Airflows redefine the cost of aerial transport in the wild

Fuel economy matters to both animals and machines, as the cost of transport can determine where, when, and how far locomotion is possible. However, established estimates of these values for animal flight come from laboratories and treat the atmosphere as constant, even though free-flying animals routinely extract energy from atmospheric flows. Using high-resolution movement data, we estimate the cost of transport for 50 bird and bat species flying in the wild. Our results revise the classic ranking of locomotion costs, suggesting that flying can be cheaper than swimming though almost as costly as running, depending on interactions between physical environment, morphology, and behavior. Linking transport costs to atmospheric conditions provides a mechanistic basis for predicting how changing windscapes will reshape the energetics, movements, and distributions of flying animals.

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Publication Details

Journal
Science
Published
2026-10-15
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aee6550
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Biomimetic flight and propulsion mechanisms
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
2.80
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article

Airflows redefine the cost of aerial transport in the wild

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Science
Biomimetic flight and propulsion mechanisms
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article

Airflows redefine the cost of aerial transport in the wild

Shannon Whelan, Andrea Flack, Kamran Safi, Emily L. C. Shepard, Jeroen Bert Smaers, Nik C. Cole, Sara H. Schweitzer, Yuval Werber, D. Schmidt-Rothmund, Sherub Sherub, José A. Sánchez‐Zapata, Martin C. Wikelski, Mariëlle Liduine van Toor, Helmut Kruckenberg, John P. Davies, Karen Aghababyan, Ohad Hatzofe, Anna Gagliardo, Urs G. Kormann, Julio Blas, Sergio Agustin Lambertucci, Ben J. Dilley, Francis van Oordt, Sebastian M. Cruz, Peter G. Ryan, Hannah J. Williams, David W. Wolfson, Ortwin Aschenborn, John Fieberg, Nyambayar Batbayar, Hans‐Günther Bauer, Ivan G. Pokrovsky, Andrea Sforzi, Jonas Waldenström, Tomaž Mihelič, Qenan Maxhuni, Eneko Arrondo, Ron Efrat, Nir Sapir, Kyle H. Elliott, Jakob Fahr, Teja Curk, Petra Sumasgutner, Natalie Weber, Patrick Scherler, Dina K. N. Dechmann, Dmitrijs Boiko, André J. Botha, Olivier Duriez, Stefan Schoombie, Paolo Becciu, Lourdes Mugica Valdés, Ran Nathan, Martin U. Grüebler, Andrea Kölzsch, П.М. Глазов, José A. Donázar, Wolfgang Fiedler, Māris Strazds, Martina Scacco, Gareth J. Tate, Lindy Jane Thompson, Ainara Cortés‐Avizanda, Allison G. L. Patterson, Flavio Monti, Kerri Wolter, Inge Müller, Monique MacKenzie
article en
1 citations

Abstract

Fuel economy matters to both animals and machines, as the cost of transport can determine where, when, and how far locomotion is possible. However, established estimates of these values for animal flight come from laboratories and treat the atmosphere as constant, even though free-flying animals routinely extract energy from atmospheric flows. Using high-resolution movement data, we estimate the cost of transport for 50 bird and bat species flying in the wild. Our results revise the classic ranking of locomotion costs, suggesting that flying can be cheaper than swimming though almost as costly as running, depending on interactions between physical environment, morphology, and behavior. Linking transport costs to atmospheric conditions provides a mechanistic basis for predicting how changing windscapes will reshape the energetics, movements, and distributions of flying animals.

ScienceVol. 394(6821)
University of Pisa (IT), Universitat de Miguel Hernández d'Elx (ES), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), University of Minnesota (US), Russian Academy of Sciences (RU), Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust (JE), Environment and Climate Change Canada (CA), North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (US), Radboud University Nijmegen (NL), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (AR), University of Cape Town (ZA), University of St Andrews (GB), Universidad de Granada (ES), University of Konstanz (DE), Hebrew University of Jerusalem (IL), Linnaeus University (SE), University of Havana (CU), Swiss Ornithological Institute (CH), Bat Conservation International (US), Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (CH), Swansea University (GB), University Clinical Center of Kosovo (XK), Estación Biológica de Doñana (ES), Centre d'Écologie Fonctionnelle et Évolutive (FR), National Library of Latvia (LV), Centre d'Etudes Biologiques de Chizé (FR), Israel Water Authority (IL), Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior (DE), Institute of Geography (RU), Kosovo Telecom (Kosovo) (XK), Israel Antiquities Authority (IL), Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (DE), National Research Council (IT), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Istituto di Ricerca sugli Ecosistemi Terrestri (IT), Museo di Storia Naturale della Maremma (IT), Wildlife Science and Conservation Center of Mongolia (MN), Endangered Wildlife Trust (ZA), McGill University (CA), FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, Stony Brook University (US), Universidad Nacional del Comahue (AR), La Rochelle Université (FR), Galapagos (Belgium) (BE), University of Latvia (LV), University of Haifa (IL), Mauritian Wildlife Foundation (MU), University of Lausanne (CH)
Openalex Percentile: Top 7%
Biomimetic flight and propulsion mechanisms
2.80
DOISourceOpenAlex
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