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Flighty yet mighty

August 11, 2003

Those heading to the moors on August 12 may not be aware they are pitting their guns against the most powerful muscles on the planet.

Leeds researcher Dr Graham Askew has calculated the muscle power generated by game birds such as quail, pheasant and grouse when taking flight, and found it to be the highest measured in any animal.

Game birds only fly to escape predators, so their muscles are solely designed for one purpose - to get them off the ground as quickly as possible - unlike muscles in other birds which have several functions. But this means the birds can't fly for long: their initial surge means they tire very quickly.

Dr Askew said: "There's no wasted space in these muscles; everything is packed in for power generation. They can't do what other birds can, in terms of soaring, diving or longer flights, but they beat everything else in terms of power."

Dr Askew studied game birds bred in captivity in the pheasant family, including pheasants themselves, peacocks, partridges and quails. He used computer modeling of their flight patterns to determine exactly how much power each used in take off. Surprisingly, the muscles of a 40g quail proved to be as powerful as those of a 4kg peacock.

Although grouse are difficult to study, as they are bred in the wild, Dr Askew believes that the findings are relevant to all game birds of this type. "All these birds have the same basic flight movement, a mixture of flapping and gliding to conserve as much energy as possible," he said.

Ironically, the very muscles developed to help these birds escape predators are why they are hunted, as the muscles provide the highly prized breast meat which will soon be gracing restaurant menus across the country.

Leeds, University of