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Why do Birds Fly in Circles?

As a bird watcher, have you ever just sat and watched birds, I mean really
sit and observe birds doing the things that they do and be intrigued by it?
I have and, in fact, I still do, especially when it comes to bird flight.

When I was a kid, many a hot summer day would consist of me laying on
the grass for hours gazing at the migrating hawks, soaring high above the
earth as if each one was in some kind of choreographed aerial ballet. I
wondered how they could fly so easily, so effortlessly, in these circular
patterns without even the slightest breeze and without hardly flapping
their wings.

So, you might ask, why do birds fly in circles and how do they stay aloft
for so long with hardly a wing beat on such calm, windless days?

Birds fly in circles because they have a unique ability to take advantage
of a weather phenomenon known as thermals. Thermals help give the bird
lift, and birds fly in circles to stay within the thermal to reduce the
amount of energy used during flight.

American white pelicans soaring over the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge
What is a thermal?
A thermal is simply a rising column of warm air forming from the uneven
heating of air near the ground. As the air warms, the less dense warmer
air begins to rise, creating an updraft column of air which continues to
rise until it cools and falls back down to the earth.

Thermals are common near hills and mountains where the sun heats one
side faster than the other and the warmer air, in turn, creates this updraft
of air.

As the sun’s heat is needed to warm the earth, thermals occur from
morning to mid-afternoon. They can form in many places, near lakes and
rivers as air typically warms much faster above the nearby land as it does
over water, above plowed fields, highways or other areas where the dark
ground is beside lighter, leafy areas.

I bet most of you have seen a thermal in the form known as a dust devil.
This is a very small, intense form of thermal which is easily seen by the
dust and debris it picks up from spinning around so intensely. Dust devils
are common, at least in my neck of the woods, that is, around plowed
farm fields.
A dust devil is a small, intense form of a thermal.
Larger, less intense thermals are often characterized by newly forming
cumulus clouds, where the warmer air rises, cools and leaves any
moisture in the air to condense and form as a cloud. Larger types of
thermals like this are what birds use to soar and circle high above the
earth.

Why do birds use thermals?

Birds are similar to you and me, they like to conserve energy whenever
they can and riding thermals does indeed help birds become more
efficient in their flight. The rising air actually helps push the bird up and
they circle round and round to stay inside these columns of rising air to
take full advantage of mother nature’s natural elevator.

Some birds, such as vultures, condors and even eagles, for example, use
thermals to scan the terrain below for food for hours while others, such as
migrating hawks, utilize them to traverse their long migration route.

Bald eagles often use thermals to migrate and to scan for food below.

Regardless of the particular use, birds do indeed make good use of

thermals by helping them conserve energy in their flight by locking their
wings, per se, and let the rising air give them lift.

What types of birds soar using thermals?

Many species of birds, if not all types of birds, could take some
advantage of thermals, but some are much more adapted to it than others
because of their wing size and shape.

Some birds, however, just don’t have a need for thermals so they don’t
use them. One example on the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge is red-
winged blackbirds. These small, dark birds spend most of their time on
the ground and since they never migrate, only leaving the refuge to
nearby fields during the winter, red-winged blackbirds here have little use
for thermals.

Some birds, such as the red-winged blackbird, on the Bear River Migratory Bird
Refuge have little to no use for thermals.
Birds that mainly migrate at night, which is, in fact, a great number of
species of birds, miss out on the use of thermals for migration purposes as
this weather phenomenon only occurs during daylight hours.
But there are many birds which do use thermals. A variety of birds, such
as some hawks, eagles, vultures, pelicans, and gulls, for example, do
utilize thermals in one way or another, either for migration, scanning the
terrain for food or, in the case of the American white pelican on the Bear
River Refuge, traversing back and forth between their nesting colony and
the refuge to feed.

Wing shape and size for thermals

As I have said earlier, wing shape and size play a role in how easily a bird
can soar and utilize thermals. Birds that take full advantage of a thermal
are ones that have one thing in common, wings designed for maximum
lift by being long, wide, or sometimes a bit of both.

Some birds, such as vultures, have short, broad wings that allow them to
remain aloft and very maneuverable at low speeds.

Other birds, such as pelicans, have longer wings which allow them to
catch even the slightest amount of lift.
Pelicans, a common Bear River Refuge bird during summer, use their long wings to
catch a thermal, helping them gain altitude to cross the large Promontory Mountains.
In both cases, either short and wide or long and a bit more narrow, birds with wings
that have a greater surface area can catch more air with their wings and, as a result,
use thermals very effectively to ride the rising air.

Thermals on the Bear River Migratory Bird

Refuge
As noted before, thermals are created by uneven heating of the air near
the ground. They can form where ever the air is just a couple degrees
warmer than the air next to it.

Places thermals can form are above mountains, land adjacent to a body of
water or where darker pieces of bare ground are next to lighter,
vegetation-covered ones, all of which can give a difference in heating the
earth’s air by just a couple of degrees.
If you have ever visited the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge auto tour
route, you will notice all of these scenarios are somewhat present on the
refuge with its large bodies of open water adjacent to vast expanses of
dark, open mudflats. The large Promontory mountain range, located just
west of the refuge, is also an ideal place for thermals to form.

The Promontory Mountains, just west of the refuge, offers a typical environment for
thermals to form.
The face of this rugged mountain range, laying north to south, greets the
morning sun and has much of the day to heat while the western, more
shaded side, takes longer to warm from not being directly in the sun for
much of the day.

This is a classic area for thermals to appear and, trust me, pelicans take
full advantage of this situation.

The American white pelican is a very common visitor to the refuge. You
can come during the summer months and almost always see pelicans
soaring above the refuge, loafing alongside a canal on a perch or in a pod
chasing down fish for a meal.
The very large wings of the American white pelican help it catch thermals to fly over
the intimidating Promontory Mountain range.
Pelicans utilize the refuge for its great abundance of freshwater habitat
and a high number of carp and other fish. They don’t nest of the refuge
but come daily to feed and rest. Nesting is done on an island in the Great
Salt Lake by the name of Gunnison island, which hosts one of the largest
breeding colonies of American white pelicans in North America.

Since the Great Salt Lake is a body of saltwater, not suitable for fish,
pelicans have to travel long distances to find food. The Bear River
Migratory Bird Refuge, laying a bit northeast of the island, is one of the
more abundant food sources we have here in northern Utah for pelicans
so hundreds or more make the journey daily to find fish for their young.

The Promontory Mountains, which lay directly between the island and
the refuge, sometimes offer the traveling pelicans a way to conserve
energy with developing thermals by helping these very large birds gain
the much-needed altitude to cross over the impressive mountain.

It’s quite a sight to see pelicans taking off from the water and find a
thermal. They often times fly right by you if you’re in their path as they
gain altitude and head back to the island.
 Wa
tching pelicans take off from the refuge is a sight to behold.
Summer is when visitors can come to experience the refuge to watch or
photograph pelicans fishing for food, roosting on one of the canals or
soaring high above on a thermal. I have to admit, it is quite a peaceful
moment to watch these graceful birds circle and soar above on a warm
summer afternoon.

Conclusion
So, you see, birds utilize nature’s elevator, thermals, to gain altitude
without using much energy. Thermals help birds migrate long distances
or, in the case of vultures, effortlessly search for hours, if needed, far
below for food. Thermals are made by uneven heating of the air near the
earth’s surface, which begins to rise as it warms, giving a sort of “lift” to
birds using their broad, long wings as a glider.

If you are interested in learning more about the Bear River Migratory

Bird Refuge or would like to visit the refuge someday, I would suggest
starting with visiting their website. It has all their contact information,
social media channels as well as more information about the refuge, it’s
birds and habitat.
https://bearriverblogger.com/why-do-birds-fly-in-circles/#:~:text=Birds
%20fly%20in%20circles%20because,of%20energy%20used%20during
%20flight.