Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 16, 2025
07:42
A Simple Flight Mill for the Study of Tethered Flight in Insects
Published on: December 10, 2015
17.0K
Winging it: hummingbirds alter flying kinematics during molt
Andrés F Díaz-Salazar1, Felipe Garzón-Agudelo2, Ashley Smiley3
1Laboratorio de Biología Evolutiva de Vertebrados, Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de Los Andes, Carrera 1 No. 18 A 10, Bogotá 111711, Colombia.
Biology Open
|August 19, 2024
Summary
Hummingbirds adjust wing angles during molt to maintain hovering flight despite feather loss. This adaptation allows them to sustain flight even with reduced wing area.
Area of Science:
- Ornithology
- Biomechanics
- Animal Locomotion
Background:
- Hummingbirds exhibit energetically demanding hovering flight.
- Molt, the replacement of feathers, significantly reduces wing area, especially primary feathers.
- The impact of molt on hummingbird hovering flight remains poorly understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of molt on hummingbird flight kinematics.
- To compare wing kinematics and wingtip trajectories of molting and non-molting hummingbirds.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of high-speed videos (1200 frames per second) of 14 hummingbirds from three species.
- Comparison of wing kinematics and wingtip trajectories between molting and non-molting individuals.
Main Results:
- Molting hummingbirds exhibited more acute wing rotation angles during downstroke (10° vs. 20°) and upstroke (15° vs. 29°) compared to non-molting hummingbirds.
- Other flight parameters remained consistent between the two groups.
- Hummingbirds demonstrated adaptability in maintaining hovering flight despite feather loss.
Conclusions:
- Hummingbirds compensate for reduced wing area during molt by adjusting wing rotation angles.
- This kinematic adjustment enables sustained hovering flight and weight support.
- The findings highlight the remarkable plasticity of hummingbird flight mechanics.
Related Concept Videos
01:07Speciation Rates
21.1K
Overview
21.1K
01:54Convergent Evolution
27.6K
Evolution shapes the features of organisms over time, ensuring that they are suited for the environments in which they live. Sometimes, selection pressure leads to the rise of similar but unrelated adaptations in organisms with no recent common ancestors, a process known as convergent evolution.
27.6K
01:20Mate Choice
8.0K
Mate choice—the decision about whom to mate with—is a type of natural selection, since animals must reproduce to pass down their genes. Mate choice is also called intersexual selection because the behavior occurs between the sexes.
8.0K
01:38Limits to Natural Selection
31.2K
Organisms that are well-adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce. However, natural selection does not lead to perfectly adapted organisms. Several factors constrain natural selection.
31.2K
00:53Migration
7.9K
Migration is long-range, seasonal movement from one region or habitat to another. This common strategy, carried out by many different organisms around the world, is an adaptive response that typically corresponds to changes in an organism’s environment, like resource availability or climate. Migrations can involve huge groups of thousands of animals as well as single individuals traveling alone and can range from thousands of kilometers to just a few hundred meters.
7.9K
01:21Frequency-dependent Selection
21.9K
When the fitness of a trait is influenced by how common it is (i.e., its frequency) relative to different traits within a population, this is referred to as frequency-dependent selection. Frequency-dependent selection may occur between species or within a single species. This type of selection can either be positive—with more common phenotypes having higher fitness—or negative, with rarer phenotypes conferring increased fitness.
21.9K