how can birds stand on power lines without being electrocuted?
456231
Because they are not grounded (i.e. they are making contact with nothing but the line) the electicity doesn't flow through their bodies. \nI lived on a farm as a kid and when we were wearing rubber boots we could touch the electric fence without getting zapped for the same reason: the rubbed didn't conduct so we weren't grounded.
1137609
there is insulation on the wire...........
6287
They will stay on the ground regardless of the speed. They are not aerodynamic, so they won't naturally rise in the air and fly because of speed unless they had wings added to them.
652147
Well, they have no problem evading predators, and they're _very_ aggressive, no matter their size. \nBut hummingbirds simply cannot walk or stand on the ground. The reason is that their legs and feet are built in such a manner that they can only perch on small-diameter twigs (and cables, ropes, etc.). \nTheir legs are extremely short, and their small feet have long curved claws that do not allow them to walk or even hop. \nYou can see what their feet look like here: http://www.hiltonpond.org/images/RTHUHYMPerched01small.jpg
675159
Actually eclipse is wrong on the static dischargers, too.  All they do is slowly get rid of any excess charge on the plane relative to the surrounding air.\n\nThe answer to the ? is that planes AREN'T grounded electrically.  All the electrical and electronic stuff in them is grounded to the metallic structure of the plane, snd this is the return path for all current using devices.  Planes made of certain non-conductive composites use separate grounding wires and busses to do the job.
845276
a. The bear has completed a circuit between the cable and the ground.\n\nElectrical current takes the path of least resistance and will flow through him rather than through the air which has a low conductance.\n\nSince the bear has a resistance the electrical energy will do work (the energy it takes to move electrons from one potential to another) to over come his resistance and some of the energy will be transferred to heat.  This is why people who are electrocuted will burn from the inside out.
548516
For a human to walk on a power line and live, you'd need to scale up the powercords to make the human represent the size of a pidgeon.\n\nThe reason being, if you're standing on a wire, your head may be closer to a wire.  For example...\n\n---------  +\n\n---'-----  -        <-bird\n\n\n---------  +        (+ is positive, - is negative)\n    o\n    |\n---------  -        <-human\n\nThe human body is about 80% water.  As as we all know, water conducts electricity.  As such, your body has a lower "resistance" then the air surrounding it.  So it may be safe to say (approximatly)\n\nHuman's resistance (between lines): 1.1 million ohms.\nBird's resistance (between lines): 20 million ohms.\n\nIf the voltage is sufficient to pass through the 1.1 million ohms, you'll be fried.  The amperage will instantly kill you.\n\n---------------------------------------\n\nIf you're talking about just walking on an electrified line (with no others around), then yes, you should be able to walk along it.  The current isn't different in the same line, so the electricity won't travel through your body.
774921
What they do is that they run along the field with a conducter connected to voltage meter.  Lol.  Just kidding.  They set up "antenna like " conducters in a field that is most frequently hit by lightning, and all of these conducters are connected  to voltage meter.
568450
Overhead power-lines have a high voltage AC current flowing through them, so create a radiating magnetic field for some distance all around the wires.  When this radiated (moving, because the electricity in the cables is changing direction 60 times a second) passes through the aerial on your radio, it is likely to be at some of the same wavelengths/frequencies as something you are trying to receive deliberatly, so you get "the buzz".\n\nCheck this website out for more:
454243
Your bones are too dense. \n\nNo joke, the reason birds are capable of flight is due to having hollow bones, making them far lighter.
252167
Let us go back to ben franklin. When he was flying a kite in a thunderstorm, He attached a key to the string, and then tied a silk cord to the string. Touching the key he received a shock, proving the electrical charge from lightning traveled the string. Obviosly the wetness of the string had something to do with it, as dry string will not conduct. Power lines carry a variety of voltages, 7500 to 24,000 volts. Notice that birds can sit on the lines unhurt. They are not connected to ground (return path for electricity).  In a commercial area of 14, 000 to 24,000 volts, there may be enough EMF (electromotive force or voltage) to push the current down the string to you and then GROUND. Bottom line - dont take chances, donmt fly kites near power lines.
737327
Birds make nests on the ground in low bushes and shrubs.  They benefit from the protection without hurting the shrubs and bushes
125595
Leaving them turned off still won't help, because a lightning strike could still fry them. \n\nYou need them well grounded and in a Faraday cage if you want to avoid ALL pulses, including from lightning strikes.
699136
Once birds get up in the air, they use two main flying techniques to stay up there.\n\nSoaring: When birds soar, they take advantage air currents to help hold them up. Three kinds of air currents are especially helpful to soaring birds. \n\nThermal air currents develop in places where the air is warmer in one spot than an adjoining area, such as a paved road alongside a snowy field. Even on a very cold day, the sun will heat the pavement at least a few degrees more than the snow. This slightly warmer air is slightly lighter than the colder air, and rises. This rising air current can lift very light objects, like feathers and hollow bones. The birds that most often take advantage of thermals (like the hawks that fly along coastlines) usually have very wide wings and tail. This makes the area of their wings very large compared to their body weight. \nUpdrafts, also called obstruction currents, develop when wind hits an obstruction, like a cliff or a building. The rushing air has to go somewhere, so it goes up, and can carry a bird up with it. Birds who fly on updrafts (like the many hawks that migrate along Hawk Mountain, Pennsylvania) also have very wide wings and tail. \nWind moving toward a bird with spread wings can hold the bird up, thanks to the airfoil shape of the wings. Birds that fly on moving air currents often have long, narrow wings, such as gulls and albatrosses. \n  \n \nFlapping: When birds flap, the stroke of their downbeat moves the wing tips forward and downward. The wingtips make a loop at the bottom of the downstroke, and as the wings move up, the wing tips move upward and backward. In the downstroke, the pressure is higher below the wing than above, causing lift. And as they move forward, the rush of air on their airfoil wings causes more lift. But because flapping birds have smaller wings than soaring birds, they must move forward faster to stay in the air. Most songbirds must fly at least 11 miles per hour to stay up. One scientist calculated that for an ostrich to stay aloft, it would have to take off and maintain a minimum speed of 100 miles per hour. Birds who use their wings to flap more than soar often have smaller wings than soaring birds.
359650
They make stakes you can put into the ground that let out small electric pulses that keep them away.  I'm not sure how far away from the stake it will work but it should work if you put them on the corners and by the net (outside the sand).\nYou can find them at places like Home Depot.
455631
To answer the question with less verbosity, birds can ride rising hot air columns higher and higher into the air.
213392
still in the trees. deadwood, holes in branches etc. natural hidy holes. thats why itr is important to keep old forrests around - so the trees have little places like that for the birds