WEBVTT

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Hummingbirds are great.

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They're beautiful,

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they're fast
and when they hover,

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it almost seems
like magic.

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But how do they do
when the wind gets gusty?

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That's what Australian

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and American scientists
wanted to find out

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when they put the four
Ruby-throated

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Hummingbirds
in a wind tunnel.

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And the answer is,

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they just do great.

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The birds did just fine
in a steady wind, no surprise there.

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They also did great
with the wind speed

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varying
by as much as 15%.

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Just to compare,

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small drones
can only handle 7%.

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One way the birds cope

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is that they change
the angle and action

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of each wing
independently,

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in the space
of a wing beat.

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Those wings are beating
40 times per second.

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And constant
adjustment of the tail

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is very important,

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both in its position

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and in how much
it was fanned out.

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The next step the researchers
have in mind,

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is to try to help

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the drones catch up,
by giving them tails.

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(Music plays, increasing in volume)