But why? A podcast for curious kids is known for serious answers to silly questions sent

in by kids just like you. But did you know that but why is now a book series?

Our first book, Our Lama's Ticklish, answers questions from real kids about farm animals.

This colorfully illustrated book is perfect for kids ages 8 to 10. And our second book,

To Fish Breathe Underwater, explores the underwater world of the ocean. Learn more at

at themykids.org slash books.

This is But Why, a podcast for curious kids. On this show you get to ask the questions

and we help find the answers. I'm Jane Lindholm and today we're going to put on our

windbreakers and our hats with the ear flaps and go outside. This show is going to the

birds. You've been sending us lots of questions about bird migration and physics. So we found

one of our favorite friends to offer up some answers. Bridget Butler is known as the

bird diva around these parts. She loves birds and she loves to teach people about different

birds. So she and I met up on a windy chilly fall day in Vermont on the shores of Lake

Champlain in front of a flock of Canada geese floating on the windy surface. And our

first question that Bridget helped us answer was from nine year old Jack. Why do geese fly

in a shape of a V? You have to fly a really long distance when you're migrating and you

want to conserve as much energy as possible. If you stood there right now and you flapped

your arms and you just keep flapping and flapping and flapping and you get tired pretty quickly.

But if you work as a team together you can decrease the amount of energy you have to use.

So when you fly in a V what the geese are doing is they're drafting each other. So they're

kind of providing a windbreak for the bird in front of them. So they stack up just right

a little bit above each other and next to each other in order to take advantage of breaking

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