Hitting turbulence on a flight at 30,000 feet can cause quite the bumpy ride. But birds who soar high in the sky don't just handle bumpy air in fact they seek it out for a free, energy-saving lift. But how and why do they do that? Ever watch a bird glide through the air effortlessly, rising higher and higher without ever flapping their wings? They do it by using a technique called thermal soaring.

Originally released by American Institute of Physics, 2017. Streaming video file encoded with permission for digital streaming by Infobase on May 08, 2017.