PNAS QnAs with NAS member and chemist Shaul Mukamel.
New Research In
Physical Sciences
Featured Portals
Articles by Topic
Biological Sciences
Featured Portals
Articles by Topic
Edited by Robert E. Ricklefs, University of Missouri, St. Louis, MO, and approved April 27, 2011 (received for review November 18, 2010)
Abstract
Birds that fly over mountain barriers must be capable of meeting the increased energetic cost of climbing in low-density air, even though less oxygen may be available to support their metabolism. This challenge is magnified by the reduction in maximum sustained climbing rates in large birds. Bar-headed geese (Anser indicus) make one of the highest and most iconic transmountain migrations in the world. We show that those populations of geese that winter at sea level in India are capable of passing over the Himalayas in 1 d, typically climbing between 4,000 and 6,000 m in 7–8 h. Surprisingly, these birds do not rely on the assistance of upslope tailwinds that usually occur during the day and can support minimum climb rates of 0.8–2.2 km·h−1, even in the relative stillness of the night. They appear to strategically avoid higher speed winds during the afternoon, thus maximizing safety and control during flight. It would seem, therefore, that bar-headed geese are capable of sustained climbing flight over the passes of the Himalaya under their own aerobic power.
Footnotes
- ↵1To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: c.bishop{at}bangor.ac.uk.
Author contributions: P.J.B., J.Y.T., M.W., and C.M.B. designed research; L.A.H., S.B., N.B., P.J.B., P.B.F., W.K.M., N.T., S.H.N., G.R.S., P.S., J.Y.T., and C.M.B. performed research; L.A.H. analyzed data; and L.A.H. and C.M.B. wrote the paper.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.
Freely available online through the PNAS open access option.
The trans-Himalayan flights of bar-headed geese (Anser indicus)
More Articles of This Classification
Biological Sciences
Ecology
Related Content
Cited by...
- Divergent respiratory and cardiovascular responses to hypoxia in bar-headed geese and Andean birds
- Behavioural adaptations to flight into thin air
- Moving in a moving medium: new perspectives on flight
- Altitude matters: differences in cardiovascular and respiratory responses to hypoxia in bar-headed geese reared at high and low altitudes
- Mutation-biased adaptation in Andean house wrens
- The roller coaster flight strategy of bar-headed geese conserves energy during Himalayan migrations
- Energetics of the acrobatic courtship in male golden-collared manakins (Manacus vitellinus)
- High thermal sensitivity of blood enhances oxygen delivery in the high-flying bar-headed goose
- The paradox of extreme high-altitude migration in bar-headed geese Anser indicus
- Seasonal migration to high latitudes results in major reproductive benefits in an insect
- Elevated performance: the unique physiology of birds that fly at high altitudes
Similar Articles
You May Also be Interested in
Researchers report links between warming and predator-prey interactions in the Arctic and suggest that predator activity can influence carbon and nitrogen dynamics in the Arctic, but that warming may alter or reverse such effects.
Image courtesy of Modman/Pixabay.
A study finds that individuals with major depressive disorder had lower blood levels of acetyl-L-carnitine (LAC) than healthy controls, suggesting that LAC might aid the diagnosis of severe, trauma-associated depression.
Image courtesy of PublicDomainPictures/Pixabay.
A study explores historical fire activity associated with bison hunting by indigenous groups in North America, and suggests that fire use by indigenous hunters might have amplified the effect of climate variability on fire activity in the North American Great Plains.
Lauren Schiebelhut describes natural selection following sea star wasting disease.
