Birds at Altitude

Bird brain doesn't need much oxygen to function.


"pgbnh" wrote in message
...
|I am clearly no expert on bird physiology, but what the
heck is a bird
| breathing at 38,000msl????
|
| Possibly a small canister on its back with a little
'birdie-canula' strapped
| to its beak?
| "Andrey Serbinenko" wrote
in message
| ...
| The highest a bird has ever been spotted is about 38,000
msl.
|
| You may find this web-site interesting:
http://www.usahas.com/
|
|
|
| Andrey
|
|
| Judah wrote:
| What's the highest altitude that you ever saw a bird
swoop past your
| plane?
|
| The other day I was flying at 5000' MSL, over land that
was mostly about
| 1000' (so 4000' AGL) and saw a flock of birds, hawks of
some sort I
| think,
| one of which came close enough to make me quite nervous
(although from
| the
| way he was flapping I think he was much more nervous
than I was).
|
| I don't think I've ever seen birds above 3000' MSL /
2500' AGL or so
| before
| and I was pretty surprised...
|
| Do birds typically stay low, or have I just been lucky
until now?
|
|

What's the highest altitude that you ever saw a bird swoop past your plane?

I've seen snow geese in Texas above 4,000 feet AGL.

Migrating birds are known to fly much higher than that--well up into the
flight levels.

--
Dan
C-172RG at BFM

The bugs go as high as thermal lift goes. In the east that normally
goes to 8k or so - can go to 11k or 12K. Out west it can go above 18K
but middle teens is common.

When the bugs are there, the swifts will go there too. Usually don't
see them due to size unless you're flying in the same places, slow, and
with good visibility like a glider guider.

Heck, I've seen clumps of grass at 15K, 12kagl - dust devil debris I guess.

Ron Natalie wrote:

What has always impressed me is how high you find insects. I've
smacked into nice juicy bugs at like 6000'

pgbnh wrote:
I am clearly no expert on bird physiology, but what the heck is a bird
breathing at 38,000msl????

Just because he's there doesn't mean he meant to be.

I'm guessing that if a bird gets caught up in some lee wave lift (which
can exceed 50k) he might just climb and die from hypoxia or temperature.
as in 'bird brain'. Pure conjecture though.

"Judah" wrote in message

What's the highest altitude that you ever saw a bird swoop past your
plane?

I hit a bird one night at 9500 over Long Island sound in a 402.
Clarification: I presume it was a bird - I saw nothing, just heard a very
loud BANG as something caromed off the windshield.

It could have been my buddy chucking an empty beer can out of the window
while flying over the Sound.

("Maule Driver" wrote)
Heck, I've seen clumps of grass at 15K, 12kagl - dust devil debris I
guess.


"Have grass strip in sight."


Montblack

("DeLoon DeLoon" wrote)
It could have been my buddy chucking an empty beer can out of the window
while flying over the Sound.

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/month.asp
NTSB Reports - Aviation Accidents

'Cessna 402 slamming into a house' - which at the time of the accident, was
being used as a day-care for crippled blind orphans.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of
this accident as follows:

DeLoon DeLoon suggesting to his buddy he throw a beer can out the window of
an aircraft. Deloon DeLoon supplying the beer. DeLoon DeLoon failing to take
into account his friend's diminished mental capacity. A contributing factor
was the lack of suitable friends available for DeLoon DeLoon to play with.


Montblack

I dodged or rather the bird dodged.. appeared to be an Eagle, Soaring at
FL200 in the mid west, I was in a B-52.. it would have made an ugly mess if
we had hit.

BT

"Ron Natalie" wrote in message
m...
Judah wrote:


Do birds typically stay low, or have I just been lucky until now?

I hit a turkey buzzard at 4500 feet once. That was probably over
3000 AGL.

What has always impressed me is how high you find insects. I've
smacked into nice juicy bugs at like 6000'

Judah wrote:
What's the highest altitude that you ever saw a bird swoop past your plane?


Turkey Vulture at 5500' MSL while in the practice area south of
Phoenix.

It was really not that big a deal but at the time, I was a 23- hour
student pilot who was just about to get to the break in a departure
stall and was very nose high when it went *over* me.

Big, black silouette had me convinced we'd just missed another plane...

Jay B