(Gentle music plays)
Hummingbirds are great.
They're beautiful,
they're fast
and when they hover,
it almost seems
like magic.
But how do they do
when the wind gets gusty?
That's what Australian
and American scientists
wanted to find out
when they put the four
Ruby-throated
Hummingbirds
in a wind tunnel.
And the answer is,
they just do great.
The birds did just fine
in a steady wind, no surprise there.
They also did great
with the wind speed
varying
by as much as 15%.
Just to compare,
small drones
can only handle 7%.
One way the birds cope
is that they change
the angle and action
of each wing
independently,
in the space
of a wing beat.
Those wings are beating
40 times per second.
And constant
adjustment of the tail
is very important,
both in its position
and in how much
it was fanned out.
The next step the researchers
have in mind,
is to try to help
the drones catch up,
by giving them tails.
(Music plays, increasing in volume)
(Music plays, increasing in volume)