How Miles O’Brien and Arizona PBS created a national science series - Current

A bird that migrates thousands of miles has revealed a surprising secret about how wings work. Scientists have discovered that European nightjars sacrifice flight efficiency for agility and use an unexpected wingbeat technique previously associated mainly with bats and insects. The European nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus) is a nighttime hunter that makes an extraordinary annual migration between Europe and southern Africa. Yet the wings that carry it across vast distances must also perform a very different task: helping the bird catch insects while flying slowly and making sharp turns.

A bird that migrates thousands of miles has revealed a surprising secret about how wings work. Scientists have discovered that European nightjars sacrifice flight efficiency for agility and use an unexpected wingbeat technique previously associated mainly with bats and insects. The European nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus) is a nighttime hunter that makes an extraordinary annual migration between Europe and southern Africa. Yet the wings that carry it across vast distances must also perform a very different task: helping the bird catch insects while flying slowly and making sharp turns.