Leonardo da Vinci’s birdlike flapping-wing flying machine is called an ornithopter.
An ornithopter is an aircraft intended to fly by moving wings in a birdlike or insectlike way. Leonardo studied birds, bats, and the mechanics of flight in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, producing sketches of wings, frames, and control systems.
Leonardo’s designs were not powered aircraft in the modern sense, and there is no evidence that his full-size flying machines successfully flew. The term ornithopter is broader than Leonardo’s work: it describes a type of aircraft, not one uniquely named Leonardo invention. His flying-machine studies nevertheless helped connect observation of nature with mechanical engineering.