ArticleeLife2019
Birds land reliably on complex surfaces by adapting their foot-surface interactions upon contact.
Article in eLife, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed.
- Bioinspired Adaptive Leg-Claw Enables Robust Perching and Grasping for UAVs.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- A Lightweight Bioinspired SMA-Based Grasping Mechanism for Flapping Wing MAVs.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Free-ranging squirrels perform stable, above-branch landings by balancing using leg force and nonprehensile foot torque.The Journal of experimental biology · 2025Article
- Design and Validation of a Biomimetic Leg-Claw Mechanism Capable of Perching and Grasping for Multirotor Drones.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Article
- Intelligent Rock-Climbing Robot Capable of Multimodal Locomotion and Hybrid Bioinspired Attachment.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2024Article
- Design and Assessment of Bird-Inspired 3D-Printed Models to Evaluate Grasp Mechanics.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- An Underactuated Adaptive Microspines Gripper for Rough Wall.Biomimetics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- How ornithopters can perch autonomously on a branch.Nature communications · 2022Article
- Birds both avoid and control collisions by harnessing visually guided force vectoring.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2022Article
- Article
- Birds land reliably on complex surfaces by adapting their foot-surface interactions upon contact.eLife · 2019Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Birds land on a wide range of complex surfaces, yet it is unclear how they grasp a perch reliably. Here, we show how Pacific parrotlets exhibit stereotyped leg and wing dynamics regardless of perch diameter and texture, but foot, toe, and claw kinematics become surface-specific upon touchdown. A new dynamic grasping model, which integrates our detailed measurements, reveals how birds stabilize their grasp. They combine predictable toe pad friction with probabilistic friction from their claws, which they drag to find surface asperities-dragging further when they can squeeze less. Remarkably, parrotlet claws can undergo superfast movements, within 1-2 ms, on moderately slippery surfaces to find more secure asperities when necessary. With this strategy, they first ramp up safety margins by squeezing before relaxing their grasp. The model further shows it is advantageous to be small for stable perching when high friction relative to normal force is required because claws can find more usable surface, but this trend reverses when required friction shrinks. This explains how many animals and robots may grasp complex surfaces reliably.
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Registered trials
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.