all three seasonal migrations
But why the big sand cones change their flying altitudes at different times of the day is unclear
First, although flying higher during the day can help the Great Sand Cone find landmarks, it is well known that migratory birds are excellent navigators and do not need to rely on the natural landscape to determine their direction
But scientists believe that the most likely cause of this daily elevation change is the sun's temperature
Therefore, flying at an altitude of more than 2,000 meters during the day, where the air temperature is 13 degrees Celsius lower, may help the big sand cone to prevent overheating
"In terms of vital capacity and muscle oxygen supply, they are far ahead of humans
Related paper information: http://dx.
http://dx.
doi.
org/10.
1016/j.
cub.
2021.
05.
047
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