History Main / FlyingFlightlessBird

->'''Babs:''' He must be very important to have his picture taken. What do you suppose he does?
->'''Bunty:''' Isn't it obvious? He's a professional flying rooster. He flies from farm to farm, giving demonstrations.

* Many people only familiar with the domesticated variety that they eat for Thanksgiving may be surprised to discover that wild turkeys are not only ''able'' to fly, but also extremely good at it, being agile and fast in the air and capable of covering at least half a mile or more while doing so. This is actually why domesticated turkeys are flightless; trying to catch the wild variant was difficult due to a mix of their ability to fly and their camouflaged plumage, so the domesticated turkeys are bred to be nice and plump (both giving them more meat and making them too heavy to fly) and often have noticeable colors (which also comes with the benefit of them having less discolored meat).

* A downplayed [[PteroSoarer pterosaur variant]] on this trope would be in the ''Literature/{{Dinotopia}}'' series, which featured ''Dimorphodons'' as the pterosaurian equivalent of an InstantMessengerPigeon; later studies would uncover that ''Dimorphodon'' would likely have been about as good at flying as a chicken--that is to say, not very, due to its body being heavy and its wings being short. It still ''could'' fly, but likely only for short distances and in emergencies. This is justified due to [[ScienceMarchesOn science marching on]], as all this wasn't known at the time the books were published.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/penguins_fly_1.png]]

[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/SpyroReignitedTrilogy https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/flyingflightlessbird_spyro_3.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:He heard that every other bird flew south for the winter and he felt left out.]]

Note that if the flightless bird is using some sort of tool to fly (like an airplane or a jetpack), then [[SquarePegRoundTrope it does not count since without it, the bird would truly be flightless]].

* There are some birds that can be considered "semi-flightless"-- their wings and flight muscles have degenerated to the point that they are behaviorally flightless, but they can still fly short distances if they absolutely have to. Examples include the Okinawa rail of Japan, the Laysan duck of Hawaii, and the Zapata rail of Cuba.

* A plot point in ''WesternAnimation/ChickenRun'' is the chickens trying to learn how to fly from a rooster named Rocky after Ginger saw him flying. [[spoiler:It turns out Rocky didn't actually fly, he was just shot out of a cannon.]]

Contrast AcrophobicBird, for when birds who can fly don't fly because they are too scared to do it.

Contrast AcrophobicBird, for when birds who can fly don't fly that often for some reason.

* ''Franchise/SpyroTheDragon'': Sgt. Byrd is a military penguin who has missiles strapped to him. He is also capable of flying be flapping his little penguin flippers. Handwaved by how he's trained by the hummingbirds to flap his flippers fast enough.

Not all birds possess the [[{{Flight}} ability to fly]], in fact there's a good number of birds who can't. The reasons vary between each flightless bird, but the most common reason is that their wings were [[WingsDoNothing not made for flying]].

* There are some birds that can be considered "semi-flightless"-- their wings and flight muscles have degenerated, they are for all intents and purposes flightless, but they can still fly short distances if they absolutely have to. Examples include the Okinawa rail of Japan, the Laysan duck of Hawaii, and the Zapata rail of Cuba.

** Doduo is based off of an ostrich, which is known for not being able to fly. Its Pokedex entry in ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' even says that it can't fly well. Nevertheless, it is still able to learn the move Fly.

Not all birds possess the [[{{Flight}} ability to fly]]. there is in fact a good number of birds who can't. The reasons vary between each flightless bird, but the most common reason is that their wings were [[WingsDoNothing not made for flying]].

!!Examples

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

** Doduo is based off of an ostrich, which is known for not being able to fly. It's Pokedex entry in ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' even says that it can't fly well. Nevertheless, it is still able to learn the move Fly.

[[folder:Web Original]]

[[/folder]]

** Doduo is based off of an ostrich, which is known for not being able to fly. It's Pokedex entry in ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' even says that it can't fly well. Nevertheless, it is still able to learn the move, Fly.

** Doduo is based of of an ostrich, which is known for not being able to fly. It's Pokedex in ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' even says that it can't fly well. Nevertheless, it is still able to learn the move, Fly.