Love on the Wire | Mixed Media on Moleskine

An obvious dating spot for lovebirds.

This week’s theme is ‘Electricity’ over at Illustration Friday. This electric pole is situated in front of my house. And the lovebirds are usually of the Mynas (Tiung). Sometimes there are Ravens too.

Now, why birds can perch on an electrical wires without being electrocuted? Lol, I have nothing better to do so I searched for the answers. Thanks to Amos @ Indiana University, I found the answers.

Birds don’t get electrocuted when they land on wires because they don’t make a path to ground and the wire is the only thing they’re touching! Like all energy, electricity seeks equilibrium, or balance. That means electricity will flow from high-energy areas to areas of less energy, always using the path of least resistance. So if the bird has one foot on our original wire, and the other foot on, for example, the ground or on a different wire with less voltage, the bird would be electrocuted, because the electricity would pass through the bird on its way from the high-voltage line to the lower-voltage line or the ground.

But as long as both of the bird’s feet are on the same wire (or wires of the same voltage), the bird is safe. The current doesn’t have anywhere else to go, so the electricity won’t pass through the bird–it stays on the path of least resistance, the wire.

Source: http://amos.indiana.edu/library/scripts/birdwire.html