| Title |
Vortices enable the complex aerobatics of peregrine falcons
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Communications Biology, April 2018
|
| DOI | 10.1038/s42003-018-0029-3 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
Erwin R. Gowree, Chetan Jagadeesh, Edward Talboys, Christian Lagemann, Christoph Brücker |
| Abstract |
The peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) is known for its extremely high speeds during hunting dives or stoop. Here we demonstrate that the superior manoeuvrability of peregrine falcons during stoop is attributed to vortex-dominated flow promoted by their morphology, in the M-shape configuration adopted towards the end of dive. Both experiments and simulations on life-size models, derived from field observations, revealed the presence of vortices emanating from the frontal and dorsal region due to a strong spanwise flow promoted by the forward sweep of the radiale. These vortices enhance mixing for flow reattachment towards the tail. The stronger wing and tail vortices provide extra aerodynamic forces through vortex-induced lift for pitch and roll control. A vortex pair with a sense of rotation opposite to that from conventional planar wings interacts with the main wings vortex to reduce induced drag, which would otherwise decelerate the bird significantly during pull-out. These findings could help in improving aircraft performance and wing suits for human flights. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 61 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 8 | 13% |
| United Kingdom | 5 | 8% |
| Spain | 3 | 5% |
| Argentina | 2 | 3% |
| Japan | 2 | 3% |
| France | 2 | 3% |
| Brazil | 2 | 3% |
| Korea, Republic of | 1 | 2% |
| Netherlands | 1 | 2% |
| Other | 7 | 11% |
| Unknown | 28 | 46% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 45 | 74% |
| Scientists | 14 | 23% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 2 | 3% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 52 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 52 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 9 | 17% |
| Student > Bachelor | 7 | 13% |
| Student > Master | 5 | 10% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 4 | 8% |
| Lecturer | 2 | 4% |
| Other | 7 | 13% |
| Unknown | 18 | 35% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Engineering | 22 | 42% |
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 4 | 8% |
| Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 1 | 2% |
| Physics and Astronomy | 1 | 2% |
| Computer Science | 1 | 2% |
| Other | 2 | 4% |
| Unknown | 21 | 40% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 54. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 04 January 2024.
All research outputs
#793,060
of 25,576,275 outputs
Outputs from Communications Biology
#630
of 5,671 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#17,697
of 343,867 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Communications Biology
#10
of 35 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,576,275 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 96th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 5,671 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 33.0. This one has done well, scoring higher than 88% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 343,867 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 94% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 35 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 74% of its contemporaries.