2 Biomechanics of Flight Jewell Schock Museum of Natural History Bird Name (Lesser Yellowlegs) There are three main forces that act on flying animals, namely drag, lift and thrust. Birds use a combination of strategies while moving in the air such that they are able to manipulate the forces acting on them to their advantage. The strategies, mostly used are flight, soaring, gliding and parachuting. Flight Birds have streamlined bodies to minimize drag forces for fast flight. This force is relative to the flight speed increasing when the speed is high therefore limits the bird’s motion. However the force is helpful when a flying animal tries to slow down. Additionally, lift is an important force that helps an animal in flight because it keeps them airborne. Birds and other flying animals normally have low weight and have the ability to flap wings quickly and move quickly to maximize lift (Hutchinson, 2005). Finally, thrust is a critical force in flight; birds have large flight muscles to produce thrust which opposes drag. Soaring: This is a strategy used by large animals to overcome drag forces and high weight. These animals have large wings overcome these forces. Another problem these animals face is that of thrust which increases slower than weight and drag, thus there is a limitation in the size of a flyer. Therefore, soaring is best for these animals which have a low wing loading, since it is energetically efficient and involves very little wing flapping. Parachuting and Gliding These are modes, mostly used by vertebrates as modes of aerial locomotion with most parachuting when airborne and using other means of locomotion when they are on the ground. Gliding is partly a form of parachuting whereby animals produce lift forces by an airfoil-type membrane. Most of the gliders are now extinct with only bats known to have evolved from its gliding vertebrate ancestors (Hutchinson, 2005). General Description   The Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) is a medium-sized, slender, long-legged shorebird measuring 27 cm similar in appearance to the Greater Yellowlegs, which is relatively larger. The bird derives its name from its brightly colored legs. Tringa flavipes has a long neck and a straight, sharp-pointed slightly upturned bill. The bird’s tail and rump are white (Dewey, 2009). Habitat Tringa flavipes breed in the open in boreal forest region between Alaska and Quebec in the far north. They build nests on the ground in clearings near ponds. The species is found on coasts, lakeshores, mudflats and in the marshes during migration and winter. In comparison to the closely related, Greater Yellowlegs, which are typically found on extensive mudflats, Tringa flavipes are normally found in more secure areas, in smaller ponds. Additionally, they nest in drier protected areas in comparison with their larger counterparts. Diet The bird’s main diet consist of insects during the breeding season, and small fish and crustaceans during the rest of the .

1. 2
Biomechanics of Flight
Jewell Schock Museum of Natural History
Bird Name (Lesser Yellowlegs)
There are three main forces that act on flying animals, namely
drag, lift and thrust. Birds use a combination of strategies while
moving in the air such that they are able to manipulate the
forces acting on them to their advantage. The strategies, mostly
used are flight, soaring, gliding and parachuting.
Flight
Birds have streamlined bodies to minimize drag forces for fast
flight. This force is relative to the flight speed increasing when
the speed is high therefore limits the bird’s motion. However
the force is helpful when a flying animal tries to slow down.
Additionally, lift is an important force that helps an animal in
flight because it keeps them airborne. Birds and other flying
animals normally have low weight and have the ability to flap
wings quickly and move quickly to maximize lift (Hutchinson,
2005). Finally, thrust is a critical force in flight; birds have
large flight muscles to produce thrust which opposes drag.
Soaring:
This is a strategy used by large animals to overcome drag forces
and high weight. These animals have large wings overcome
these forces. Another problem these animals face is that of
thrust which increases slower than weight and drag, thus there
is a limitation in the size of a flyer. Therefore, soaring is best
for these animals which have a low wing loading, since it is
energetically efficient and involves very little wing flapping.
Parachuting and Gliding
These are modes, mostly used by vertebrates as modes of aerial
locomotion with most parachuting when airborne and using
other means of locomotion when they are on the ground.

2. Gliding is partly a form of parachuting whereby animals
produce lift forces by an airfoil-type membrane. Most of the
gliders are now extinct with only bats known to have evolved
from its gliding vertebrate ancestors (Hutchinson, 2005).
General Description
The Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) is a medium-
sized, slender, long-legged shorebird measuring 27 cm similar
in appearance to the Greater Yellowlegs, which is relatively
larger. The bird derives its name from its brightly colored legs.
Tringa flavipes has a long neck and a straight, sharp-pointed
slightly upturned bill. The bird’s tail and rump are white
(Dewey, 2009).
Habitat
Tringa flavipes breed in the open in boreal forest region
between Alaska and Quebec in the far north. They build nests
on the ground in clearings near ponds. The species is found on
coasts, lakeshores, mudflats and in the marshes during
migration and winter. In comparison to the closely related,
Greater Yellowlegs, which are typically found on extensive
mudflats, Tringa flavipes are normally found in more secure
areas, in smaller ponds. Additionally, they nest in drier
protected areas in comparison with their larger counterparts.
Diet
The bird’s main diet consist of insects during the breeding
season, and small fish and crustaceans during the rest of the rest
of the year.
Adaptations to Flight
Tringa flavipes has a number of adaptations to flight. The bird
has a slender streamlined body to help overcome wind
resistance. Also the bird has a hollow skeleton and a lightweight
beak to reduce body weight (McCready & Behm, 2012). Large
and Strong muscles are attached to a large keel on the bird’s
lower body. The barbules present on the vanes of each of its
feathers zip them together to give the feathers strength to hold

3. air foil. Additionally the barbules maintain the shape and the
function of the feathers (Moorpark College, 2014). Tringa
flavipes feather anatomy, during flapping and flight, causes the
feathers to rotate in their follicles. The rotations occur during
upstroke with the greater side pointing down to allow air to slip
through the wing, thus breaking the wings integrity to allow for
an easier upward motion. Reestablishment of the wing integrity
gives the bird the necessary lift. The bird applies this strategy
when “taking off” or when achieving lift at very slow speeds
(Moorpark College, 2014). By flying fast the bird is able to get
the lift needed to remain in flight.
In comparison to a vulture, the former has wings with slotting,
alulas and pronounced camber to produce high lift at low speed.
The vulture’s wings have an aspect ratio intermediate between
elliptical wings and high aspect ratio wings. Unlike the Tringa
flavipes, which is a flyer, vultures are land soarers with broad
and slotted wings to allow sensitive response for static soaring
(Moorpark College, 2014).
When landing the bird extends its wide tail feathers to create
enough pressure between the ground and its body so that it can
land gently on its legs. The bird is adapted as an active feeder
by its long legs, which enables it to run through shallow water
to chase its prey.
Application of Tringa flavipes Biomechanics in Robotics
Based on the bird’s flight mechanism the flapping wing form,
power scheme, transmission framework and the total structure
of a robot can be designed. A reliable flapping wing mechanism
can be designed to incorporate the bird’s mechanism to produce
lift and thrust by the down stroke and upstroke of the wings. In
The robot design and fabrication all the dynamic characteristics
of the flapping mechanism of the bird should be considered. The
robot should consist a simple and compact structure, highly
efficient and reliable transmission of a small DC motor, and be
of a minimal weight (McMasters & Cummmings, 2004). The
bionic design of the bird will guide the choice of the parameters

4. such as gear ratio, wingspan, wing area and rod length of the
linkage mechanism (Xiong, Huang, & Xiong, 2008).
For an almost perfect mimic of the bird’s mechanism the wing
diameter and thickness of the robot or an airfoil should reduce
gradually from wing base to the tip. This design will reduce
energy consumption and skeleton stress. An aerodynamic
analysis is vital to calculate the lift and thrust during the actual
flying of the robot. Furthermore, the shape deformation of
flexible wing and adaptive system should be considered in the
design (Xiong, Huang, & Xiong, 2008). This can be achieved by
dividing the wing into many wing elements along the wingspan
direction and its airfoil. To further increase the efficiency of the
robot in flight operation an active articulated torsional drive
unit can be incorporated into its design to enable the twisting of
its wings at specific angles (Festo, 2010).
Bibliography
Dewey. (2009, October 14). Tringa Flavipes. Retrieved from
Animal Diversity Web:
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Tringa_flavipe
s/
Festo. (2010, May 16). SmartBird – bird flight deciphered.
Retrieved from Festo:
http://www.festo.com/cms/en_corp/11369.htm
Hutchinson, J. (2005). Vertebrate Flight. Berkeley.
McCready, S., & Behm, D. (2012, May 13). Lesser Yellowlegs.
Retrieved from All About Birds:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Lesser_Yellowlegs/id#simil
ar
McMasters, J., & Cummmings, R. (2004). Airplane Design and
the Biomechanics of Flight-A More Completely Multi-
disciplinary Perspective. Seattle: American Institute of
Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc.
Moorpark College. (2014, August 23). Birds: Adaptations
Focused on Flight. Retrieved from Moorpark College:
http://sunny.moorparkcollege.edu/~econnolly/F09BirdL24.htm

5. Xiong, C., Huang, Y., & Xiong, Y. (2008). Intelligent Robotics
and Applications. Wuhan: Springer Science & Business Media.
Reflective Questions for Presentations
Fall 2014
Please write out responses to these questions and submit them
through Blackboard. This assignment is to be completed within
one week of your audio presentation.
1. What was your topic?
2. What did you do for the project? Please specifically include
the research you did for the project and discuss how the
research you did may be similar to research you will do in the
future.
3. List your main points and write out what you now know
about each of the points. How did you gain information about
your topic? What did you learn about your topic through this
project? Did presenting on the topic cause you to get to know
the subject matter better?
4. Three (3) characteristics of effective informative speaking
have been identified: a speech should be intellectually
stimulating, relevant to the audience, and creative. How did you
incorporate these three (3) characteristics in your presentation?
5. Identify 2 discoveries you made. What did you learn about
yourself? Did you employ a new creative skill, do you see
yourself as more confident? Did you become aware of
assumptions you held – perhaps about the audience? Did you
learn something new about delivering a presentation using
technology?

6. 6. How did you analyze your audience? How did your analysis
affect your planning for your presentation? How can you apply
what you learned about adapting to the audience in your future
career communication?
7. In five lines of text describe what you would do differently.
For example, would you prepare introductory remarks
differently?
8. How did the experience better help you understand what you
are learning in the course? Please address audience analysis,
content development, organizing your speech, delivery, and
incorporating feedback.
9. Please describe how you can use what you learned from this
experience in your career communication.
10. Did you come across the way you wanted to? What
elements do you want to work on in the future?
11. This speech assignment has the elements of students
addressing a real-world issue (STEM knowledge and interest for
K-8 students visiting the museum), receiving feedback from the
museum director Dr. Hayford, and delivery a presentation using
technology. Was this assignment effective for you? Why or why
not?Was the feedback you received helpful?