What part of Leonardo da Vinci’s ornithopter was intended to imitate a bird’s flight?

Flapping wings were the part of Leonardo da Vinci’s ornithopter intended to imitate a bird’s flight.

An ornithopter is an aircraft designed to fly by flapping wings rather than by using a propeller or jet engine. Leonardo studied birds closely and sketched mechanisms in which a person would use pedals, levers, and body movement to operate large wings. His designs were based on the idea that human mechanical power could reproduce the lift and thrust generated by birds.

Leonardo understood that flight involved more than simply copying a bird’s shape. His notebooks examine wing structure, air resistance, balance, and the movement of air. However, human muscles cannot supply enough power for a practical large flapping aircraft, so his man-powered concepts could not fly successfully.

The ornithopter differs from Leonardo’s screw-shaped aerial device and from his parachute. Those designs proposed different methods of aerial movement or descent; the ornithopter specifically depends on oscillating wings.