Re: Birds Fly Best on a Full Tank

["philidor11" <philidor11@snet.net>]

<Since for a given bird, the wingbeat frequency increases with increasing
weight, and the power per unit mass of muscle increases with contraction
frequency, the combined effect should be an increase in overall efficiency.
When flying into a headwind, there is even more improvement
than when flying downwind.>

If I'm reading you correctly, the heavier bird is flapping more and harder.
Wouldn't the heavier bird tend to get tired faster?  If this turned out not
to be true, might be a reason for the 'surprise'(?).