Speaking of birds, the most sparrows around us should be. But the sparrow has a habit that is very unintelligible. They always like to line up on the wire and crowd them together. It seems that other birds do not have this habit. What is the sparrow doing? Is it charging? ?
In fact, it's not just telephone poles, especially in winter, we will find dozens of sparrows on a branch, almost like a meeting. It's just that the visual impact of the sparrow on the wire is too great, so we will be so impressed.
In fact, the purpose of the sparrow standing on the wire and the branch is actually the same, which is an embodiment of the sparrow's social life. Sparrows are birds that live in groups, looking for food together and defending their enemies together. Especially the sparrow, as a small bird, the sparrow needs to face too many enemies, not only the eagle in the sky, but also the snake on the ground. If the sparrows gather together, the probability of survival will be higher.
The poles are relatively safe, because snakes can climb trees, but they will never climb on the wires, and the eagle in the sky will not hit the wires.
So standing on a wire or even a high-voltage line is actually a relatively safe place for a sparrow.
We know that high-voltage wires often have the warning "Danger of high voltage! Do not approach!" There have also been tragedies of electric shock. But sparrows and other social birds can stand freely on the high-voltage line, and they don't care about the high-voltage electricity flowing under their feet, and we rarely see sparrows getting an electric shock. Why is this?
In fact, an electric shock occurs when a strong current flows through the body. Electric current will scorch any life like an electric oven, and it will also interfere with the normal activities of life. So electric shock is very dangerous. But for birds standing on wires, there is no danger of electric shock.
Because the potential energy on a wire is the same, when the bird's two feet are stepping on the high-voltage line, there is no potential difference, so no current flows through the bird's body, and naturally it will not be electrocuted. The eagle and the snake are different. The eagle's wings will be electrocuted when it touches the high-voltage wire. If the snake climbs on the wire, it will easily touch two different wires, and then there will be an electric current through the snake's body, so the snake is very likely to die by electric shock.
This is very basic common sense in physics, but unfortunately most people don't understand it.
In fact, the electric shock of birds on electric wires not only hurts wildlife, but also causes hidden dangers of power supply. In order to prevent birds from getting an electric shock, we have specially installed insulation on the cross arm of the high-voltage utility pole. This is the place where birds are most likely to get an electric shock.
