Feathered Poetry in the Wind

     On the afternoon of January 20, this past, I arrived at a pond at Morgantown, Pennsylvania in time to see the sky over that impoundment filled with a few hundred Canada geese in several, varying-sized, loudly-honking groups wheeling over the ice-covered pond, then floating down, effortlessly, like feathered parachutes, into the wind, and back-flapping to slow their descent just before landing on the ice.  Flock after flock followed each other down to the ice as if on an aerial, descending highway.  Within a few minutes, all the Canadas were standing or lying on the ice, bugling noisily, as is their custom.  Those geese came back to their roosting place after feeding on corn kernels in a harvested cornfield or the green blades of rye plants in a winter rye field.  What inspired me most about those geese, as always, was the usual beauty and poetry of their controlled descent. 
     All birds take off into the wind for lift.  The front edges of their wings are shaped to allow wind to push from under each wing for that lift.  And birds descend to water, ground, tree limbs and other objects into the wind for flight control.
     But different kinds of birds have different ways of flying, depending on their size, shape, weight and other factors.  Some birds are power fliers.  Others soar a lot, while some regularly hover into the wind.  And still others have a buoyant flight.
     Canada geese, other types of geese and ducks are swift power fliers, with steady series of deep, downward strokes.  Some species of geese fly in lines and V's to better slip through the air.  Lead birds push the air away, allowing following birds easier passage through it.
     Several kinds of birds in southeastern Pennsylvania, as elsewhere, including ring-billed gulls, red-tailed hawks, broad-winged hawks and turkey vultures, soar and wheel leisurely on high, with little effort, creating inspiring, entertaining spectacles in the sky.  Ring-bills and broad-wings are particularly light and dainty in flight.  And they swirl and circle in large groups in rising columns of sun-warmed air called thermals, the gulls over sources of food and the broadies during September when they migrate south, in groups, to northern South America to escape the food scarcity of winter in the northern hemisphere.
     Red-tailed hawks are majestic soaring on the wind.  They float buoyantly on stretched-flat wings for extended periods of time without once beating their wings, which saves them much energy.  Adult red-tails have bright orange tails which are visible from below when those birds turn on the wind.            But turkey vultures are the most elegant of soaring birds in the sky.  They float gracefully on the wind and thermals for hours with barely a wing beat, saving lots of energy, as they search for carrion on the ground to eat.  Turkey vultures are large and dark, and hold the tips of their wings upward, which aids in identifying them in the air.  But the biggest help in identifying these vultures is their habit of tipping from side to side for better flight control.
     American kestrels, rough-legged hawks, belted kingfishers and ring-billed gulls, all of which winter in southeastern Pennsylvania, are good at hovering gracefully, on rapidly beating wings, into the wind as they watch one spot below for food.  Kestrels and rough-legs hover over fields and roadside edges during winter in their quest for mice.  Kingfishers and ring-bills helicopter over water as they watch for small fish and other aquatic critters to consume.  But if no victims are spotted, each bird flies on and hovers someplace else, and, again, someplace else.  All these birds are entertaining and interesting to study hovering, then dropping swiftly to land or water to snare prey animals.
     Short-eared owls, and northern harriers, which are a kind of hawk, work hard low to the ground to catch mice and small birds in grassy, open habitats.  Though in different families of birds, these species are similar in hunting techniques because they share the same habitat- grasslands with few if any trees.  Few perches are in those habitats so these birds are obliged to course back and forth, slowly and buoyantly, low to the ground, into the wind to watch and listen for prey.  Each species alternately flaps and soars, with lots of turns, skimming swoops and dives into the grass after prey.  Sometimes there are a few of one species or the other in a field.  And, sometimes, there are mixed groups of these two species of raptors.  The owls are seen late in the afternoon, and at dusk, as night descends on them.  Harriers tilt from side to side, for better control in the wind, as they soar.
     Birds have a variety of ways of flying, all of which are interesting, and some are like poetry in the sky.  We only have to go outside, most anywhere, to enjoy seeing the inspiring beauty of birds in flight.