Dataset on permeability of wings from owls and non-silently flying birds

Thomas F Geyer; Thomas Windisch; Christoph Fritzsche; Ennes Sarradj

doi:10.1016/j.dib.2023.109825

Dataset on permeability of wings from owls and non-silently flying birds

Data Brief. 2023 Nov 19:52:109825. doi: 10.1016/j.dib.2023.109825. eCollection 2024 Feb.

Authors

Thomas F Geyer¹, Thomas Windisch², Christoph Fritzsche³, Ennes Sarradj⁴

Affiliations

¹ Technical Acoustics Group, Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus - Senftenberg, Siemens-Halske-Ring 15A, 03046 Cottbus, Germany.
² Leibniz-Institute for Solid State and Materials Research, Helmholtzstraße 20, 01069 Dresden, Germany.
³ Landesamt für Umwelt, Landwirtschaft und Geologie, Pillnitzer Platz 3, 01326 Dresden, Germany.
⁴ Institute of Fluid Mechanics and Engineering Acoustics, Technische Universität Berlin, Einsteinufer 25, 10587 Berlin, Germany.

Abstract

The very soft and flow-permeable plumage is among the special adaptations of the owl that the silent flight is attributed to. Using a specially designed apparatus that provides a low-speed volume flow of air through a small sample of porous material, measurements of the air flow permeability were performed in accordance to ISO 9053 on a total of 39 prepared wing specimen from six different bird species, including three species of silently flying owls and three non-silently flying bird species. The resulting data set described in the present paper contains the static airflow resistance measured at different positions on the wing.

Keywords: Acoustics; Airflow resistivity; Owl wing; Permeability; Silent flight.