Bird flight

An Andean Condor soaring. This is one of the largest birds able to fly.

Flight is a method of moving through the air. To do this, birds use wings with light, hollow bones and feathers on them. Birds have a streamlined body shape, so that less air actually pushes onto them when flying.

Birds can fly high or they can also stay in one place and still be in the air. This is called hovering. Birds that hover or soar use very little energy for it, they use the rising hot air to lift them. Another common way of flying is for the bird to flap its wings in a circle.

Pigeons flapping their wings