Natural waterfalls are large rushing bodies of water that cascade with incredible force. Hummingbirds only weigh about 4-5g, but often build their nests behind waterfall curtains and can navigate these gushing streams easily.
A study published in Royal Society Open Science by research team Victor M. Ortega-Jimenez, Eva C. Herbst, Michelle S. Leung and Robert Dudley shows how these little birds manage to do so safely.
The team set up artificial waterfalls in a controlled environment and put bird feeders behind the water to lure the birds. They expected the birds to enter the waterfall headfirst and flatten their wings to minimise their surface area, according to Science Alert.
The majority of birds, however used one wing to break the stream of water, creating a so-called ‘dry window’, allowing them to break through in less than 100 milliseconds.
Credit: Victor Ortega-Jimenez
Credit: Victor Ortega-Jimenez
‘Waterfalls can thus represent impenetrable physical barriers for small and slow animal fliers, and may also serve to exclude both predators and parasites from nests of some avian taxa,’ the researchers said.
Image credit: Pixabay/Generic
