Girl: Ever notice how birds on a wire all face the same direction? Frazz: Yeah. Into the wind. Girl: Okay, that's not as profound as I thought it would be. Frazz: Landing on a telephone wire is pretty profound.
Cattle do it for two reasons: to detect predator scents and so they won’t smell the methane they generate! Low flying pilots also use the cattle as a wind direction indicator.
mggreen603: It is not that, for two reasons: cows upwind from them, and methane is odorless. The smell in biogas is mostly from the hydrogen sulfide, not methane. Natural gas (fossil biogas) has mercapten added to detect leaks; treated biogas leaves a little of the hydrogen sulfide in for the rotten egg smell for the same reason.
Nope, no Naval aviator training in Colorado Springs. Also, Colo Spgs is about 6000 feet above sea level and even on a hot day, provides MUCH more than “half the lift”. Air Force Academy students fly gliders and do parachute jumps. Plenty of air pressure for both.
RobinHood2013 about 9 years ago
I always knew Frazz was a birdbrain, but this is ridiculous!
Varnes about 9 years ago
If those birds were musical notes, there’d be a pretty active base line there….
cabalonrye about 9 years ago
There’s a video with a guy playing the birds as musical notes, some of it is quite nice.
jamesbachreeves about 9 years ago
Crows land on telephone wires to make long-distance caws.
whiteheron about 9 years ago
Actually, those birds have the power. But I am being pecky.
Retired Dude about 9 years ago
Facing into the wind makes it easier to land and take off. More airflow across their wings.
magicwalnut Premium Member about 9 years ago
Oh, I always wondered about that…..
rshive about 9 years ago
“Like a bird on the wire…”—-apologies to Leonard Cohen
mggreen about 9 years ago
Cattle do it for two reasons: to detect predator scents and so they won’t smell the methane they generate! Low flying pilots also use the cattle as a wind direction indicator.
Fido (aka Felix Rex) about 9 years ago
Now I have to wonder — do flightless birds like penguins or ostriches sit facing the wind? (Maybe they do for the same reason as cows).
hippogriff about 9 years ago
mggreen603: It is not that, for two reasons: cows upwind from them, and methane is odorless. The smell in biogas is mostly from the hydrogen sulfide, not methane. Natural gas (fossil biogas) has mercapten added to detect leaks; treated biogas leaves a little of the hydrogen sulfide in for the rotten egg smell for the same reason.
falcon_370f about 9 years ago
And the Cattle stand with their rump to the wind, not their face.
Doublejake Premium Member about 9 years ago
Nope, no Naval aviator training in Colorado Springs. Also, Colo Spgs is about 6000 feet above sea level and even on a hot day, provides MUCH more than “half the lift”. Air Force Academy students fly gliders and do parachute jumps. Plenty of air pressure for both.
marmar4 about 9 years ago
Nope, they sit that way waiting for a convertible with the top down—— then, on the count of three—-