question: How do hummingbirds manage to flap their wings so fast?
comment: A hummingbird's chest muscles account for more than 25 percent of its body weight, a higher percentage than any other bird species. Just like with humans who have evolved to use 25% of their energy to power their brains, these birds have evolved to use more than 25% of their weight in muscles to flap the wings that style. And yes, that constant high-powered flying has a cost: they constantly have to eat because they don't have a space to store it, that would reduce their flying capability.
passages: Many earlier studies had assumed that lift was generated equally during the two phases of the wingbeat cycle, as is the case of insects of a similar size. This finding shows that hummingbird hovering is similar to, but distinct from, that of hovering insects such as the hawk moth. Further studies using electromyography in hovering rufous hummingbirds showed that muscle strain in the pectoralis major (principal downstroke muscle) was the lowest yet recorded in a flying bird, and the primary upstroke muscle (supracoracoideus) is proportionately larger than in other bird species.
   Hummingbirds are small birds capable of hovering in mid-air due to the rapid flapping of their wings. They are the only birds that can fly backwards.
  
  Section::::Rails, crakes, gallinules, and coots.
  
  Order: GruiformesFamily: Rallidae
   Two studies of rufous or Anna's hummingbirds in a wind tunnel used particle image velocimetry techniques to investigate the lift generated on the bird's upstroke and downstroke. The birds produced 75% of their weight support during the downstroke and 25% during the upstroke, with the wings making a "figure 8" motion.
   Hummingbirds are small birds capable of hovering in mid-air due to the rapid flapping of their wings. They are the only birds that can fly backwards.
  
  BULLET::::- Ruby-throated hummingbird, "Archilochus colubris"
  
  BULLET::::- Rufous hummingbird, "Selasphorus rufus" (VR)
  
  Section::::Rails, gallinules, and coots.
  
  Order: GruiformesFamily: Rallidae
   Because of their flying technique, these birds no longer have an alula, while the alula digit has evolved to become absent.
  
  The giant hummingbird's wings beat as few as 12 beats per second and the wings of typical hummingbirds beat up to 80 times per second.
   Hummingbirds are small birds capable of hovering in mid-air due to the rapid flapping of their wings. They are the only birds that can fly backwards.
  
  BULLET::::- Mexican violetear, "Colibri thalassinus" (*)
  
  BULLET::::- Rivoli's hummingbird, "Eugenes fulgens" (*)
  
  BULLET::::- Blue-throated hummingbird, "Lampornis clemenciae" (*)
  
  BULLET::::- Ruby-throated hummingbird, "Archilochus colubris" (*)
  
  BULLET::::- Black-chinned hummingbird, "Archilochus alexandri"
  
  BULLET::::- Anna's hummingbird, "Calypte anna"
  
  BULLET::::- Costa's hummingbird, "Calypte costae"
  
  BULLET::::- Broad-tailed hummingbird, "Selasphorus platycercus"
  
  BULLET::::- Rufous hummingbird, "Selasphorus rufus"
  
  BULLET::::- Allen's hummingbird, "Selasphorus sasin"
  
  BULLET::::- Calliope hummingbird, "Selasphorus calliope"
  
  BULLET::::- Broad-billed hummingbird, "Cynanthus latirostris" (*)
  
  BULLET::::- Violet-crowned hummingbird, "Amazilia violiceps" (*)
   Anna's hummingbirds can shake their bodies 55 times per second to shed rain while in flight, or in dry weather, to remove pollen or dirt from feathers. Each twist lasts four-hundredths of a second and applies 34 times the force of gravity on the bird's head.
  
  Section::::Reproduction.
   With the exception of insects, hummingbirds while in flight have the highest metabolism of all animals – a necessity to support the rapid beating of their wings during hovering and fast forward flight. Their heart rate can reach as high as 1,260 beats per minute, a rate once measured in a blue-throated hummingbird, with a breathing rate of 250 breaths per minute, even at rest. During flight, oxygen consumption per gram of muscle tissue in a hummingbird is about 10 times higher than that measured in elite human athletes.
   Hummingbirds are small birds capable of hovering in mid-air due to the rapid flapping of their wings. They are the only birds that can fly backwards.
  
  BULLET::::- Mexican violetear, "Colibri thalassinus"
  
  BULLET::::- Green-breasted mango, "Anthracothorax prevostii" (C)
  
  BULLET::::- Antillean mango, "Anthracothorax dominicus"
  
  BULLET::::- Green mango, "Anthracothorax viridis" (EP)
  
  BULLET::::- Purple-throated carib, "Eulampis jugularis" (A)
  
  BULLET::::- Green-throated carib, "Eulampis holosericeus"
  
  BULLET::::- Rivoli's hummingbird, "Eugenes fulgens" (Not yet assessed by the IUCN)
  
  BULLET::::- Plain-capped starthroat, "Heliomaster constantii" (C)
  
  BULLET::::- Amethyst-throated hummingbird, "Lampornis amethystinus" (A)
  
  BULLET::::- Blue-throated hummingbird, "Lampornis clemenciae"
  
  BULLET::::- Bahama woodstar, "Calliphlox evelynae" (A)
  
  BULLET::::- Lucifer hummingbird, "Calothorax lucifer"
   Hummingbirds are small birds capable of hovering in mid-air due to the rapid flapping of their wings. They are the only birds that can fly backwards.
  
  BULLET::::- Rivoli's hummingbird, "Eugenes fulgens" (n)
  
  BULLET::::- Plain-capped starthroat, "Heliomaster constantii" (A)
  
  BULLET::::- Blue-throated hummingbird, "Lampornis clemenciae" (n)
  
  BULLET::::- Lucifer hummingbird, "Calothorax lucifer" (n) (C)
  
  BULLET::::- Ruby-throated hummingbird, "Archilochus colubris" (A)
  
  BULLET::::- Black-chinned hummingbird, "Archilochus alexandri" (n)
  
  BULLET::::- Anna's hummingbird, "Calypte anna" (n)
  
  BULLET::::- Costa's hummingbird, "Calypte costae" (n)
  
  BULLET::::- Bumblebee hummingbird, "Atthis heloisa" (A)
  
  BULLET::::- Broad-tailed hummingbird, "Selasphorus platycercus" (n)
  
  BULLET::::- Rufous hummingbird, "Selasphorus rufus"
  
  BULLET::::- Allen's hummingbird, "Selasphorus sasin" (C)
   Hummingbirds do not spend all day flying, as the energy cost would be prohibitive; the majority of their activity consists simply of sitting or perching. Hummingbirds eat many small meals and consume around half their weight in nectar (twice their weight in nectar, if the nectar is 25% sugar) each day. Hummingbirds digest their food rapidly due to their small size and high metabolism; a mean retention time less than an hour has been reported. Hummingbirds spend an average of 10–15% of their time feeding and 75–80% sitting and digesting.
   "I was at breakfast when I saw this hummingbird, and hummingbird was having breakfast as well... and I don't know if you know but hummingbirds are supposedly good luck and I was just thinking about hummingbirds. I was thinking 'How fast does their heart beat?' , like 'how many beats per minute?' And using that idea as an idea for someone making you feel, instead of those butterflies, making your heart beat really, really fast."
   Upon maturity, males of one species, "Phaethornis longirostris," the long-billed hermit, appear to be evolving a dagger-like weapon on the beak tip as a secondary sexual trait to defend mating areas.
  
  Section::::Systematics.
   Hummingbirds are small birds capable of hovering in mid-air due to the rapid flapping of their wings. They are the only birds that can fly backwards.
  
  BULLET::::- Mexican violetear, "Colibri thalassinus" (A)
  
  BULLET::::- Rivoli's hummingbird, "Eugenes fulgens" (A)
  
  BULLET::::- Ruby-throated hummingbird, "Archilochus colubris"
  
  BULLET::::- Anna's hummingbird, "Calypte anna" (A)
  
  BULLET::::- Costa's hummingbird, "Calypte costae" (A)
  
  BULLET::::- Rufous hummingbird, "Selasphorus rufus" (A)
  
  BULLET::::- Calliope hummingbird, "Selasphorus calliope" (A)
  
  Section::::Rails, gallinules, and coots.
  
  Order: GruiformesFamily: Rallidae
   Most birds that hover have high aspect ratio wings that are suited to low speed flying. Hummingbirds are a unique exception – the most accomplished hoverers of all birds. Hummingbird flight is different from other bird flight in that the wing is extended throughout the whole stroke, which is a symmetrical figure of eight, with the wing producing lift on both the up- and down-stroke. Hummingbirds beat their wings at some 43 times per second, while others may be as high as 80 times per second.
  
  Section::::Take-off and landing.
   They are known as hummingbirds because of the humming sound created by their beating wings which flap at high frequencies audible to humans. They hover in mid-air at rapid wing-flapping rates, which vary from around 12 beats per second in the largest species, to in excess of 80 in some of the smallest. Of those species that have been measured in wind tunnels, their top speed exceeds and some species can dive at speeds in excess of .
   Pallas's long-tongued bat
  
  Pallas's long-tongued bat ("Glossophaga soricina") is a South and Central American bat with a fast metabolism that feeds on nectar.
  
  Section::::Metabolism.
  
  It has the fastest metabolism ever recorded in a mammal, similar to those of hummingbirds. Although it uses 50% of its stored fat over the course of a day, over 80% of its energy comes directly from the simple sugars that compose its diet of nectar, without being stored in any form.
  
  Section::::Tongue.
   Although hummingbirds fly with fully extended wings, such flight is not feasible for an ornithopter. If an ornithopter wing were to fully extend and twist and flap in small movements it would cause a stall, and if it were to twist and flap in very large motions, it would act like a windmill causing an inefficient flying situation.
   Hummingbirds are small birds capable of hovering in mid-air due to the rapid flapping of their wings. They are the only birds that can fly backwards.
  
  BULLET::::- White-necked jacobin, "Florisuga mellivora"
  
  BULLET::::- Bronzy hermit, "Glaucis aeneus"
  
  BULLET::::- Band-tailed barbthroat, "Threnetes ruckeri"
  
  BULLET::::- Long-billed hermit, "Phaethornis longirostris"
  
  BULLET::::- Stripe-throated hermit, "Phaethornis striigularis"
  
  BULLET::::- Brown violetear, "Colibri delphinae"
  
  BULLET::::- Mexican violetear, "Colibri thalassinus"
  
  BULLET::::- Purple-crowned fairy, "Heliothryx barroti"
  
  BULLET::::- Green-breasted mango, "Anthracothorax prevostii"
  
  BULLET::::- Black-throated mango, "Anthracothorax nigricollis" (A)
  
  BULLET::::- Black-crested coquette, "Lophornis helenae"
  
  BULLET::::- Rivoli's hummingbird, "Eugenes fulgens"
  
  BULLET::::- Long-billed starthroat, "Heliomaster longirostris"
  
  BULLET::::- Plain-capped starthroat, "Heliomaster constantii"
   As calculated by displacement of body size, the rufous hummingbird makes perhaps the longest migratory journey of any bird in the world. At just over 3 in long, rufous birds travel 3,900 miles one-way from Alaska to Mexico in late summer, a distance equal to 78,470,000 body lengths. By comparison, the 13-inch-long Arctic tern makes a one-way flight of about 11,185 miles, or 51,430,000 body lengths, just 65% of the body displacement during migration by rufous hummingbirds.
   One study of Anna's hummingbirds found that dietary protein was an influential factor in feather color, as birds receiving more protein grew significantly more colorful crown feathers than those fed a low-protein diet. Additionally, birds on a high-protein diet grew yellower (higher hue) green tail feathers than birds on a low-protein diet.
  
  Section::::Aerodynamics of flight.
  
  Hummingbird flight has been studied intensively from an aerodynamic perspective using wind tunnels and high-speed video cameras.
   Hummingbirds are small birds capable of hovering in mid-air due to the rapid flapping of their wings. They are the only birds that can fly backwards.
  
  BULLET::::- Ruby-throated hummingbird, "Archilochus colubris"
  
  BULLET::::- Anna's hummingbird, "Calypte anna" (VR)
  
  BULLET::::- Rufous hummingbird, "Selasphorus rufus" (VR)
  
  Section::::Rails, gallinules, and coots.
  
  Order: GruiformesFamily: Rallidae
   Hummingbirds are small birds capable of hovering in mid-air due to the rapid flapping of their wings. They are the only birds that can fly backwards. There are 337 species worldwide and 23 North American species. Hummingbirds in Arizona, range from the mountains to the desert, as well as have wintering– and summering–ranges–(from S Mexico to the North American Northwest).
  
  BULLET::::- (SW) Broad-billed hummingbird, "Cynanthis latirostris" (Occasional, extended stays)-from SE Ariz Biome/ Mexico (west)
  
  BULLET::::- ( * SW) "sw–06"(?) Black-chinned hummingbird, "Archilochus alexandri"
  
  BULLET::::- ( * SW) Anna's hummingbird, "Calypte anna"
  
  BULLET::::- ( * SW) Costa's hummingbird, "Calypte costae"
   Many other species of hummingbirds also produce sounds with their wings or tails while flying, hovering or diving, including the wings of the calliope hummingbird, broad-tailed hummingbird, rufous hummingbird, Allen's hummingbird, and streamertail, as well as the tail of the Costa's hummingbird and the black-chinned hummingbird, and a number of related species. The harmonics of sounds during courtship dives vary across species of hummingbirds.
  
  Section::::Feather sonation.:Wing feather trill.
   Hummingbirds are small birds capable of hovering in mid-air due to the rapid flapping of their wings. They are the only birds that can fly backwards.
  
  BULLET::::- White-necked jacobin, "Florisuga mellivora"
  
  BULLET::::- Bronzy hermit, "Glaucis aenea"
  
  BULLET::::- Band-tailed barbthroat, "Threnetes ruckeri"
  
  BULLET::::- Long-billed hermit, "Phaethornis longirostris"
  
  BULLET::::- Stripe-throated hermit, "Phaethornis striigularis"
  
  BULLET::::- Brown violetear, "Colibri delphinae"
  
  BULLET::::- Mexican violetear, "Colibri thalassinus" (The ASHO retains the pre-split name of green violetear)
  
  BULLET::::- Purple-crowned fairy, "Heliothryx barroti"
  
  BULLET::::- Green-breasted mango, "Anthracothorax prevostii"
  
  BULLET::::- Black-crested coquette, "Lophornis helenae"
  
  BULLET::::- Rivoli's hummingbird, "Eugenes fulgens"
  
  BULLET::::- Long-billed starthroat, "Heliomaster longirostris"
  
  BULLET::::- Plain-capped starthroat, "Heliomaster constantii"
  