The Lesser Egyptian Jerboa

Jerboas are highly-maneuverable bipedal hopping rodents. This slow-motion video shows a jerboa skipping across a force place at 0.87m/s (almost 2mph!).

Obstacle flight of the pigeon

To study birds' flight control and path planning in a cluttered environment, we challenged pigeons to fly through a forest of vertical poles. The body and head were tracked in 3D to allow reconstruction of the flight path as well as the panoramic visual field.

The real bird's eye view

A head-mount wireless camera was strapped on top of the pigeon to capture videos that represent the experience of a bird flying through a forest. The pigeon's opto-kinetic reflex kept the view level regardless of the body position during flight.

Goat perturbation recovery

These experiments, part of a collaboration with Boston Dynamics, registered the forces produced by goats during perturbations and subsequent recoveries.

Pigeons turn like helicopters

A pigeon in a low speed aerial turn. Turning pigeons produce average downstroke aerodynamic forces in a consistent direction relative to the body, requiring body rotations to change flight trajectories, analogous to helicopters and many flying insects.

Cockatiel flight

A cockatiel, Nympicus hollandicus, flying in the windtunnel at 9 m/s (~ 20 mph). We are currently studying how these birds maneuver in comparison to other species.

Emu chick on a treadmill

This movie shows an emu chick running on the Concord Field Station treadmill. Taken using a high-speed digital video camera, this footage allows us to slow down the animal's movements for analysis.

Tammar Wallaby hopping

Here is a tammar wallaby hopping on the Concord Field Station treadmill. This sequence was captured at high speed (250 frames per second) and is played back at a reduced rate to allow slow motion viewing and analysis.