Scale bars are a necessary component of scientific figures, so please do forgive us for our obsession. In the past we’ve looked at visualizations for size (multiple times) as well as time (more than once as well). But we haven’t yet looked at measurements of speed, so in the video below you’ll find a visualization for how fast various birds move at peak velocity (with a few humans and a bat thrown in for comparison). Personally, I’m impressed with how well the lowly pigeon scored!

David Crotty

David Crotty

David Crotty is a Senior Consultant at Clarke & Esposito, a boutique management consulting firm focused on strategic issues related to professional and academic publishing and information services. Previously, David was the Editorial Director, Journals Policy for Oxford University Press. He oversaw journal policy across OUP’s journals program, drove technological innovation, and served as an information officer. David acquired and managed a suite of research society-owned journals with OUP, and before that was the Executive Editor for Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, where he created and edited new science books and journals, along with serving as a journal Editor-in-Chief. He has served on the Board of Directors for the STM Association, the Society for Scholarly Publishing and CHOR, Inc., as well as The AAP-PSP Executive Council. David received his PhD in Genetics from Columbia University and did developmental neuroscience research at Caltech before moving from the bench to publishing.

Discussion

4 Thoughts on "Bird Speed Scale Bar"

Thanks David, All good as long as we are not adding the air speed of European or African swallows laden with coconuts which would be a different conversation that has been discussed many times at the Bridge of Death…

I suspect pigeons are faster than the internet in my neck of the woods!

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