[ZaktheLad]

I wondered if anyone could tell me why it is that birds are able to sit on electricity wires and not get electrocuted?  If we were to touch these same wires we would be dead instantly.  This has always puzzled me   

[bloomer]

they don't touch anything else so no circuit is completed so no effect, in theory we can do the same but as we are bigger we tend to touch other things easier and go kaboom!!!

[lachlanandmarcus]

Its because they are not completing the circuit I think, if we could balance on the wire, far enough away from the ground we would also be ok. But generally when we touch wires we are touching something else too, part of a support, or a ladder, or the earth, and that completes the circuit and Boom.


Just being above the ground and only touching the wire might not be enough tho, as the electric could arc across gaps so it would need to be very well clear up in the air.

[ZaktheLad]

Thanks - that explains it very well   

[Blinkers]

They'd need to have one foot on the wire and one foot on the ground - for the 'earth' connection.......could be a bit of a stretch 

[ZaktheLad]

A stork might manage it 

[bloomer]

its why swans and geese who fly into overhead pylons can die if the touch 2 wires at the same time KABOOM!!!

[shygirl]

its why swans and geese who fly into overhead pylons can die if the touch 2 wires at the same time KABOOM!!!

how can they get electrocuted if they arent near the ground?
we had a swan here with a broken wing due to flying into the wires.

[bloomer]

touching 2 wires at the same time also completes a circuit trust me s a really bad idea...

[Anke]

touching 2 wires at the same time also completes a circuit trust me s a really bad idea...

Are you speaking from experience then....?

[bloomer]

i have seen a demonstration shall we say...

[Womble]

OK then, a bird perches on a wire. You're using electricity in your house. There is therefore a complete circuit, of which the bird is a part. So he'll get a small current up one leg and back down the other then...... which would at least keep his feet warm!? 

[Lesley Silvester]

 

[cloddopper]

OK then, a bird perches on a wire. You're using electricity in your house. There is therefore a complete circuit, of which the bird is a part. So he'll get a small current up one leg and back down the other then...... which would at least keep his feet warm!? 

 That would apply if the bird had legs 100 mtrs apart . the resistance of the wire between it's legs when only 40 mm or so apart will be so low as to be lower than the birds resistance so the eddy current running through the bird will be infinitesimal and not make any difference.

it is interesting to watch birds driven along on wet storm weather hit the pot insulators ... that does sometimes result in a decent flash and the smell of burnt feathers , especially if it is a big bird that shorts across four or more insulators.

[john and helen]

OK then, a bird perches on a wire. You're using electricity in your house. There is therefore a complete circuit, of which the bird is a part. So he'll get a small current up one leg and back down the other then...... which would at least keep his feet warm!? 

  Thanks womble, that really cheered me up 

i could just picture it.......gawd i need a shrink