Why Don't Birds on Power Lines Get Zapped?

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If you stick your finger in a socket, you’re in for a bad time, so how can birds perch on power lines without getting zapped?
Hosted by: Olivia Gordon
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[@SciShow]

Skillshare is offering SciShow viewers two months of unlimited access to Skillshare for free! skl.sh/scishow-11

[@matthewcassem8359]

Your explanation of potential is backwards. electricity moves from higher potential to lower potential.

[@undisputedboyka12]

Do a video of where babies come from, like sperm with in sperm

[@thryduulf]

@@undisputedboyka12 I think they've already done one

[@patinpatin12]

Is she pregnant?

[@xMckingwill]

No charge differential

[@VINOS234]

They are electric types

[@Utsu-P_Enjoyer]

Ground/flying types

[@michagrill9432]

Eh?

[@bengoodwin2141]

VINOS don’t you mean ground types?

[@discipleofshaun5252]

Volt absorb.

[@vzkronos4759]

Nice profile picture

[@goatmeal5241]

There IS a voltage difference between the birds' feet, because there is a small current flowing and the wire has some nonzero resistance, but that voltage drop is so small that the current isn't noticeable to the bird. I think there's another teaching moment here: the REASON we have high voltage wires is so we can deliver lots of power with this small current, so we can have very little voltage drop due to actual current in the nonzero-resistance wires. Birds being able to land on the lines is a direct testament to the efficiency of the system--if it was less efficient there would be more voltage drop along the wire, and birds would experience larger currents when they touched the wire in two different places.

[@sweetman5249]

You got that right . Besides , birds touch power line with two feet simultaneously. i.e there is almost zero potential difference between the two feet. Sometimes, they lose balance and touch power line with one foot and the other will be in air . That is where the electrocution comes . The foot that touches power line is at high potential and the other is at low potential. This creates current to flow through the bird’s body and gets electrocuted.

[@Owen_loves_Butters]

It would be pretty hard to electrocute a bird that way though. The wire resistance is so small compared to the bird that you need an absurd amount of current to produce even 1mA through the bird. Otherwise good points.

[@dacoconutnut9503]

_Because birds studied physics of course_

[@petercarioscia9189]

And they took this courses on SkillShare

[@parallel4]

While you were busy flying, I studied physics

[@HenryTangGang]

I thought ground types were immune to electricity, not flying types

[@Evilgood1]

Henry T They just explained why Ground is immune to electric

[@bengoodwin2141]

Henry T flying is weak to electric, but ground/flying is immune to electric as much as ground

[@Shenron557]

LoL... awesome comment. Eelektross have no weakness :-D

[@Shenron557]

BTW, for people who didn't understand, Henry is referring to Pokémon :-P

[@girlsdrinkfeck]

@@Shenron557 or is confused about wearing rubber soles

[@insaniac747]

There were once electricians working on the power lines near my house. My dad noticed that the electrician in the cherry picker working on the wires wasn't wearing insulated gloves. So he went to the supervisor (who was watching from the ground) and said "if the guy up there isn't wearing insulated gloves, I guess you guys must have turned off the power to those wires". The supervisor replied to him; "No, those wires are live, but electricity always follows the path of least resistance, and copper wire has a lot less resistance than human flesh. The only way he'll get electrocuted would be if he touches two different wires at the same time, or touches a wire and the ground at the same time. Now he's too far off the ground to touch it directly and the cherry picker is insulated, which means he'll be fine as long as he doesn't touch two wires at the same time. He can touch the SAME wire with both hands, just not two different wires. After the supervisor said all that my dad just replied, "Oh, okay then". And as they both turned their heads upwards to watch the guy in the cherry picker, the supervisor said, "yeah, that's the same reason birds can perch on live power lines".

[@FatPlank]

so essentially, to put things into my own creative way of thinking, electrons know there's a human flesh touching the wires but are like, nah, these copper wires are fire; let me know if that hand completes the circuit by touching another wire or something that leads to the ground and i'll make my way over there! did i get that right?

[@vireaknou8835]

But according to ohm laws electricity took every possible path right? But since the path with least resistance allow the highest current… then this give an illusion of electricity took the path with least resistance right?

[@jerbear9283]

As a professional utility worker my opinion is; all utilities should be directionally bored into the ground it's not as susceptible to damage during storms and the only danger is humans digging without knowing what's under them. (Bias warning; I work in underground directional drilling so I'm definitely bias towards giving myself more work.) The only issue is running out of room for new utilities, which could be remedied by burying new cables under at least a three foot berm. Of just better planning starting with older utilities 15 feet deep and highly regulated in their placement leaving much clearer windows for drilling crews to put in new conduit. Risking the lives of large birds and other animals including ourselves with such a vulnerable system of hanging uninsulated wires is just ridiculous to me.

[@Caleb-zj9xi]

Jerbear how much is the cost savings of overhead utilities? The world runs on money. As you probably know, with public projects, the low bid wins.

[@loc4725]

I read an analysis once on the costs of overhead vs. underground power lines and once you factor in the expense of both burrying and more importantly maintaining underground lines you understand why overhead is so prevalent.

[@SydLiz94]

I work in electric transmission. Installation of an underground line is easily 10x the cost of an overhead line. It's not just about the cost to the company though - we would have to raise the rates for our customers to cover the expense. Your bill would go up 10x to fund that construction. Nobody wants that. In fact, the public service commission would likely block the underground project (unless strictly and demonstrably necessary for other reasons) in order to protect the customers' rates.

[@Wing0Alchemist]

That would create a huge amount of capacitance between the ground and the wire which would cause a massive power loss over the transmission line. There's already capacitance between the ground and the wires, but because if the distance it's not as big.

[@jerbear9283]

Directional DRILLING. Not tunneling like Viet Cong. You drill and you hook up to conduit and pull it back. Plus I've drilled through granite, terrain is only and issue if the rig physically can't sit on the terrain, overhead could cover the gaps. Underground would become cheaper and more efficient with the added pressure and work load demanding it. Trenching in utilities isn't cheap 20 people being paid by the footage of trenching isn't ever going to be cheap. Three men can operate a directional drill rig, technically one with the drill-to locator boxes and a lot of time to spot dig any crossed utilities which wouldn't be necessary with higher regulation of the drilling window of the conduit. I emphasize that I am an underground utilities expert; I can operate a drill rig without a display monitor, I've put utility vaults in the ground I've dragged 4 inch conduit through sand with a JT9 ditch witch that had no clock face no working safety sensors beyond strike alert, a knowledgeable drilling crew can conquer any ground and achieve more than a 20 man crew hand burying or using a mini excavator to lay pipe with far less employees needed. Utility drilling is expensive because of time wasted by lazy locators miss-marking utilities, not marking them at all, and companies who are willing to throw a greenhorn on a rig instead of paying 200 daily salary to a driller that can lay 1000 foot of pipe in a work day without plowing through other utilities. My point assumes more effort, care, development, and efficiency in underground utilities spurned on by the conversion of vulnerable and dangerous overhead lines into underground. Plus a lineman makes more money than I ever will they're paid hourly they're on call 24/7 they often die repairing lines in storms and in other accidents that are less likely with underground work. The start up cost of a total conversion and reorganization of America's utilities would obviously be steep but the benefits would come long term with less repair work less worker death less damaged power poles to replace. Less maintenance wins in the long run fellas. But this is hypothetical and you're arguing with an actual member of the career in question while citing internet searches for burying the cable into the ground because you didn't understand what directional drilling is or search for it to learn.

[@electronicsNmore]

I've seen 2 birds get blown to pieces when they extended their wings between 2 power lines. Both wings got close enough to allow the high voltage to jump.

[@just-a-silly-goofy-guy]

Because Pixar made them that way

[@dr.al-x2784]

kremit the frog *nostaligia intensifies*

[@arrowghost]

FOR THE BIRDS!

[@kingofflames738]

Everyone knows that's where they charge their batteries

[@rollskreet6227]

Make Orwell fiction again.

[@krisclonts7666]

i didnt even know she was prego. congrats and hope he/she is healthy

[@TheAndrea263]

She needs to pick a different shirt. It looks like she's trying to hide it or something lol

[@memeswiper]

Yes, I'm suprised no one's talking about it

[@Kay-kg6ny]

@@TheAndrea263 lol maybe she just wanted to wear a sweater that day

[@chinito77]

Gr8 Incarnate It’s a science baby experiment she’s working on. Something about modifying the genes to make an attack helicopter...

[@CarlosSanchez-en6mr]

Gr8 Incarnate because those are the only genders Duh

[@PositroniumPs]

Electrocution is always fatal; because it's definition is "death due to electric shock."

[@smurfyday]

its

[@hodlup379]

I picked up on that too

[@ferociousmaliciousghost]

I believe those who survived got a electric shock instead.

[@hodlup379]

@@ferociousmaliciousghost Yeah, minus the death due to it

[@David-px6yu]

*its and no, it can be just an injury: "e·lec·tro·cu·tion The *injury* or killing of someone by electric shock."

[@goodsocksproductions9397]

"Electrocution is usually fatal for birds" Isn't electrocution, by definition, fatal? (Electric execution)

[@ZtubidiPhone]

Fact: It is not. You can get electrocuted and not die.

[@Lionstar16]

Holy cow, Olivia looks ready to pop in this video!

[@Pheonix19581]

@@azdgariarada how is pragnete formed?

[@beezusHrist]

@@azdgariarada She's DEFINITELY Pregnant lol

[@christianv7177]

Thought I was the only one that noticed.

[@ursaltydog]

yep.. noticed that before.. wonder how long she is?

[@undisputedboyka12]

Pregnant with emotion?

[@yosoyysoyyo]

I think electrocution is a portmanteau of electric and execution, so electrocution is (formally) always fatal! Just a fun fact, since we all knew what you meant anyway~ Edit: now that I think about it, maybe not the single most fun fact in the world...

[@pranavlimaye]

Thank you. I was just about to comment this. Did you also get that from a Vsauce video like I did?

[@Pulstar232]

Nowadays I think it's been co-opted into being a synonym for shocked.

[@pranavlimaye]

@@Pulstar232 And quite unfortunately so.

[@gamechep]

Yes you can see it everywhere. People are somehow confusing getting shocked with electrocution. My guess is they were trying to get a fancy word.

[@JayBigDadyCy]

Read my mind. I used to confuse the two all the time when I was a kid. My dad constantly corrected my ass hahah

[@fraserhenderson7839]

High tension transmission lines (275,000 volts) can worked on from a helicopter while energized when the helicopter and the workers are insulated from ground and sharing the potential of the conductor. It's cheap and fast because of ease of access compared to ground access via cut lines and climbing towers.

[@IncredibleMoments444]

Why did I click this video? Short answer is, for anyone with common electrical knowledge, they’re not grounded

[@bbq1423]

I thought there would be a "It's not because of what you think!" kind of answer.

[@giuzeppeedreimeimban1019]

If i only knew it was olivia~

[@Markd315]

If you want to be strict about the definitions, electrocution is *always* fatal for birds (and everyone). -cution meaning “death”

[@Antoine7881]

I work on the overhead power lines for a utility in New Jersey. While the risk for electrocution is there, we worry about having a flash more than anything else. That's when one power line touches another power line or something that's grounded. The explosion is loud and hot. You can suffer 3rd degree burns if you're close enough and have ringing in your ears for months. Our safety rules and procedures greatly reduces the chances of electrocution. You have to put yourself in a bad spot or do something stupid to get electrocuted.

[@StefanVeenstra]

Overhere in the Netherlands, most powerlines are fitted with an off-grid wire above all the electrified wires. Birds usually prefer to sit as high as possible and with good visibility of their surroundings.

[@elanianiyvwia8687]

Why are people still asking this?? Seriously this has been asked for decades!!!

[@leftenanalim]

Because new and new generations are being born. No one person who knows everything from birth.

[@unicornswag888]

Sticking a fork in an outlet is a great way to get electrolytes for massive gainz.

[@Bodyknock]

There is one technical point that the video didn't mention but which, in principle at least, should also be considered when talking about why birds aren't hurt by power lines, namely the potential gradient along a wire between the bird's legs. Specifically the potential along a wire has a gradient due to the wire's resistance such that the amount of voltage at one part of the wire is not quite the same as the voltage further down the wire. Hypothetically if this potential gradient were great enough, and the bird had a large enough span between its talons on the wire, it could electrocute the bird even if the bird was only touching that one wire. Fortunately for the birds power lines are built for long distance transmission so have very low resistances and thus have very low potential gradients over, say, one meter distance (way longer than even a raptor's stride). So no danger to them as long as they only touch a single wire with both feet.

[@AeroconX]

*electrons travel from high potential to low (1st law thermo)

[@jim1550]

1:52 Electrocution is fatal for everything...

[@Frosty2]

Jon exactly

[@KnightSlasher]

*How Shocking*

[@ferociousmaliciousghost]

That pun of yours is electrifying.

[@ChaosOptional]

There is something call step voltage which is the Voltage difference between to points on a plane. Say between e.g. your feet on ground close to a life power line which for some reason has dropped on the ground. As long as you keep your feet close together you might be fine, but when you make a big step, say to get to safety ... zap. This also applies to bird on wires, small bird do notice the electricity, even keeps them warm, but for bigger birds things can get uncomfortable or even fatal. Also you will notice that birds keep there distance between each other while on a live wire. If to many were to touch each other, they might just zap themselves...

[@JAY1892]

I ‘discovered’ this channel two days ago and am now addicted. 👍

[@thstroyur]

1:54 "Electrocution is usually fatal for birds" Aaaand anything else; SciShow SelfBurn

[@PositroniumPs]

Electrocution is always fatal; because it is defined as death by electric shock.

[@thstroyur]

@@PositroniumPs You don't say; which part of "anything else" made you doubt that?

[@hodlup379]

@@thstroyur electricity flows from high potential to low potential, not the other way round 😂

[@thstroyur]

@@hodlup379 ? What's that got to do with here?

[@GeometryDashKenaz]

Laughed when she said that 😂.. Electrocution literally means electric execution

[@victor9]

Wait so I can perch on a powerline!? This changes everything!

[@smurfyday]

Are you a bird?

[@Anubalfer]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJCxdnR7fMp5f9k

[@victor9]

@@smurfyday idk are sues you are not?

[@mcdrums87]

To use EE language, the “potential” is voltage. Current flows from high voltage to low voltage. Birds are (generally) safe on power lines because their whole body is at the same potential. For humans, we have feet sitting on the ground (usually), and that keeps our bodies at the same potential-which should be ground, conveniently enough. When we touch a high voltage source, though, NOW we have a potential across our bodies, current flows through us, and things can get...unpleasant. Also, the source of electricity is important. A Taser, for example, uses very high voltage to incapacitate a target. This (usually) isn’t fatal because the Taser is battery powered and can’t push unlimited power nor energy through a human body. This is why voltages in your home can still be dangerous at relatively low voltage of 115/230.

[@johningram6588]

Only reason tazers are safe are because they step say 9 volts to 40kv, so if it has a current of 5 amps at the battery it would only be around 1 milliamp at 40kv, and it needs around 25-30 milliamps to cause any harm

[@sebastians7346]

When I was small (3-5) I made a chain of paper clips and started swinging it around. It got inside a socket and made a big zap, but I survived Unharmed. I think it was the plastic paper clips that saved me

[@moviedude22]

So isn't the movement better described as Higher to Lower potential ?

[@Rob-uc2jh]

Convention is that current is flow of positive charge. When describing it in terms of electrons, this causes some weirdness.

[@Kanglar]

She kept the convention of Ohm's law in reference to what is at higher potential, but then reversed the definition of current flow, so Ohm's law doesn't work anymore. Makes no sense really even when describing "electron flow".

[@sarowie]

She could have ignored the whole potential thing, as most power lines are AC anyway, thus alternating higher and lower potential with 60 cycles a second.

[@bmw123ck]

@@chemistninja it's the other way around. Conventional Current (positive charges) goes to lower voltages. Electron flow (negative charges) goes to higher voltages. So she is right from the electron flow point of view

[@chemistninja]

bmw123ck absolutely! I was having a totally blonde moment. Thanks!

[@Master_Therion]

My pet bird got electrocuted when it escaped from its Faraday Cage :(

[@katiekane5247]

Oof

[@montycantsin8861]

Shoulda got the Farayear cage. Birds keep longer in those.

[@katiekane5247]

@@montycantsin8861 lol

[@brentsander4849]

Thanks Olivia. I hope you're well and happy.

[@SabinStargem]

In a alternate timeline, powerline poles are explicitly designed to shock and kill roosting birds, sending a signal to the "meat wagon" when doing so. In that world, poultry isn't raised domestically, and is instead collected opportunistically. The turkey is also the national bird. /s.

[@stryx7557]

*They are to Epic to get zapped*

[@petercarioscia9189]

Too*

[@itsyaboisanic3504]

@@petercarioscia9189 Excuse me he's using it right its *to

[@hadrianmoment3944]

*Electrocution for the birds is usually fatal.* That is the definition of electrocution: death by electricity. If they survive, it’s zapping, not electrocution.

[@hodlup379]

Shocking

[@hadrianmoment3944]

gw23 still, it doesn’t follow the definition.

[@hodlup379]

@@WasabiMeal Most people watching these science videos are etymological purists and forget that all language evolves over time from it's coined origin

[@Rolldamntide]

I'm not gonna lie I used to be one of the haters back when Olivia first came on the channel but I don't know what it is I've really grown to like her....YOU GO GIRL

[@jiminboo]

I once saw a large vulture get killed because it extended it wings while perched on top of a pole. Dropped to the ground dead instantly. I’m glad you guys mentioned this.

[@thofus]

Congrats to Olivia with the newborn on Nov 10th :-)

[@marmalade627]

By definition, electrocution is always fatal.

[@ViraIshnia]

I guess that also explains how a bird I had was able to chew through a live wire and be okay. The little rat is still going and I learned birdies need supervised playtime

[@aweirdoalert7561]

*Sits on an overhead power line* SEE I'M NOT GETTING ELETRI- *Gets electrocuted*

[@Anglesso]

So we can stand on them as long as we don't touch anything else

[@mcdrums87]

Actually, yes. Exactly. Kind of hard to do without wings, but if you insulated yourself properly, you could get up there and hang out with the birds.

[@dynamicworlds1]

Until you fall off because standing on a rope/chord/wire is _really_ difficult for most humans, especially if there's slack in it.

[@pierreuntel1970]

@potato psoas no, never assume you're safe even if you're insulated from the ground, there will always be a capacitance between you and the ground which could allow current flow

[@sarowie]

Yes, a human can stand/work on an active power line. In the US some power line workers work on live cables. I am sure you can find videos about that on youtube. Still, there are plenty of risk.

[@pierreuntel1970]

@@sarowie It's for live wire workers who understand the risks, not for everyone

[@alin_ilies]

The explication is correct, but electricty goes from higher potential to lower. The ground has potential 0.

[@thstroyur]

Nothing has an absolute "0 potential", the only thing relevant for potentials is the difference - but in this case the ground is lower because there's way more current going in the wires than in the ground (it's kinda like osmosis)

[@johningram6588]

I can hold 2 cables of around 400kv if there is a differential of less then around 40 volts, aslong as theres no path to earth your safe, thats how HV electricans work

[@luistrinidadjr]

I stuck keys into an outlet once when I was a kid, waiting to use the bathroom. First, I stuck one key in the outlet hole and it was all fine, until I stuck the second key in the other hole. Then, bam sparks were flying, all the lights in the apartment building I lived at turned off and on and remained off. I don't remember feeling a jolt or anything. However, my hands did have black powder on them, but other then that I was fine. Although, my parents did freak out to say the least.

[@rickcales38]

In Japan we used sleeves that looked like giant fuzzy caterpillars that slid over the conductor near the crossarms. They were to protect the giant bats.

[@gaskidmusic8135]

My pinky finger doesn't work anymore because when I was three I put a fork in electric outlet;-;

[@UKFX]

Fried nerve.

[@fraserhenderson7839]

Pinky fingers are over rated, like chrome on a car, more detail, not more function.

[@ferociousmaliciousghost]

Well, at least it wasn't an electrocution.

[@richd21t]

Sooo...your like Mr. Deeds?

[@lajya01]

At least, it shouldn't happen nowadays. Recent outlets are temper proof.

[@arandomfarmer]

How the hell is the “first” trend is still a thing?

[@interferon4800]

True for the most part. However, high tension lines have up to 250,000 volts or more. At these voltages, you can feel slight shocks merely from corona discharge from sharp features on the opposite side of your body from where you touch the wire. This is why high-tension line workers have to wear a conductive suit that is a Faraday cage around their bodies when working on live cables. Even when hanging from a helicopter with no conduction path.

[@Ryvucz]

The local Fire Department demonstrated what happens to my class in Kindergarten, why you forkin the outlet?

[@-TheMaskedMan-]

Lift one foot up, Got a fresh cooked bird.

[@smurfyday]

Electrocuted doesn't mean cooked.

[@-TheMaskedMan-]

smurfyday Your right, it means fried. Fresh wings yum 😋

[@Theres_No_PlanetB]

The Masked Man Go vegan, for your health, Earth, and animals.

[@hendrixk09]

Raise your hand if, your parents didn't let you as a toddler run around with a fork.

[@smurfyday]

There's no comma after if.

[@iluvdawubz]

We should put small wooden spikes (about the size of toothpicks) along pechable spots on wood power towers. That'll promote birds to perch elsewhere.

[@RayArias]

Actually, it isn't actual electrons that flow and create current, but electrical energy. However, you are correct in that this energy flows through the electrons in the the atoms of the metal the wire is made of.

[@lstein8670]

1:00 shouldn't it be lower potential

[@kbflash101]

Thanks I always wondered that

[@thirdyearronin]

14 years of school and i was never taught this (or maybe i have but never understood?) and here i am learning this in 3 minutes

[@mattedward6155]

Bless her and may that baby be as kind and joyful as her. It will be the smartest dang kid with the scishow crew, and its smart mother, to guide it. Good luck and stay happy, we all love you.

[@nathanfei9101]

Shouldn't electricity flow from high to low potential? Otherwise, great video!

[@kevinxu7326]

Nathan Fei Charge flows from high to low potential, actual electrons travel the opposite way

[@carl11547]

The writer confused charge with potential, looks like.

[@AngelaRoseRyman]

Nathan Fei pregnancy brain

[@JamesDavy2009]

@@kevinxu7326 Picture high potential as the positive side of a battery.

[@Dieze]

@@carl11547 you confused current flow with electron flow, looks like

[@Chrishelmuth1978]

Electricity flows from higher to lower potential, not lower to higher...

[@ActuallyJakob]

It would depend on whether you're talking about conventional or electron flow.

[@mcdrums87]

Protons flow from higher potential (voltage) to lower. Electrons do flow from lower potential to higher. Both scenarios describe a positive current flow. This is why EEs almost exclusively use circuit theory. Everything is described in terms of voltage and current (sometime frequency), and you ignore the atomic particles as much as you can.

[@AngelaRoseRyman]

Chris Helmuth Pregnancy brain

[@ShankarSivarajan]

Electrons _do_ move from lower to higher potential. They got that part correct. A lower potential doesn't mean it has more electrons though. That's analogous to saying water flows out of the oceans because there's a lot of it there.

[@SaruiRalla]

My grandmother used to joke that the birds were calling each other on the phone line when she saw them perched there. xP I always thought that the power lines were covered with rubber or some such...not always though I suppose, you learn something new every day! Plus this is a good way to point out how a circuit works in the first place.

[@user-iu1xg6jv6e]

1st edit: I won this time, I was the first. Short word works :) Where's my prize?

[@ExistentialNathan]

ɐɯɹɐʞ ɐıuɐɯ you don’t get a prize for commenting.

[@TetraSky]

That kind of power lines(overhead distributions and low current transmission lines) are on the way out up here, everything is buried underground in the cities and the large 315kV/735kV powerlines that link up said cities to the hydro producing barrage are slowly being buried or made so that any sort of "perch" potential for birds are above the cables, with plenty of spacing between said cables.

[@illiteratemochi4150]

I work at a wildlife rehab center and we get in raptors that have been electrocuted all the time. The majority of them don't survive, and the wounds are pretty horrific. Their feathers and skin start sloughing and the tissues die. We had one red tail that had been electrocuted and we kept her, thinking she hadn't gotten as much damage as they usually do. A couple days later, her foot turned black and we had to euthanize her. It really sucks to see them come in like that.

[@JamesDavy2009]

In Australia, fruit bats (known locally as flying foxes) also get electrocuted from power lines for the same reason as raptors.

[@eekeey]

Seeing yt vids that are less than 10 mins long makes me nostalgic.

[@samiamrg7]

Squirrels also like to climb on power lines, and they are more apt to try and reach out to other lines and get zapped.

[@jesusmark3872]

As a former powerline construction worker I approve. 5/5

[@timewalker6654]

Thanks Jesus

[@macsnafu]

Superman explained this way back in Action Comics #1 (1938) as he ran across the wires with an unwilling passenger: "Birds sit on telephone wires and *they* aren't electrocuted--not unless they touch a telephone-pole and are grounded!"

[@ArchaeanDragon]

Before I watch this.. I'd answer the same reason you don't get shocked if you grab a hot wire and don't get shocked.. because you aren't grounded or otherwise completing a circuit. One of my uncles who does electrical work didn't know this and I had to demonstrate it to him on a job site many years ago. Sat on a wooden stool, made sure I was not touching anything grounded, and grabbed a live 120v hot. Nothing happened. :P Now, if a bird completes the circuit (and they sometimes do, despite the video title), you get a nice pop and feather confetti. :)

[@ruawhitepaw]

Birds can get electrocuted, or at least shocked, by power lines without forming a circuit. There is also capacitative charging and discharging due to the alternating current. If the bird has a large capacity (big body) and/or the voltage is high enough, that constant charging/discharging current can be enough to harm the bird or at least make it feel very uncomfortable. That's why you never see birds sitting on lines with very high voltages (> 50 kV or so). If you see a line that you know has a very high voltage, and see birds sitting on a wire, it's probably the lightning protector wire, which is grounded.

[@johningram6588]

Idk, at a HV electrican ive seen a fried bird in wierd places, mainly inside a 400kv ACB safe to say it was fried

[@johningram6588]

Plus its not a lighting wire, its called a surge arrestor

[@ruawhitepaw]

@@johningram6588 I live in a non-English speaking country so I may use different terms than you're used to.

[@RomanNardone]

On a rainy day I saw a bird extend it's wings out to fly away off the power line but both wings touched the wire so the electric potential went through both limbs and likely through it's heart. It was just stuck there like that when I drove by

[@cyclenut]

Sometimes storms knock down power lines. NEVER touch a downed power line. If a power line is laying on a road, DON"T move it. Turn around and go a different way. I have seen people get out and move the high voltage lines. If a back current from a motor turning or if the power line was turned back on anyone touching will be cooked! Being 10 feet away is still unsafe.

[@McBird22]

Put all limbs in socket at same time to not get shocked....... ........... Mission Accepted

[@robertrosenthal7264]

At one base I worked at we found a really big dead owl in our area. The animal experts determined it was electrocuted. They suspect it flew down between the power lines and made contact with it's wingtips. Like I said, it was a big owl. Beautiful bird.

[@momthegreatest]

Birds do not get shocked because they do not get married...

[@BioBush]

So don't touch powerlines, birds, or birds on powerlines! Thanks for explaining this mystery in a clear and concise way.

[@mmukulkhedekar4752]

what if i hang on a powerline? my both hand are at same potential. so would i not ge t electrocuted?

[@BioBush]

@@mmukulkhedekar4752 Theoretically, nothing would happen and you are exactly right. But in reality, it's a terrrrrrible idea. 1:53 Good question!

[@mmukulkhedekar4752]

what if I hold onto the wire, but start rotating around it with an angular velocity. that should create a potential difference across my hand and toes right? would that make electrocution theoretically possible? what if its an angular impulse, but a really really large angular impulse to my body about the axis of cable? that should generate potential difference for some short time right? is this correct?

[@FatMan2539]

I never knew *why* it was the case, but I was always told (from like 6 or whenever I first asked) "they're fine unless they touch another line" and now I know why that's the case

[@boogster6771]

Well, *better go to the nearest powerline to recharge my battery.*

[@singingbeaker]

So basically if we could somehow levitate without touching anything, we could technically survive sticking a fork into a power outlet.

[@steampunkassmonster9343]

congrats on the baby!

[@jooleebilly]

There's not much left of the bird ... at least not the one I *sort of* saw. It landed one one line above a building, and I guess fluttered its wings too close to another line, because all of a sudden there was an earth-shattering KABOOM and I looked over and there was just a puff of smoke and feathers drifting away. Also power went out for our block. A friend saw it happen and said the bird literally (not figuratively) exploded. It definitely sounded like a bomb went off.

[@insidexistance]

There's an episode on Once Upon A Time where Rumple puts an identity spell on Regina for a mission against Snow White. She says one of my favorite lines of the entire show when she sees her new persona in the mirror: "I'm as regal as a potato". 🥔

[@smurfyday]

Uh, okie...

[@oliviagreen8853]

Birds are dinosaurs, they have survived the big scary comet so electricity got nothing on them

[@heathershaye4845]

1:31 I love that musical

[@typrus6377]

I've seen hundreds of birds perching on lines, poles, etc at the same time, even touching each other. Never seen one fall. Dang Grackles must be insulators haha

[@Aftertaste_]

I don't recall ever having the urge to stick a fork in a power outlet. I guess I discovered common sense early.

[@abidounesaad3780]

congrats on the baby

[@SuicideBunny6]

Doing both right now, reheating yesterday's pizza and watching SciShow :D

[@HansLemurson]

This explanation is treating power lines like they are running DC current, not AC. AC can zap you with just one wire (the live wire) so long as you have enough capacitance to act as a reservoir for the charge oscillation.

[@ferociousmaliciousghost]

I don't remember sticking a fork into an outlet, but I've heard that, as a 1 year old, I fell off of a couch. I don't remember that happening to me either though.

[@chinareds54]

I had a teacher in school who explained it by drawing a picture of the bird on the wire. Then he modified the drawing to show the bird would get electrocuted if it had one REALLLLY long leg that touched the ground. Pretty memorable.

[@uss_04]

So in that pixar short, “for the birds”, we should have seen at least a few exploding birds?

[@ConstantChaos1]

Ok, anyone else just click into videos they already know the answer too because scishow is just the best

[@comradecameron3726]

Thank you for enabling me at 3 AM

[@screaminginmyear]

First scishow video I’ve watched in a while, and oh my god congrats Olivia!!!!! I literally just had a little one myself. Hope all goes well for you!! ❤️

[@jamescanada3712]

Love the segment I'd like to make a clarification though... Electrocution by definition means death by electric shock. To not die by electric shock is just being shocked.

[@XavierXonora]

"Electrocution is death or serious injury caused by electric shock, electric current passing through the body. The word is derived from "electro" and "execution", but it is also used for accidental death. The word is also used to describe non-fatal injuries due to electricity." Yeah it's used all the time to describe non fatal shocks dude...