Flight and Ecology

Abstract

The combination of morphological, ecological and behavioural attributes most benefiting a flying animal is related to the type of habitat it lives in and to its way of exploiting it (Fig. 12.1). The animals are adapted to occupy different niches, so they often have to fly in different ways associated with different wing morphology. Some birds and bats hawk insects in the air, in open spaces or within vegetation, while others fly continuously during foraging and still others perch between foraging bouts. Some birds forage in trees, bushes or on the ground, by climbing, hanging or walking, while some achieve low searching costs by soaring over large areas in search of food; still others use high cost hovering in front of flowers to drink nectar. Widely differing wing and leg structures are required for minimum cost of transport and for different locomotion types (e.g. U.M. Norberg 1979, 1981a,b, 1986a; Norberg and Rayner 1987; Rayner 1988).