Bird Tail Feathers - Why Birds Have Tails

Wings are important for flight, but did you know tails are important too? Let's learn why birds have tails and how they use them! Please subscribe to continue learning what makes life AWESOME: BioBush.tv/subscribe
We cover the three main aerodynamic uses for feathers:
Extra lift during slow flight - Tails provide up to 30% of the total lift that keep birds in the air, especially during the slow flight of takeoff and landing.
Stability - Tails provide an extra surface that can push air and keep the bird oriented in three-dimensional flight.
Enhancing Wings - Air pushed up by the tail also lifts the back of each wing. It's a net benefit for flying ability.
And then we talk about the major types of tails:
Performance Tails - triangle-shaped tails that help birds get the most speed with the least amount of material. Used by birds that fly fast and turn fast (eg. swifts, swallows).
Durable Tails - rounded tails used by birds that live in among plants. Sticks and stones can break your tail feathers. But rounded tails are more resilient.
Ornamental Tails - big, flashy tails. Tails can change shape more dramatically than wings, and still be useful for flight. Use by the birds with famous tails like the peacock, pheasants, quetzal, turkey, and lyrebird.
Mystery Tails - Weird tails that don't fit into the other categories. Woodpeckers. Needle-tailed swifts. Wiretails. Some of these have functions that we don't even know. There is a lot more we can learn from birds.
I hope you learn something interesting in this video, that makes you glad you spent the time to learn about birds today!
If you want to share this video, the custom link is BioBush.tv/tails
Copyright
Video "Turning and turning" by John Harmer ( • Turning and turning ). Used under Creative Commons cc-by 2.0.
Video "Pigeons at the Gateway of India, Mumbai Slow motion video" by
Harshvardhan Malpani ( • Pigeons at The Gateway... ). Used under Creative Commons cc-by 2.0.
Video "slow birds" by John Harmer ( • slow birds ). Used under Creative Commons cc-by 2.0.
Video "Common Swifts in slow motion" by Alan Dalton ( • Common Swifts in slow ... ). Used under Creative Commons cc-by 2.0.
Video "Cardinal In The Snow And Squirrel Hop Slow Motion" by Jon Bondy ( • Cardinal In The Snow A... ). Used under Creative Commons cc-by 2.0.
Video "Legend of Birds" by Archives New Zealand ( • Legend of Birds (1962) ). Used under Creative Commons cc-by 2.0.
Photo "Longtailed Widowbird, Euplectes progne in early summer breading plumage at Rietvlei Nature Reserve, Gauteng, South Africa" by Derek Keats, via Flickr (www.flickr.com/photos/dkeats/.... Used under Creative Commons cc-by 2.0.
Bizarre Birds - BioBush.tv/birdbeaks
Ask Two Zookeepers - BioBush.tv/a2z
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Thanks for watching! You're awesome!

[@maryrosekent8223]

Hi Steve, I’ve made another list (SURPRISE! (Not)) 01. UNKNOWN 02. UNK swift 03. UNK hawk 04. UNK stork 05. Rock pigeon 06. UNK gull 07. Cooper’s/Sharp-shinned hawk (?) 08. The return of 06. 09. Red-tailed hawk 10. UNK sandgrouse 11. UNK antpitta (?) 12. Bald eagle 13. UNK swift/swallow 14. UNK swallow (immature Barn, perhaps?) 15. Red-billed tropicbird 16. Baltimore oriole 17. Northern cardinal 18. UNK macaw 19. Dollarbird 20. Red-tailed tropicbird 21. Silver pheasant 22. UNK fantail 23. Capercaillie (?) 24. Zebra finch (?) 25. Wild turkey 26. Lyrebird (the world’s best imitator) 27. Calliope hummingbird (?) 28. Greater racket-tailed drongo 29. UNKNOWN 30. Greater spotted woodpecker (female) 31-33. ID’d by you

[@BioBush]

You are really good at identifying birds, Mary Rose. 04. Great Blue Heron (?) 06. Oops, sorry for covering the face with text. 11. UNK Cuckoo. Also, thanks for introducing me to the antpitta! 15. I don't know. I'm just impressed that you tried based on so little information. 16. American Redstart 18. Blue and Gold Macaw 20. NICE 22. I'm guessing New Zealand Fantail because it's a video from Archives New Zealand. 23. Spruce Grouse (found by searching "grouse with red eyebrow") 24. You're right. 25.5 Lady Amherst's Pheasant 27. You're right again. And the rest I think you're right. This is a fun game! Thanks for playing again!

[@maryrosekent8223]

Before we all lost access to public resources, I’ve been working on lists of each country’s birds. I made a master list from one source and then use Wikipedia to create the list for each country. This gives me a constructive way to channel my OCD tendencies and to learn about birds all over the world. Because there are constant updates in taxonomy, if I ever make it through the alphabet, I’ll have to go back to the beginning and reorganize what’s changed. I doubt I’ll be able to do the whole world before I die, but it’s a great learning experience and, like I said, it channels my brain in a positive direction. I work in Excel, so I can’t really work on this on my iPad, thus I use the computers at the public library, which is conveniently located one block north of my apartment. I’m eager for them to reopen! Thanks for your encouragement and kind words, Steve. 🦩🕊🦜🦃🦚 P.S. Even if I’d had a clear view of the gull, life’s too short to spend it on learning gulls! I do recognize Heerman’s when they pass through because they’re so distinctive, and I’d probably make an effort to see something like a kittiwake or some easily recognizable foreign gull, but mostly I just pass over them.

[@BioBush]

@@maryrosekent8223 You're building a great resource, Mary Rose! You're going to know about some very rare and exotic birds. Keep up the good work!

[@joelceda3500]

@@BioBush On 06 gull it's possible to pause the video before the text covers the gull's image, but not seeing any easy identifiers, plus don't even know what continent's gulls to look for. And 02 swift looks like an Apus apus (not sure what that's in English, but Latin name lets you track it down). Annnd 03 hawk looks very much like Falco tinnunculus. The colours and patterns match exactly.

[@BioBush]

@@joelceda3500 Thanks for the extra identification help, Joel! This was a happy surprise of finding people who like identifying birds. Thank you for watching!

[@ishkiiapaige7317]

Thank you! There are many about wings but very little about tails. I'm writing a science fiction / fantasy book and needed the information. Thank you

[@BioBush]

Hi ishKiia! I'm glad you found this helpful. If you have any creature design questions I'm happy to try to answer them. Thank you for watching!

[@smashingpencils]

Thank you for this!! So interesting and informative!

[@BioBush]

You're welcome, Smashing Pencils! There are so many interesting things to learn about birds. Thank you for watching!

[@Ecotasia]

Really nice job explaining tail shapes and what you can learn about a bird from its tail.

[@BioBush]

I learned a lot in making this video. It's good to keep pushing boundaries. Like, thanks to our combined videos I now have a coherent explanation of structural color that I can do in conversations. Hopefully we are all one step closer to understanding every part of a bird! Thanks for taking time to watch again this week!

[@sungglerpassword]

Thanks so much for making this video. It was great. My students will love it!

[@BioBush]

You're welcome, Jeffrey! It was a good suggestion, and it turns out bird tails are very interesting. I'm glad you find educational value in it. Thanks for teaching about birds!

[@grantcxadams2969]

thanks for making this video im building a pair of wings so this was super helpful

[@BioBush]

You're welcome, Grant! Tails are surprisingly important to flight stability, especially during takeoff and landing. I also made a video about the four most common wing shapes at BioBush.tv/wingshapes. Thank you for watching!

[@sonialoves444]

wow, thank you! i really like this video, you answered every single question i had, i did a search and this is the only video i selected, all around perfect. thanks again, i appreciate the information so much! 🦅

[@BioBush]

Thank you, Sonia! It's a very niche topic, but I'm glad you found all the information you were looking for! It's a privilege to dig up and share this information with motivated learners like yourself. Thanks for watching!

[@JumpdeArt]

Lol great vid, loved the editing

[@karenpettit5695]

I liked this video!

[@BioBush]

That's very nice of you to say. Thank you for taking the time to learn about birds!

[@reeslofts8363]

Superb video sir. Thanks

[@BioBush]

You're welcome, Reeslofts! There are so many interesting things to learn about birds. Thanks for watching!

[@maryrosekent8223]

Steve, I was way wrong about #15; we’re looking at a Common Tern for that.

[@BioBush]

Hi Mary Rose! I'm still impressed that you tried to identify that one. It's just a shape and a little bit of color to work with. That said, Common Tern looks right. The beak color/shape is right. The original photo is pixabay.com/photos/common-tern-tern-sea-swallow-5069564/, and it is tagged Common Tern, but also Sterna paradisaea (Arctic Tern) and Sea Swallow. So I don't think the original photographer knew exactly which species either!

[@maryrosekent8223]

@@BioBush That’s a strange sort of comfort, but I’ll take it.

[@jamisonisme5457]

Can birds feel pain in ther tails? Like if they got cut off somehow would they be able to feel it?

[@BioBush]

The feather tissue all dead and has no nerve endings, so it's like cutting hair. But just like hair, if it gets pulled out there are lots of nerves in the follicle and it hurts. One thing to note with feathers is that a new, growing feather (a "pin" feather wrapped in a layer of keratin) can bleed if cut, but still has no nerves. Thanks for watching, Jamison!

[@jamisonisme5457]

@@BioBush thanks

[@thesleepymew481]

I don’t know if I missed it but are bird tails sensitive like cat tails?

[@BioBush]

Hi Mew! I think so. There are no nerves in the feathers themselves, but they're all connected into feather follicles in the skin. So much like a cat they should be able to detect a touch pretty well. Thanks for taking the time to learn about birds!

[@Khelou234]

can a bird fly without tail? what are the disadvantage without tail?

[@BioBush]

Hi Immanuel! The Spine-tailed Swift flies with basically no tail. The downside is that tails provide up to 30% of the bird's lift, especially during slow takeoffs and landings. (The Spine-tailed Swift drops from high perches to accelerate) The tail also provides stability to keep the bird oriented properly while flying. These two huge benefits mean that almost every flying bird has a tail. Good question! Thanks for watching!

[@atr_aviation1573]

Hi, I have a question, if a bird loses its tail it will not be able to make turns in the air?

[@BioBush]

That's a good question! My guess is they would still be able to turn in flight, but not as well. There are effectively tailless birds already like the New Zealand Rock Wren (Piwauwau), or the Pygmy Cupwing. Those birds do not usually fly, though they both can fly. Parrots, with their gigantic tails, are able to fly in a forest and not crash. I think bird wings would give more flexibility than airplane wings, in the same way that bird wings are exceeded by bat wings. More joints, more control. Thanks for watching!

[@atr_aviation1573]

@@BioBush Thank you very much

[@annwarner4040]

Hi,I have a so g thrush that visits me for the odd snail or worm I find ,but have noticed its list its tail feathers,is this normal,concerned.

[@BioBush]

Hi Ann! It's not typical for a song thrush to lose all their tail feathers at once - usually each feather is replaced individually. It could be illness, or maybe a close call with a predator. The good news is that the feathers will grow back eventually. Thank you for watching!

[@annwarner4040]

Thankyou,will keep a close eye on her.

[@kaurgill1717]

.these birds seen near to the sea beaches....but,there is a bird with very long tails like two ribbons hanging...I have seen regularly a white colour bird with black crown on the head & a pair of white ribbons like tail.who stayed near my house on trees for two years...sat in my window along with other birds to eat food,i used to give regularly to other small colourful birds..,so I could observe very closely when it came close.... .recently I saw a same type of bird with greyish colour flying with two long ribbons tail emitting sparks like fire crackers..& i noticed because tail made sound like fire crackers....it was a great surprize for the first time & all other birds,crows tried to chase him...& it went towards the trees. to hide... Can you plz give some information about these long ribbon birds in your next video??

[@BioBush]

Hi Kaur! What a unique experience! I would guess a White-tailed Tropicbird, because they have long tail streamers and live near the ocean. Check it out and let me know if that's what you saw. Thank you for watching!

[@kaurgill1717]

@@BioBush Thank you so much for replying & information.I will check.Since that day,i have been waiting to see if that bird revisits...but,not yet.instead many red tailed birds,green parakits, koyals are visiting on mango trees,koo ss.. koo... starts at 3am till 7pm++

[@kaurgill1717]

@@BioBush Hi,i checked white tailed tropic bird,yes we do have many of simillar huge kind,but they don't have long tail,their feathers on the back are mix of grayishbrown ,rest of pure white, wings make lot of noice,yellow eyes,green beak, migrates in the month of April & lives here on tamarind trees till November. Thus bird looked like Indian flycatcher. Same small size.