How can birds still fly if they have to constantly eat to have enough energy to fly? Doesn’t eating make them so heavy that they need even more energy to keep flying?

Question

When I watch the birds at the feeding station in my garden, I notice that individual birds often eat a lot at once. Doesn’t all that food make them so heavy that they need more energy/food to fly than they can carry in flight?

In: Biology

Answer 1

Haha , when I was in Alaska you can see this effect on the puffins . They eat too much and have trouble taking off , a bit hilarious .. they are all right after awhile … but sometimes they just flap and skim the water and settle back down and wait till they digest a bit more 🙂 not sure if it’s due to weight or whatnot , not very scientific of me to think this is what actually happens , but it’s fun if it’s really due to over eating