birdsoup

A bird’s ability to fly seems like an amazing gift.  If you want to go from here to over there, all you do is take off and go.  Nothing to stop you.  No schedules.  No traffic.  No accidents or road repairs to slow you down.  Just go as the spirit moves you.   Sounds great.

I can only think of one potential drawback.  Imagine a cheerful little chickadee just zipping along from your yard to your neighbor’s.  Carefree and happy-go-lucky.  What fun.  And then a big wet raindrops falls from the sky and whacks him (or her) in the head.  Ouch.  That must hurt….. a lot.   The impact of a raindrop on a tiny bird weighing less than an ounce must be comparable to dropping a bowling ball on your toes. 

The Science Times section of the New York Time had a small article on a raindrop hitting a mosquito.  Since a mosquito is much smaller than a chickadee, the impact must be more severe.  But no.  According to the article, it doesn’t hurt the mosquito at all.  It is so lightweight there isn’t much damage.  The falling raindrop just moves the mosquito down along with it.  The article used a balloon as an example.  A balloon is very light.  But you can hit it as hard as you want and you can’t break it.  It just moves out of the way. 

I hope that is true for flying birds.  Or for flying people.  I would love to be able to fly like a bird.