Why don “little” birds ever seem to ride the thermals?”
1) The big birds do ride thermals; and they tend to be the kind that eat little birds. 2) Riding thermals has a bit to do with wingspan (and wing size to body size/weight ratios)- and the little birds don’t have much. 3) Riding thermals has a bit to do with energy conservation, and the little birds on the whole probably have a lesser need to conserve energy for hunting and fighting with prey (worms and seeds don’t struggle much). 4) Riding thermals also has a bit to do with hunting behaviors and providing a good, low energy cost method of surveying a large area at once from a good vantage point. Little birds tend not to need to sneak up on seeds, plants, breadcrusts, and worms from a distance great enough to keep from alerting their prey to the danger – and powerdive onto them.
