Sperm whales sleeping. They aren't sleep-swimming. Just floating around, sleeping.
Swift birds don't land to drink, sleep or even mate. They can stay in the air for 3 consecutive years at a time without landing. Fastest continuous straight level flying bird at 105mph. Tiny legs are nearly useless for walking. Wings are so long they don't fold neatly on the back like a duck or swan. They can either drink from calm water by swooping, or hunt individual rain drops. Aspect ratio of around 15:1 its nearly the highest. Their wing makes leading edge vortexes to create extra lift while flapping, similar to insects.
Credit to Greg A. for alerting me to the swift's not landing to sleep.
Maybe they do sleep but the have really impressive blade wings.
That is if you can believe the pictures.
Come to think of it, OP did fool me about making the model of the west bowl.
They mostly don't. They really do spend years at a time aloft. As juviniles they land, then won't land again until they reach maturity, then only land to care for chicks. I'm on a cell phone so I can't easily site my source.
Fact checked! It seems to be true. I can't believe that J doubted be.
I should have cited my source in the first place though.
Have I ever made a false or misleading statement here before?
Here is another fact. They are the only trans-lunar migrating bird, taking advantage of favorable nesting locations on the moon. Their latin name literaly means "moon-bird."
So, are what we referring to as "Swifts" (those savior birds marking thermals for us at breakneck speeds), in fact, Swifts? or are they another bird, altogether?
good question. they might be swallows which are similar but are in fact a different species. the scientific family name for swifts comes from ancient greek meaning "without feet". i think they are swifts because i can't do the 105mph it takes to follow them to the next thermal (assuming they don't land). maybe you can get up next to one and look at it's hangie down parts. no, i was refering to their legs!
I read somewhere that a rare bird known as the Romulus Dodsonus actually sleeps while flying, often falling into a slumber just after take off, flying mostly downward and landing without ever awakening. Like the dodo bird, they are believed to be extinct for obvious reasons. Legend has it that they can only be awakened by the smell of gun powder and vodka. They survived on a varied diet of elk and gophers through an incredible hunting style involving randomly shooting, poisoning, drowning, or electrocuting their prey, all while playing dead in various reclining lawn furniture.
A truly incredible bird, but unfortunately the last known male of the species forgot how to mate and so they are lost to history.
SeaBass, Thanks for NOT posting a link to that photo.
Glen, I MIGHT be a distant relative.
It often seems like I'm asleep when I land.
I usually wake up when I hear the wack though.
I have been trying a new technique the last couple of times.
I flew other peoples gliders.
