Perfect balance in birds

The ability of birds resting on telephone wires to stand in balance without difficulty must have called the attention of many people. Neither the continuously shifting wind nor the wires vibrating by force of the wind disturbs this balance.

When we think of the acrobats who work in circuses, only then we can understand how superior the ability of birds to stand in balance is. For instance, an acrobat who tries to walk on a steel tightrope has to use a long stick made up of special substances in order to poise.

This stick gives the acrobat a sort of balance mechanism and helps him stand on the rope without falling down. Birds, on the other hand, do not use any kind of equipment to poise but they are more talented than even the best acrobat: They can dive floating on air when stand on the wire and can enable their balance in less than a second.

Prof. Reinhold Necker, a German scientist, has carried out a four-year research in order to find how birds that behave like a superior acrobat can stand on a thin wire without falling down. The researcher, who worked in the University of Bochum Ruhr, discovered that birds are equipped with a very special balance mechanism. According to this research, two different organs took part in this balance mechanism.

One of these organs is the inner ear, which is also seen in other vertebrates. This organ helps when the bird is flying and prevents it to turn upside down when flapping its wings.

The other organ is in the pelvic cavity of the bird. This organ that works perfectly is composed of the semicircular canals on the left and right hand-sides of the spinal cord. These symmetrical canals tied to the spinal cord are filled with a special liquid. Prof. Necker explains how this system works:

“These semicircular canals work like a pair of scales. This liquid moves in the same direction as the bird’s body and goes to this canal or the other one.¹

This system works by means of the nerve cells that work very much like a computer system. The nerve cells in the lobes that are mechanically stimulated, sends the signal to the leg of the cerebellum. Necker says, “The muscles control the movement in such a good way that birds can enable balance perfectly.”

The scientist who tested the role of this organ plays on balance, also observed that birds with imperfect organs in the pelvic area cannot maintain balance and that they fall down.”

Without the existence of these outstanding balance organs of birds, found as a result of research, birds would fall down a wire or a wig in the face of a mild wind blowing.

When the features of the organs are examined, it is understood that the canals are specially created and then filled with a liquid with a specially adjusted fluidity. Of course, such an organ cannot come into existence on its own. In addition, muscle and nerve cells made up of blind atoms cannot ‘want’ to hold the bird in balance or ‘calculate’ the required specifications.

These balanced movements seen in birds occur by the leave of Almighty Allah Who holds everything He created under His control:

“Have they not looked at the birds above them, with wings outspread and folded back? Nothing holds them up but the All-Merciful. He sees all things.” (Surat al-Mulk)

1- "Neurobiologie: Warum Vögel nicht umfallen", Geo, January 2003