Why can flamingos sleep on stilts with one leg?

The results showed that when flamingos stand on one leg to brush their teeth, the jitter amplitude is larger, but when they sleep on one leg, the jitter will be reduced to 1/7 of the first two. In a paper recently published in Biology Letters, researchers pointed out that flamingos seem to be able to maintain a stable posture with less muscle strength during sleep.

The researchers dissected two flamingos who had just died, and found that although the leg bones of flamingos are similar to those of humans, their thighs can be raised horizontally, which seems to keep the yoga posture forever.

The researchers let the dead bird stand on the ground with one leg, and as a result, it can support its body smoothly. They locked the joints of their legs in place to prevent the knees from bending while keeping the joints fully extended. The joint of the joint can explain the passive locking mechanism.

Matthew anderson, head of the study, said that although this study can't directly measure muscle activity, it is the first evidence that flamingos or other birds may just sleep on one leg because they consume less energy.