Robot Flies Like a Real Bird [VIDEO]

It's not a real bird, but it's looks real enough to make you look twice.

Markus Fischer and the Festo company presented SmartBird to an audience at a TED talk.

The machine flies by wing-flapping rather than by props or rotors.

It took composite technology and a lot of tight design to make it work, but its flight looks very seagull-like and almost natural.

Plus, SmartBird has one big advantage over real birds. No unwanted messes dropped from above.