It’s a common sight: birds casually perched on electric wires, sometimes in large numbers, without a care in the world. But with all that voltage flowing through those lines, why don’t they get electrocuted? The answer lies in basic electrical science.

Electricity needs a path to flow - from a high voltage to a lower voltage or the ground. A bird sitting on a single wire doesn’t complete any such path. Since both its feet are on the same wire and there's no contact with another wire or the ground, the electricity has no reason to travel through the bird’s body.

Things change if the bird touches two wires at once or makes contact with a grounded object - this creates a voltage difference, and electricity would then flow through the bird, potentially electrocuting it.

This is also why humans get shocked - our feet are on the ground, and if we touch a wire, current flows through our body into the earth. Birds stay safe because they’re not grounded and not completing a circuit.

So, their perch is not just relaxing - it's smart physics!