• Question: How do birds sit on high-voltage power lines without getting electrocuted?

    Asked by till.bob to Tadhg on 16 Jun 2015.
    • Photo: Tadhg O'Donovan

      Tadhg O'Donovan answered on 16 Jun 2015:


      Seems strange doesn’t it! I’m not recommending it, but if you were to perch yourself on a live wire – you’d be fine too. The electricity needs to flow through the bird to be dangerous. So if the bird was touching the ground and the live wire (yes – a very big bird) then it would be toast! By touching the ground a loop would be created and the electricity would flow through the bird to the earth and it’d be bye bye birdie.

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