Hummingbird

The hummingbird is a very small bird from the Americas, named after the humming sound made by its wings. Hummingbirds are the only birds that can fly backwards under their own power. They can also hover, fly sideways and briefly fly upside down, which makes them the only bird with a full set of gears.^[1]

The smallest species, the bee hummingbird of Cuba, is about five centimetres long and weighs around two grams, less than many coins.

Speed of everything

A hummingbird's heart can beat more than a thousand times a minute, and its wings beat dozens of times a second. To keep this going it has to eat roughly every few minutes. If a hummingbird ever went to a meeting, it would have to leave for a snack before the minutes were read.^[2]

At night, to save energy, hummingbirds go into a deep sleep-like state called torpor, in which the heart slows right down and the bird goes cold. In the morning it warms up and carries on, which ornithologists describe as switching itself off and on again.

Reversing

Flying backwards lets a hummingbird pull its beak out of a flower without turning round. Other birds have studied this and decided it was showing off.

See also

• Minute – over a thousand heartbeats' worth
• Second – dozens of wingbeats' worth
• Flamingo – another bird with an unusual way of eating

References

1. Hover, H. (2008). Reverse Gear. Nectar Press.
2. Snack, S. (1999). “Every Few Minutes”. Journal of Small Appetites 1,000: 1.
3. Torpor, T. (2012). “Off and On Again”. Read slowly.