Posted by Ric Olsen on March 2, 2007

Q: You had a "unit" on wing shape and how they relate to the type of bird's flight patterns. Is there or has there been a study on the shape of the tail and how it effects the type of bird and its particular type of flight?

Some tail feathers are rounded (the Blue Jay)and some at pointed (the Flicker).

Thank You

Ric Olsen

State: Nebraska

A: Sorry for the delay in responding - a minor glitch in getting your question.

There have indeed been people looking at tails as they relate to aerodynamics. The birds that come to mind for me first are the hawks. The soaring hawks (Buteos), like the Red-tailed Hawk have rather short, broad tail feathers while the bird hawks (Accipitors) have longer, narrower tails. The soaring hawks spend most time in the open so they need maximum lift with only modest maneuverability while the bird-hunting hawks live and hunt in wooded, dense areas and need maneuvering ability to catch their prey.

Both Bluejays and flickers need a fair amount of maneuverability too but the flicker has an added need. Flickers (woodpeckers) have an extension of their rachis (central feather vane) that allows them to use their tail to prop them on a tree trunk.

So, one could look at bird tails and get a "general" idea of their flying needs/ability but there still are lots of variations on a theme among the species. Thanks for asking.

John Wiessinger ( March 12, 2007)