Interesting facts about birds: why does not a sparrow walk and jump?

Everyone at least once asked questions about why the sparrow does not walk, but jumps. There are, of course, reasons for this. And it's worth talking about them.

Legend

The reason why a sparrow does not walk, but jumps, is often justified by myth. We must first pay attention to this, and then turn to science.

So, there is a legend that the sparrow once offended Jesus Christ himself. Ostensibly this bird was the "supplier" of nails for the crucifixion of God's son. And constantly tweeted: "Are you still alive there?", "Do you suffer? Tolerate. " And other schadenfreude. After that God for all centuries cursed the passerine family, even forbidding people to eat their meat. And he took the paws of all the birds in invisible fetters. It is because of them that the sparrows are supposedly unable to walk, and they have to move by jumping.

Scientific explanation

The parable is interesting, but it is better to turn to the official version explaining why the sparrow does not walk, but jumps.

It all boils down to the biological characteristic of a bird. The sparrow weighs about 23-35 grams. And the length of his body does not exceed 16 centimeters. And the main reason why a bird "jumps" is in its proportionality. The ratio of body and tail is equivalent, because the sparrow can move this way. But there is one more reason explaining why the sparrow does not walk, but jumps. These are birds that lead a sedentary life, and live in woody and artisan plantations. They can be said to jump from one branch to another from birth.

And also in these birds the muscle, controlled by the paws, is a pair. When the sparrow moves one limb, the second follows. So to move "walking" such a bird is simply not capable. And in general, the sparrows' feet are too short. Because even if these birds could walk, they would not have managed to keep their balance.

Other interesting facts

Also worth mentioning is why pigeons walk, and sparrows jump. With the latter, however, everything is clear. And what about the pigeons?

It is necessary to turn again to proportionality. The pigeon has a tail that is smaller and lighter than its body. Therefore it is more convenient for him to move by step. And also these birds have a long knee joint, because of which they do not get to "skip". But they know how. You can watch the dove, which jumps from the road part to the sidewalk of the pedestrian zone. It's easy to meet such a spectacle - literally in every yard. And if you look closely, you can see that, before making a jump, the bird slightly "squats" to get better off the ground. She does not get it that easily, like her younger brother.

And finally it is worth to tell about which birds are jumping, like a sparrow. They are tits and redstarts. The first of the listed in their dimensions are very similar to sparrows. Redstarts are quite tiny - their length is only 10 cm. So there is practically no weight in them, and the structure is the same as that of a sparrow. Because in this respect everything is again determined by biology.

By the way, magpies can still "jump". Their length can reach half a meter, and the weight is about 200-230 grams. But again, her body is proportional. And magpies usually jump on jumps if they want to accelerate.