Have you ever noticed a bird perched on a power line and wondered why it doesn’t get electrocuted? Birds are amazingly designed little creatures! But the reason they don’t get electrocuted doesn’t have anything to do with their unique design. It’s all about the way electricity works. To understand why birds are okay, we also need to know what causes electrocution. Let’s explore how electricity works!
Electricity comes from the energy made by moving electrons. Everything is made out of atoms. Electrons are the parts of an atom that go around in circles like crazy around the middle of an atom. They are full of energy! Electrons just keep going and going. The atoms that make up metals don’t hold onto their electrons as tightly as other atoms. This means that electrons move easily through metals. Because of this, we say that metals are good conductors of electricity. This is why wires (made of metals) are used to move electricity through your house. But you, me, and birds are bad conductors of electricity.
Because you, me, and birds are not good conductors, electricity usually would rather travel through metal than through any of us. Electricity always wants to do things the easy way. Don’t we all? One important thing to know about electricity is that it wants to go to the ground. It will go through anything it needs to so that it can get to the ground as fast as possible. If you are on the ground or if you’re connected to anything that is on the ground, electricity will travel through you to get to the ground. This is what happens when someone gets electrocuted. Electricity goes through his body. Our bodies weren’t designed to handle that much energy, so getting electrocuted is an easy way to die. Electricity can be extremely dangerous if it’s not handled the right way.
Birds don’t get electrocuted because they aren’t attached to the ground. But, if a bird touches two different wires at once, it would get electrocuted. Also, the bird would get electrocuted if it touches something on the ground, like a pole. This is because two different wires can have two different strengths of electricity. Electricity likes to make things easy, so it will try to share energy across the two wires if something is touching both of them.
Short Answer: Birds can get electrocuted. They usually don’t because they: 1) aren’t connected to the ground, and 2) usually are only touching one wire at a time.
The important lesson you can take away from this is to be careful about electricity! Even birds aren’t invincible! Movies and TV often make getting electrocuted look funny, but really it kills or seriously injures a lot of people. Even people specially trained on how to work with electricity get hurt. Don’t ever try to touch a power line – with anything.
The power of intense electricity running through you is not a good idea, but there’s a different type of power that is very good to get connected to: the power of God. Did you know that God can help you do things you never thought you could? If you ask Him for help, He can give you strength when you feel totally worn out. Jesus said “I am the Vine and you are the branches”. When we are connected to Jesus and ask Him for help, His power can flow through us, just like life and energy flows through the branches of a plant. Or like electricity flowing through electrical wires and power lines!
© Sara J. Mikkelson, May 2019
*Note – No birds were harmed in the making of this article and it’s accompanying graphics!
