Why can birds sit on power lines?

Birds have no problem sitting, unruffled, on the high-voltage power lines you often see lining the road. ... “They move through the power lines, through your TV, and eventually they make their way back into the ground from where they came.” This creates a closed loop, which is required for electricity to flow. read more

Birds have no problem sitting, unruffled, on the high-voltage power lines you often see lining the road. This ability has nothing to do with them being birds, explains Ranbel Sun, a recent grad from electrical engineering and computer science who currently teaches at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. read more

Birds have no problem sitting, unruffled, on the high-voltage power lines you often see lining the road. This ability has nothing to do with them being birds, explains Ranbel Sun '10, MNG '13, a recent grad in electrical engineering who currently teaches at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. read more

When a bird is sitting on a power line, current is moving past it through the metal wire, but has no reason to enter the bird. Birds have been fried, however, when outstretched wings or dropping excrement created a short to another line. read more