This video, posted on the Diply site, shows what happens when some curious scientists put hummingbirds (trained to take nectar from a feeder) into a wind tunnel and blasted them with winds or pelted them with water. It’s no surprise that they compensate for wind gusts and keep feeding, but you must see what they do when they get drenched. First, the background from the site:
However, their weight is ultimately that of less than a nickel. They are very light, making their ability to stay upright in midair seemingly all the more difficult.
Add some wind and rain to that equation and what happens?
That’s the question Robert Dudley, Professor of Biology, and Victor M. Ortega, Post-Doctoral Researcher, asked back in 2010.
How does a hummingbird do it?
In order to find their answer, they decided to place hummingbirds in a wind tunnel at the UC Berkley Animal Flight Laboratory.
The evidence was obvious: the adjustments in turbulence were no problem for the hummingbirds.
In fact, the hummingbirds clearly know how to weather a serious storm. Instead of flapping up and down, they flap backwards and forwards when faced with increased turbulence.
They flap themselves into a figure-eight in order to provide stability midair. When they decide to suck from flowers, they use their tails as rudders to keep steady.
What happens when it rains though? (See answer at 2:15.)
I’ll let you answer the last question for yourself by watching the video.
Yep, they shake themselves like dogs when they’re still hovering! I find that amazing—in the genuine sense.
Colorful, cute, and fascinating. And d*glike. Yes, I said it!
The most amazing part starts at 0:29.
Reblogged this on Mark Solock Blog.
Very cool
Jerry, if your itinerary takes you through the Tucson area, you’ll have to make a stop in the Desert Sonoran Museum on the west side of town. The hummers in the walk-in aviary there perch on the humans….
http://desertmuseum.org/visit/exhibits_pollinationgardens.php
b&
Sub
I hope they gave the hummingbirds extra sugar water after all that work! I’ve seen them dodge water drops here but the shaking in mid air I have not seen and it looks really cute.
Amazing to see. It is the little critters like insects and hummingbirds that ‘live life in the fast lane’. We must seem to be standing still to them.
Fantastic! One of the uber cool bird taxa unique to the New World.
The slow motion stuff is really something.
I have to be careful about leaving the garage door open. The hummers see the red taillights and come in to take a look. They can get stuck just like other birds and need some help getting out.
OK, my ghast is flabbered…
Very cool video. Hummingbirds are wonderful to watch. We have several feeders, one of which is right outside our kitchen door. One day I was standing next to it when a hummingbird started feeding. If it noticed me, it gave no indication. Suddenly a wasp (yellowjacket)showed up and started to feed when the hummingbird backed off the feeder. That pissed off the hummingbird. The two of them went into a dance face to face, up down sideways forward and back, both lightning fast, but the hummingbird was just a touch faster. It appeared that the wasp wanted to sting and the bird wanted to eat the wasp, but both wanted the other away from the feeder. My video camera and my phone camera were both just inside the door. I watched for what seemed like a long time but was probably a minute with my face only 8-12 inches from them then I opened the screen door to get a camera. I’m sorry to say they were gone when I returned. It would have been a great video. I’ve never seen two faster creatures. The wasp had no chance, but it looked like that might have been a new experience as it had no intention to back down. They both must have flown away at the sound of the door or my movement. I’ve invited them both for a re-match. Still waiting, but not expecting replies until actual spring arrives one day very soon. When those two show up, my cameras will be ready
What a thrill to have seen, let alone at such close distance!
As an aerospace engineer with an interest in biology, you’d think I’d have noticed this by now, but this is the first time I’ve really paid attention to high speed video of a hummingbird. And their flapping motion really is quite different from other birds, isn’t it. It looks like the force vector would be normal to their wing tip plane. Are their wings so stiff that they have to use that same motion for forward flight? That would seem like a pretty inefficient manner – more of a brute force approach to forward flight. And their wing area looks positively tiny. Their glide ratio must be horrible. I guess it’s time for me to go to the Google and learn a bit.
Well, they typically drink their body weight in nectar every day and practically hibernate overnight. You should be able to run an energy budget from those figures….
b&
Wingy magic!