![]() WAIR could have been used for balance purposes. ![]() WAIR imposes less aerodynamic and physical forces than normal avian flight on the bird, an advantageous trait which may increase fitness. ![]() This strategy also allows energy to be stored for use in a fight-or-flight situation such as to escape becoming eaten or caught. Therefore the hindlimbs, in conjunction with the wings, may produce quick bouts of energy which may allow the bird to catch prey. This provides an additional explanation as to why birds continue to use WAIR: it is faster than normal flight take-off, and running requires less energy than does flying. Fewer muscles are used in the process of WAIR than normal flight, specifically pectoral and shoulder muscles which contribute to wing flapping. These galliformes might use WAIR instead of normal flight to reach tree branches because WAIR uses less energy than normal flight. Explanation of using WAIR over normal flight In rock doves, adults employ WAIR at angles greater than 65°. WAIR has also been studied in the Australian brushturkey ( Alectura lathami), although maximum slope decreased with age, such that hatchlings could scale greater slopes (up to 110°) than adults (up to 70°). As the baby chukars grow and before flying for the first time, they use WAIR as a transition to adult flight. As the babies develop, it takes approximately one week for feathers to appear, and about three weeks for the ability to fly. When baby chukars hatch, they have not yet developed their flight feathers. Chicks used running alone at slopes up to 45°, then employed wing-flapping at greater slopes, and maximum slope successfully scaled increased with age. On both smooth and rough surfaces, normal chicks were able to run up much steeper slopes than the other two groups, reaching maximum angles of 105° from the horizontal. In chukar chicks, WAIR was experimentally demonstrated by comparing maximum inclines ascended by normal chicks to those with wing feathers trimmed or plucked entirely. Wing-assisted incline running has been studied extensively in chicks of the chukar partridge ( Alectoris chukar), and has been observed in juveniles and adults of other species of Galliformes as well as the rock dove ( Columba livia). An adult chukar running on a horizontal plane
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