Dive-bombing for love: Male hummingbirds dazzle females with a highly synchronized display
Tuesday, December 18, 2018 - 15:40
in Biology & Nature
Male Broad-tailed Hummingbirds perform dramatic aerial courtship dives to impress females. In a new study, scientists have shown that diving males closely time key events to produce a burst of signals for the viewer. They synchronize maximal horizontal speed, loud noises generated with their tail feathers, and a display of their iridescent throat-patch (gorget), performed in a mere 300 milliseconds -- roughly the duration of a human blink.