Quick, agile, and fierce, the hummingbird is an amazing creature. Small for a bird but much larger than an insect, it’s able to hover in place and eat nectar directly Keep reading
Tag: hovering flight
Why Moths Are Slow Fliers
Hawkmoths and other insects are slow fliers compared to birds, even ones that can hover. To understand why these insects top out at 5 m/s, researchers simulated their flight from Keep reading
Hovering Hawk
Birds have a level of control in flight that would make any engineer jealous. This 2021 Audubon Photography Award winning video by Bill Bryant shows off the skills of a Keep reading
Sensing Obstacles Through Flow
Mosquitoes, bats, and even eels use non-visual means to sense their environments. For mosquitoes, part of their obstacle avoidance comes from the exquisite sensitivity of their antennae, which are able Keep reading
Hummingbird Flight in Slow Motion
Hummingbirds are impressive, acrobatic flyers. Their figure-8 wing stroke pattern produces about 70% of their lift on the downstroke, and the remainder during the backward upstroke. But their tails and Keep reading
Hovering
Nectar-drinking species of hummingbirds and bats are both excellent at hovering – one of the toughest aerodynamic feats – but they each have their own ways of doing it. Hummingbirds Keep reading
Hovering Hummingbirds
Hummingbirds are incredible flyers, especially when it comes to hovering. To hover stationary and stable enough to feed, the hummingbird’s flapping pattern not only has to generate enough lift, or vertical Keep reading
Hummingbird Hovering
The hummingbird has long been admired for its ability to hover in flight. The key to this behavior is the bird’s capability to produce lift on both its downstroke and Keep reading
Hawk Moth Hovering
The hawk moth (Manduca sexta) flies quite similarly to a hummingbird, able to hover over the flowers from which it feeds by rotating its wings as it flaps. This constant Keep reading