the Flying V

I've been seeing a lot of these lately with the weather changing. This is one of my most favorite animal things to watch in nature. I learned about why birds fly in a V at school when I was young, and have always been facinated and love to watch them.

"as each goose flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the birds that follow. by flying in a “v” formation, the whole flock adds 71 percent greater flying range than if each bird flew alone. when a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. it quickly moves back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it.the geese flying in formation honk to encourage those upfront to keep up their speed. when a goose gets sick or wounded, other geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. if it becomes able to fly again, the group catches up with the flock or launches out with another formation.”