Goosey Goosey Gander

An Old Rhyme
S142_Header_Geese

Of course, when asked, Bubbles did have his bird book with him. He had loads of books about everything to do with nature and the outdoors but he had specifically chosen to bring his bird book to the wildlife pond so he could look up information about any birds they saw. He was delighted that the other bears were interested too.

He opened his book to the pages about geese.

"I think we've all seen geese flying high in the sky in a V formation," he began, "but do you know why?"

None of the bears had a clue.

"Well," began Bubbles, reading from his book, "the long distance flights that most migrations require can be hard on geese. This is why they fly in the V formation as it helps them to conserve energy.

S142_04_VFormation
V Formation
By flying close behind but slightly to the side of the bird in front, geese are able to reduce the drag. The bird in front helps to block any headwind, while its wings flapping also creates a slipstream. The slipstream creates vortices (that's spinning pockets of air) which help keep the following bird in the air whilst also pulling it forward, thereby reducing the energy needed in flight."

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