This bird flies thousands of miles

Scientists have uncovered an unexpected trade-off in the wings of the European nightjar, a bird that migrates thousands of kilometers but sacrifices high-speed flight efficiency to hunt insects with remarkable agility. Even more surprisingly, it generates thrust on the upward wingbeat, a technique that could inspire new flying technologies. This bird flies thousands of miles, but its wings have a catch.

Scientists have discovered that European nightjars sacrifice flight efficiency for agility and use an unexpected wingbeat technique previously associated mainly with bats and insects. The European nightjar ( Caprimulgus europaeus) is a nighttime hunter that makes an extraordinary annual migration between Europe and southern Africa. Yet the wings that carry it across vast distances must also perform a very different task: helping the bird catch insects while flying slowly and making sharp turns.

Scientists at Lund University have discovered that these competing demands come with a surprising trade-off. Although the nightjar is built to handle long migrations, its wings are not perfectly optimized for efficient flight at higher speeds. Why Nightjar Wings Sacrifice Efficiency for Agility To investigate how nightjars fly, researchers studied the birds in a wind tunnel, recording their movements at different speeds and measuring the patterns of airflow left behind their wings.