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The Broad-tailed Hummingbird’s Dazzling Dives
Reaching speeds of up to 50 miles per hour to impress a mate
© Charles Peterson
Broad-tailed Hummingbirds are small but hardy creatures built for life in the mountains. They survive freezing cold nights by slowing their heart rate and metabolism. And they perform a death-defying stunt for potential mates. Male Broad-tailed Hummingbirds begin their performance by flying up 60 feet or more in the air. Then they dive toward the earth, reaching speeds of up to 50 miles per hour! At the last moment, they pull out of their dive and fly horizontally past the female they’re trying to impress.
BirdNote®
The Broad-tailed Hummingbird’s Dazzling Dives
Written by Conor Gearin
This is BirdNote.
[Broad-tailed Hummingbird wing trills]
Broad-tailed Hummingbirds are small but hardy creatures built for life in the mountains. They survive freezing cold nights by slowing their heart rate and metabolism. They snatch insects in midair and chase other hummingbirds out of their territories. And they perform a death-defying stunt for potential mates.
Male Broad-tailed Hummingbirds begin their performance by flying up sixty feet or more in the air. Then they dive toward the earth, reaching speeds of up to 50 miles per hour! At the last moment, they pull out of their dive and fly horizontally past the female they’re trying to impress.
[Broad-tailed Hummingbird display flight]
Their tail feathers make a buzzing noise, and the iridescent feathers on their throats appear to change from bright magenta to jet black as they fly past. Then they fly right back up — for another dive.
[Broad-tailed Hummingbird display flight]
Scientists showed that Broad-tailed Hummingbirds time their dives just right so that all of the effects — the tail buzz, the high speed, and the color change in their throat feathers – all happen in the same 300-millisecond window as they zoom past the female.
Now that is some fancy flying.
[Broad-tailed Hummingbird display flight]
For BirdNote, I’m Michael Stein.
###
Producer: Mark Bramhill
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Conor Gearin
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
With thanks to Marisa Gearin for this idea
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Broad-tailed Hummingbird ML107808001 recorded by Tom Johnson, and Broad-tailed Hummingbird ML415071281 recorded by Nathan Pieplow.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2024 BirdNote August 2024
Narrator: Michael Stein
ID# BTHU-01-2024-08-26 BTHU-01
References:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Broad-tailed_Hummingbird/overview
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-07562-7
Michael Stein
Narrator
Conor Gearin
WriterSights & Sounds
