How a Hummingbird Flies in the Wind | ScienceTake | The New York Times

Hummingbirds have a remarkable ability to hover in the midst of turbulence.

Produced by: James Gorman and Prashanth Kamalakanthan

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How a Hummingbird Flies in the Wind | ScienceTake | The New York Times
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheNewYorkTimes

(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)