• Question: Why do birds never get an electric shock when they are on top of an electric wire?

    Asked by 358evoa44 to Anthea, Chloe, Kevin, Michel, Sean on 11 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Chloe Kinsella

      Chloe Kinsella answered on 11 Nov 2014:

      For electricity to flow it has to make a complete loop, going from high voltage to low voltage. If a giraffe touched off an electric wire, the electricity would run through its body from the wire to its neck all the way through its body to its feet and back into the ground from where it originally came from. This creates a complete loop.

      As the birds are not touching the ground, they do not complete a loop, so they do not get electrocuted.

    • Photo: Michel Dugon

      Michel Dugon answered on 11 Nov 2014:

      Birds do not get an electric shock because they stand on one wire only. As long as electricity is confined to a wire, there is no problem. If you could fly, you could sit on an electric wire as well without getting hurt, as long as you don’t touch anything that is contact with the ground and conduct electricity.

      The problems come when the current in the wire can make contact with the ground, with the electric pole (which is embedded in the ground) or with another wire.

      Sometimes, large birds sitting on wire will spread their wings and touch the next wire or the pole next to them. When that happens, the poor birds end up roasted… Where I come from, it is not uncommon to have storks (which are very big and nest on the roof of buildings) getting electrocuted because their spread their wings a bit too close from a wire 🙁

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