Hummingbirds are one of the most unusual animals in nature. They are amazingly colorful, sporting some of the most vibrant colors of any bird in the world. They are also quite tiny, but full of energy. These little birds dart around at amazing speeds, with their wings flapping between 20 and 80 times per second, allowing them to reach speeds similar to a fighter jet.

Another thing that makes this bird unique is its ability to fly backwards. While most birds can pull back for a moment, hummingbirds are able to fly backwards in a sustained way when they need to. Check out this quick video to see them flying in slow motion to get a picture of just how incredible it is.

This is made possible by the fact that, rather than just flapping their wings up and down like most birds, they have a wing structure that allows them to flap in a figure eight pattern. Their wings have bones that are more similar to a human arm than other birds, including a wrist joint. All of this combines to having the unique ability of generating lift while their wings are on an upstroke, which simply isn’t possible with other birds.

Tyson Hedrick is a biologist at the University of North Carolina, and he was the author of a study on these birds. In an interview with Nature, he explained:

“It has adopted an insect-like flight style with the evolutionary heritage of a vertebrate. It has got essentially the same arm bones that we have, but it’s doing this funny thing with its shoulder, flipping the wing back and forth like a fruit fly rather than a pigeon.”

In addition to flying backwards, these little birds can fly directly through very tight spaces, including narrow holes. They do this by flying directly toward the area they want to squeeze through, and then at the last second, they pull their wings in tight against their body. This allows them to shoot directly through the small space like a tiny feathered bullet.

All of this combined makes them a favorite of bird watchers around the world, with millions of people putting up hummingbird feeders and other things to attract them to the area.

Watching them fly up to a flower or a feeder, stick their long beaks in, and then fly backwards to the next spot is an amazing experience.

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