News tagged with hummingbird

Where have all the hummingbirds gone?

(Phys.org) -- The glacier lily as it's called, is a tall, willowy plant that graces mountain meadows throughout western North America. It flowers early in spring, when the first bumblebees and hummingbirds ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 31, 2012 | popularity 3.4 / 5 (5) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Robot hummingbird passes flight tests (w/ Video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- A prototype robot spy "ornithopter," the Nano-Hummingbird, has successfully completed flight trials in California. Developed by the company AeroVironment Inc., the miniature spybot looks like ...

Technology / Engineering

created Feb 18, 2011 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (55) | comments 66 | with audio podcast report

Some birds may use their feathers to touch

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study of auklets suggests the birds use their ornamental feathers in much the same way as cats use their whiskers: to feel their surroundings.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Feb 15, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast report

Tweet: Scientists decode songbird's genome, provide clues on language learning (w/ Video)

Nearly all animals make sounds instinctively, but baby songbirds learn to sing in virtually the same way human infants learn to speak: by imitating a parent.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Mar 31, 2010 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Hummingbirds take no notice of flower color

Hummingbirds pay no attention to what colour a flower is when figuring out whether to raid it for nectar, the latest research suggests.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Mar 16, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

How the hummingbird's tongue really works (w/ video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- Ornithologists first put forth the theory that hummingbirds took in nectar using capillary action (where liquid rises against gravity in a narrow tube) in 1833 and since then no one has questioned ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 03, 2011 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (9) | comments 0 | with audio podcast report

How hummingbirds produce fluttering sounds during courtship

Though famous for their mid-air hovering during hunting, tiny hummingbirds have another trait that is literally telltale: males of some hummingbird species generate loud sounds with their tail feathers while ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Sep 08, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Bird pollinated plant mixes it up when it comes to sex

Across the western Cape of South Africa can be found small plants in the Iris family called Babiana. Flitting between them are sunbirds, small colourful birds like the African version of hummingbirds, that d ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Sep 06, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Hummingbirds catch flying bugs with the help of fast-closing beaks (w/ video)

The shape of a hummingbird's beak allows for a "controlled elastic snap" that allows it to snatch up flying insects in a mere fraction of a second —with greater speed and power than could be achieved by jaw muscles alone, ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jul 19, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Japanese researcher unveils 'hummingbird robot'

Japanese researchers said Monday they had developed a "hummingbird robot" that can flutter around freely in mid-air with rapid wing movements.

Electronics / Robotics

created Dec 28, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (18) | comments 3

New species abound in Peru, but so do threats

Each year, a new bird is found and every four years a new mammal discovered in the Peruvian Amazon, a haven for biodiversity where conservation and danger often go hand in hand.

Biology / Ecology

created Dec 28, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 7

How hummingbirds fight the wind: Robotic device helps analyze hovering birds

Hummingbirds rank among the world's largest and most accomplished hovering animals, but how do they manage it in gusty winds?

Physics / General Physics

created Nov 21, 2010 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (7) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Sierra Nevada birds move in response to warmer, wetter climate

(PhysOrg.com) -- If the climate is not quite right, birds will up and move rather than stick around and sweat it out, according to a new study led by biologists at the University of California, Berkeley.

Biology / Ecology

created Sep 14, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 0

A well-defended territory is what some female hummingbirds find most attractive in a mate

When it comes to attracting a mate, flowers and sweets often do the trick—even for one of the world's smallest birds—the purple throated carib, a hummingbird species native to the mountainous islands of the ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Apr 07, 2010 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Tobacco plant thwarts caterpillar onslaught by opening flowers in the morning

We normally think of pollinators as providing a valuable service to plants, and they certainly do. In exchange for nectar, pollinators like the well-known honey bee carry pollen from one plant to the other ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jan 21, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Hummingbird

Hummingbirds are birds that comprise the family Trochilidae. They are among the smallest of birds, most species measuring in the 7.5–13 cm (3–5 in) range. Indeed, the smallest extant bird species is a hummingbird, the 5-cm Bee Hummingbird. They can hover in mid-air by rapidly flapping their wings 12–90 times per second (depending on the species). They are also the only group of birds able to fly backwards. Their English name derives from the characteristic hum made by their rapid wing beats. They can fly at speeds exceeding 15 m/s (54 km/h, 34 mi/h).

For more information about Hummingbird, read the full article at Wikipedia.
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