It is the central feathers in the tail that are very long, which gives the bird an elegant silhouette as it flies. The tropicbird hovers over the water and snaps up squid, crabs, and flying fish ...

“You don’t see it as much when they are perched,” Neil says, “but that rose patch is really noticeable in flight.” Young birds still show a distinct long bifurcated split tail, although it’s not as ...

A pigeon-inspired robot has solved the mystery of how birds fly without the vertical tail fins that human-designed aircraft rely on. Its makers say the prototype could eventually lead to passenger ...

Ondrej Prosicky / Getty Images. Male long-tailed sylphs (Aglaiocercus kingii) have amazingly long tails, around five inches in length.They are so long that they actually hamper the birds' flight ...

Birds Birds have been nesting in the Arctic Circle for almost 73 million years, newly discovered fossils reveal. ... "Generally, long tails are detrimental for flight," Martill said.

A bird fossil of similar age to Archaeopteryx shows flight-aiding innovations such as the loss of a long tail. Fossil find reveals the earliest known short-tailed bird. Your privacy, your choice ...