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Similarities Between Helicopters And Hummingbirds
The hummingbird has the most unique variation in flight. It can hover for long periods of time. Because of their size, the hummingbird's flight techniques are more like insects than birds. Their bodies are held upright, rather than horizontal. This means their wings do not move up and down, but sweep back and forth, pushing the air downward instead of backward. Each time the wing changes direction, they also twist 90 degrees, so the air is pushed downward in whichever direction they move. This is like the horizontal rotor of a helicopter. Since their wings produce as much power on the up stroke as on the down stroke, their muscle structure is different than other birds. Both flight muscles are large and embrace 30% of their total body weight.
Some birds have to eat their weight in food everyday to maintain themselves. The speed at which a hummingbird burns its food is 50 times greater than man. Most birds feed during the day and are able to replace the foods they use up. However, at night they must rest and their body functions slow down in order to conserve energy. A hummingbird would starve to death in the night if his heart, breath and body temperature didn't slow down. This drowzy state works very much like hibernation.
All internal organs of a hummingbird run at high speed. This produces high energy, but also shortens the life span of the bird. The kinds of foods consumed by hummingbirds must be light weight and high in energy. Foods high in calories produce the most amount of reusable energy: seeds, nuts, flower nectar, and fruit.
Nature's flying machine is truly remarkable. The hummingbird can rotate their wings at the shoulders. Instead of the up and down movement, it is almost like a helicopter taking off. The hummingbird flaps its wings 10 times per second and flies at 60 mph. Every bird can change speeds, but has a top speed during flight because drag doubles with an increase in speed. This requires a lot of extra energy. They have a natural mechanism to solve this power problem.
A hummingbird moves its wings so fast it can hover in one place. the same is true for a helicopter with its propeller.
A hummingbird is the only bird that takes off by flying straight up rather than on an angle the way other birds do.
