By Steve Connor, Science Editor
A hummingbird that makes death-defying dives has been found to be the fastest thing on two wings – for its size. Scientists say that it experiences G-forces that would make a trained fighter pilot faint from the stress
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A hummingbird that makes death-defying dives has been found to be the fastest thing on two wings – for its size. Scientists say that it experiences G-forces that would make a trained fighter pilot faint from the stress.
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Actually it’s a bird that flies faster than a plane, relatively at least.
The dramatic courtship dive of a small hummingbird has been found to be the quickest aerial manoeuvre in the natural world for an animal compared to its size. It even outpaces the movements of a jet fighter and the Space Shuttle on re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.
Anna’s hummingbird lives in the American south-west and the courtship display of the male is renowned for its death-defying dive that ends abruptly with a dramatic upturn with outstretched wings and tail feathers that stop the bird from crashing into the ground.
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