Hummingbirds All A-Flutter During Courtship

Hummingbirds All A-Flutter During Courtship
Thu, 08 Sep 2011 13:56:00 -0500

Though famous for their mid-air hovering during hunting, tiny hummingbirds have another trait that is literally telltale: males of some hummingbird species generate loud sounds with their tail feathers while courting females.

Now, for the first time, the cause of these sounds has been identified: a paper published in the Sep. 9, 2011 issue of Science by Christopher Clark of Yale University reveals that air flowing past the tail feathers of a male hummingbird makes his tail ...

More at http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=121361&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click

This is an NSF News item.

This e-mail update was generated automatically based on your subscription to the category listed above. Some updates may belong to more than one category, resulting in duplicate messages.

	Subscriber Services: Manage Preferences  |  Unsubscribe  |  Help  |  Contact NSF
	Follow NSF:

GovDelivery, Inc. sending on behalf of the National Science Foundation · 4201 Wilson Boulevard · Arlington, VA 22230 · 703-292-5111