Scientists Observe Impact of Rain on the Hovering Performance of Hummingbirds
Posted on July 18, 2012
Scientists have observed the impact of light to heavy rain on hummingbirds. Anna�s Hummingbirds (Calypte anna) were used in the expirement, which is reported here in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. For the experiment, conducted by Victor Ortega-Jimenez and Robert Dudley of the University of California, Berkeley, the birds were placed individually in a Plexiglas cube that contained a perch and a feeder. Two nozzles were connected via metal tubing to the cold water tap of the laboratory sink to create the rain.
Even heavy rain did not prevent the hummingbirds from feeding. However, the birds hovering did adopt more horizontal body positions and increased wingbeat frequency during the heavy rain. The scientists say, "Remarkably, hummingbirds hovered well even under heavy precipitation (i.e. 270 mm h-1) with no apparent loss of control, although mechanical power output assuming perfect and zero storage of elastic energy was estimated to be about 9 and 57 per cent higher, respectively, compared with normal hovering."
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