Sleep is weird. The frigate bird sleeps especially weirdly, doing so in-flight, frequently only sleeping with one hemisphere of their brain at once, and usually while taking advantage of an upward draft to gain altitude. We found this out by putting tiny chips that detect cognitive function on some frigate birds near the Galapagos islands and seeing what their brains are up to when they go on their multi-week long flights for food. And by we I mean vaguely all of humanity and more specifically a small group of biologists whom I have never met, apparently either led by or entirely consisting of Niels C Rattenborg and Bryson Voirin, who are probably ornithologists.

It’s speculated that this is also how albatrosses and some insect-eating birds in Africa stay airborne for so long as well, but as far as I’m aware no one’s bothered to put mind-reading chips on their heads as of yet.

For the actual published paper that fueled this interesting insight into the mind of some birds, you can view it here, thanks to our good friends over at Nature Communications. We’re such good friends that I can say fairly confidently that they don’t know I exist.