Institute for Fluid Mechanics and Aerodynamics, TU Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany.
J Anat. 2012 Jul;221(1):1-8. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7580.2012.01504.x. Epub 2012 Apr 4.
It is a challenge to understand how barn owls (Tyto alba) reduce noise during flight to be able to hunt small mammals by audition. Several specializations of the wing and the wing feathers have been implicated in noise reduction. What has been overlooked so far are the fringes at the inner vanes of remiges. We demonstrated, by using precise imaging techniques combined with morphometric measurements and air-flow studies, that these fringes merge into neighboring feather vanes by gliding into the grooves at the lower wing surface that are formed by parallel-oriented barb shafts. The connection of adjacent feathers results in a smooth lower wing surface and thus reduces sharp and noisy edges. This finding sheds new light on the mechanisms underlying noise reduction of flying owls.
了解仓鸮（Tyto alba）如何在飞行中降低噪音以便通过听觉捕猎小型哺乳动物是一项挑战。翅膀和翼羽的几种特化结构被认为与降噪有关。迄今为止，一直被忽视的是复羽内部羽片的边缘。我们通过使用精确的成像技术结合形态测量和气流研究表明，这些边缘通过滑入由平行排列的羽轴形成的下翼表面的凹槽，与相邻的羽片融合在一起。相邻羽毛的连接形成了一个光滑的下翼表面，从而减少了尖锐和嘈杂的边缘。这一发现为飞行猫头鹰降噪的机制提供了新的线索。
