ArticlePhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences2016
Flap or soar? How a flight generalist responds to its aerial environment.
Article in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
40 citing papers in PubMed, 92 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Offshore wind farm avoidance by a discard-feeding seabird is independent of local fishing activity.The Journal of animal ecology · 2026Article
- Seasonal utilization distributions, site fidelity, and habitat use of the black-tailed gull (Larus crassirostris) in the Yellow Sea.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Six decades of animal accelerometry: trends, applications, and future directions.Movement ecology · 2026Review
- Partial Niche Partitioning in Three Sympatric Gull Species Through Foraging Areas and Habitat Selection.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
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- Golden eagles regularly use gravity waves to soar: new insights from high-resolution weather data.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2025Article
- Golden eagles regularly use gravity waves to soar: new insights from high-resolution weather data.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2025Article
- Article
- Learning on the job? Foraging strategies of juvenile versus adult Lesser black-backed gulls at their first migratory stopover.Royal Society open science · 2024Article
- Both movements and breeding performance are affected by individual experience in the Bonelli's eagleEcology and evolution · 2024Article
- A three-dimensional model of terrain-induced updrafts for movement ecology studies.Movement ecology · 2024Article
- Cranes soar on thermal updrafts behind cold fronts as they migrate across the sea.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2024Article
- Energetic and behavioral consequences of migration: an empirical evaluation in the context of the full annual cycle.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Opportunistic soaring by birds suggests new opportunities for atmospheric energy harvesting by flying robots.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2022Review
- Simultaneous GPS-tracking of parents reveals a similar parental investment within pairs, but no immediate co-adjustment on a trip-to-trip basis.Movement ecology · 2021Article
- Inclement weather forces stopovers and prevents migratory progress for obligate soaring migrants.Movement ecology · 2021Article
- Correlation between wing bone microstructure and different flight styles: The case of the griffon vulture (gyps fulvus) and greater flamingo (phoenicopterus roseus).Journal of anatomy · 2021Article
- Barrier crossings and winds shape daily travel schedules and speeds of a flight generalist.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Cascading effects of climate variability on the breeding success of an edge population of an apex predator.The Journal of animal ecology · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The aerial environment is heterogeneous in space and time and directly influences the costs of animal flight. Volant animals can reduce these costs by using different flight modes, each with their own benefits and constraints. However, the extent to which animals alter their flight modes in response to environmental conditions has rarely been studied in the wild. To provide insight into how a flight generalist can reduce the energetic cost of movement, we studied flight behaviour in relation to the aerial environmental and landscape using hundreds of hours of global positioning system and triaxial acceleration measurements of the lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus). Individuals differed largely in the time spent in flight, which increased linearly with the time spent in flight at sea. In general, flapping was used more frequently than more energetically efficient soaring flight. The probability of soaring increased with increasing boundary layer height and time closer to midday, reflecting improved convective conditions supportive of thermal soaring. Other forms of soaring flight were also used, including fine-scale use of orographic lift. We explore the energetic consequences of behavioural adaptations to the aerial environment and underlying landscape and implications for individual energy budgets, foraging ecology and reproductive success.This article is part of the themed issue 'Moving in a moving medium: new perspectives on flight'.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.