The scene of pink flamingo birds is classified as it is running in shallow water with their graceful legs as a quiet scene, as Flamingo relies on filtering algae and small molecules of water to feed.
But a new scientific study turned this perception upside down, stressing that the flamingo is not just a “natural refinery”, but rather is closer to a “skilled physicist” that employs a highly complex dynamic water strategies to eat its meal, transforming the calm scene into the last pulsar with events.
Spread the study In the journal “BNAS”, with the participation of engineers and scientists from multiple research institutions, which interpreted how the bird used its curved beak, its moving feet strokes with membranes, and its long flexible neck, in besieging its prey such as saline shrimp and microscopic crustaceans.
Victor Ortega Jimenez, assistant professor of integrative biology, at the University of California – Berkeley, explains in exclusive statements to Al -Jazeera Net, what is happening precisely: “When the flamingo pulled its head quickly from the water, it occurs (aspiration), a hurricane -like formula.”
Water Dynamics for hunting
According to the study, the bird begins its feeding by moving its membranes in a dance -like movement, which moves the sediments and raises it from the bottom of the lake, then generates strong horizontal swirls in its beak to push microorganisms towards his mouth.
At the same time, the flamingo makes a rapid movement with its head up, pulling water to the top, as a suction device, and generates swirls capable of raising the exact prey from the bottom. By placing his head at the front of his feet while dancing, the bird benefits from this flow to increase the efficiency of fishing.
The formation of these swirls in the beak alone is strange, and it surprised the scientists, which led them to design a mechanical beak to simulate the process. “We were able to use a mechanical beak printed with 3D printing technology to simulate the rapid movement of the flamingo headquarters, and we found it producing a strong flow directed towards the beak, facilitating the fishing of the prey. We conducted an experiment using a mechanical beak that absorbs water at the same time at a fixed rate using a water pump, simulating pumping the tongue.”
Compare the team between the number of saline shrimp that can be hunted by the two systems by suction alone (with the pump only the representative of the tongue), and the suction with the chase (the pump representing the tongue + the fast beak movement). The results of the experiment indicated that the rapid movement of the headquarters increases the number of organisms that enter the mouth of the bird by 7 times, compared to the use of the pump only without the movement of the jaw, which proves its huge effectiveness in hunting this type of underwater organism.
Physics of nature trap
The researchers in this study likened the method that Flamingo uses to hunt its prey with spiders in the use of nets. Both the caves make a trap that restricts the movement of prey, spiders with its nets and deadly threads, and the flamingo with its strong water perception.
“There is a need for future research to form a better understanding of how flamingo birds are adapting to hunting prey through swirls. One of these methods is the study of fossil records of flamingo’s relatives in terms of fluid dynamics.” Alternatively, it will be useful to analyze the small flamingo birds, which are born with straight beaks, to study how they turn into the use of their curved beaks to hunt prey.
Besides biological discoveries, the results of this study open the door for new engineering applications. The natural capacity of flamingo to generate directed water currents can inspire engineers and scientists with new technologies. “One of the potential applications to research the development of a biological nomination system is inspired by the dynamics of flamingo birds,” says Jiminiz.
This study clearly reveals the hidden face of the flamingo birds, which is no longer just a beautiful pink bird with long legs, but rather an accurate physical that takes advantage of the laws of water physics to secure its food in a harsh environment. From the strange dance that it performs in shallow water to the complex head and beak movements, Flamingo shows how nature can develop amazing solutions that combine beauty and geometric ingenuity.