Ornicopia 11: Are hummingbirds the only birds that fly backward?

110.  Arehummingbirds the only birds that fly backward?   While hummingbirds are probably the championsof backward flight, they are by no means the only birds that can fly in thisway. When two herons or egrets fight, periodically one of them caught at adisadvantage in the dispute will flutter backward.  Occasionally warblersfluttering at the tip of a branch as they pick off insects will flutterbackward to a better position.  Flycatchers regularly flutter backwardwhen they overshoot some flying insect.  It is probable that any birdwhich uses fluttering flight can move backward when pressed to do so.

 

NOTE:  It’s funny that this 1001 Questions Answered About Birds entry is a bit of an authors’ editorialmisstep. 

 

Pose the question in theway they did, leading off with the “champion” description in the first sentence and ALLanyone really wants to know is more about hummingbirds. 

Forget (for now) lovely herons, egrets and warblers. 

HOW do hummingbirds do it and, more importantly, WHY dothey do it? 

The answer to the secondquestion is, of course, obvious: Because they can. 

It is part of the greattalent, freedom and commitment to that talent and freedom that God gave them. 

A long time ago I had afriend whose salient trait was that he invariably drove in the wrongdirection fast.  He was a nice person (basically; troubled, alittle hostile, but a good soul), but he was the opposite of thehummingbird: a sadpoor human heavily burdened with a highly symbolic deficit. 

I would giveanything to fly and I’d love tofly like a hummingbird.

 

Eno:Driving Me Backwards (Link) 

Faust: Don't Take Roots (Link) 

 

From:  1001 Questions AnsweredAbout Birds by Allan D. Cruickshank and Helen G. Cruickshank (Toronto, General Publishing Company, 1958).

Ornicopia 9: Feathers (An Extremely Strong, Light Plane of Great Flexibility)

A.

319.  How many individual parts does a featherhave?  
The parts of a single featheradd up to more than a million individual units, many of them so small they canonly be seen with the help of a microscope. These parts interlock to form an extremely strong, light plane of greatflexibility.

B.

C.
 

321.  Are the feathers of a bird alive? 
As long as the feather is growing, its softcentral is fed with blood vessels which supply pigments and food.  Once the feather is fully mature, that is,has lost all of its sheath and is fully expanded, it hardens, the food supplyis cut off, and the whole structure is made up of dead epidermis.  The feather may then be considered dead,though it continues to be firmly clasped by the feather follilcle until thenext

molt.

 

D.

E.

 

326.  What are down feathers? 
Theseare soft feathers without a shaft and having barbs that are but soft fluffytufts.  They are extremely strong andresilient.  They provide the covering ofmany newly-hatched birds , particularly those of the precocial group.  Some species of birds as adults have a downundercoating beneath their contour feathers. Ducks and geese have such an undercoating.

F.

G.

327.  What are powder-down feathers? 

Thesescarcely seem like feathers at all.  Theyform a powdery substance on some areas of the skin of such birds as herons andbitterns.  These birds rub their bills inthe powder-down feathers and spread the resulting powder over their plumage,giving it a “bloom” which rubs off when the bird is handled.

H.

I. 

Key to Illustrations:

A.  Indian peacock photographed by Jebulon.

B.  Feather structure diagram.

C. Parts of the feather: (1) Vane; (2) Rachis; (3) Barb; (4) After-Feather; (5) Hollow shaft (calamus)

D.  Feather structure of a blue-and-yellow Macaw.

E.  Common female eider duck with down photographed by Frederic Levier.

F.  Plumes. Illustré par AdolpheMillot dans Larousse pour tous [1907-1910]. Aigle, Hibou, Goura,Argus, Paon, Autruche, Canard, Dindon, Pintade, Aigrette, Faisan etc.

G.  Mealy parrot showing powder down, photographed in Florida by Don Kasak.

H.  Archaeopteryx  sometimesreferred to by its German name Urvogel ("originalbird" or "first bird"), is a genus of theropod dinosaur.  Late Jurassic Period (150 million years ago). 

I.  Shaft of male Indian Peafowl tail feather (Pavocristatus); Feather microstructure showing interlockingbarbules. Photographed by Michael Maggs.

From:  1001 Questions Answered About Birds by Allan D. Cruickshank and Helen G. Cruickshank (Toronto, General Publishing Company, 1958)

Ornicopia 8 -- Which North American bird has the greatest wingspan for its weight? The Magnificent Frigatebird

791.  Which North American bird has the greatest wingspan for its weight?   The man-of-war bird or magnificent frigate bird weights only 3 1/2 pounds, but its narrow wings stretch 7 1/2 feet.

From:  1001 Questions Answered About Birds by Allan D. Cruickshank and Helen G. Cruickshank (Toronto, General Publishing Company, 1958).

Top 2 images:  Male frigatebirds in Mexico

From Wikipedia (Links Retained):

         The Magnificent Frigatebird (Fregata magnificens) was sometimes previously known as Man O'War, reflecting its rakish lines, speed, and aerial piracy of other birds.

        It is widespread in the tropical Atlantic, breeding colonially in trees in Florida, the Caribbean and Cape Verde Islands. It also breeds along the Pacific coast of the Americas from Mexico to Ecuador including the Galapagos Islands.

        It has occurred as a vagrant as far from its normal range as the Isle of Man, Denmark, Spain, England, and British Columbia.

Frigatebird chick in nest

        The Magnificent Frigatebird is 100 cm (39 inches) long with a 215 cm (85 inch) wingspan. Males are all black with a scarlet throat pouch which is inflated like a balloon in the breeding season. Although the feathers are black, the scapular feathers produce a purple iridescence when they reflect sunlight. Females are black, but have a white breast and lower neck sides, a brown band on the wings and a blue eye ring. Immature birds have a white head and underparts.

Frigatebird in flight in Galapagos

        This species is very similar to the other frigatebirds and is similarly sized to all but the Lesser Frigatebird.   

        However, it lacks a white axillary spur, and juveniles show a distinctive diamond-shaped belly patch.

        The Magnificent Frigatebird is silent in flight, but makes various rattling sounds at its nest.

       This species feeds mainly on fish, and also attacks other seabirds to force them to disgorge their meals.

         Frigatebirds never land on water, and always take their food items in flight.

        It spends days and nights on the wing, with an average ground speed of 10 km/hour, covering 223±208 km before landing. They alternately climb in thermals, to altitudes occasionally as high as 2500 m, and descend to near the sea surface (Chastel et al. 2003). The only other bird known to spend days and nights on the wing is the Common Swift.

Part of a group of 30 frigatebirds

        A scientific study that examined genetic and morphological variation in Magnificent Frigatebirds found both expected, and also highly unexpected results: firstly—as predicted by the flight capacity of the species—the authors found signatures of high gene flow across most of the distribution range. This included evidence of recent gene flow among Pacific and Atlantic localities, likely across the Isthmus of Panama. This geological formation is a strong barrier to movement in most tropical seabirds. However, the same study also found that the Magnificent Frigatebird on the Galapagos Islands is genetically and morphologically distinct. Based on this study, the Galapagos population has not been exchanging any genes with their mainland counterparts for several hundred thousand years.

        Given these findings, the Galapagos population of this tropical seabird may be its own genetically distinct species warranting a new conservation status. This small population of genetically unique Magnificent Frigatebirds is a vulnerable population. Any catastrophic event or threats by humans could wipe out the approximate 2,000 Magnificent Frigatebirds that nest on the Galapagos Islands. Magnificent Frigatebirds are currently classified as Least Concern (LC)' by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, but the Proceedings of the Royal Society paper recommends that, because of the genetic uniqueness of those on the Galápagos, this status be revisited.

Voices -- The Magnficent Frigatebird (Link)

Magnificent Frigatebird Soaring In Caribbean (Link)

Magnificent Frigatebird Demonstrating Slope Soaring  (Link) 

Juvenile frigatebird

Ornicopia 3 -- Feathers

 

307.  In what way are birds unlike any other member of the animal kingdom?  Of all forms of animal life on this earth, birds and only birds have feathers.  All birds possess them.

311.  From an engineering standpoint, what are the chief characteristics of a feather?  A feather is the most complex growth of skin known to be formed by any animal.  It is one of the lightest and at the same time one of the strongest materials formed by any creature.   It is durable, complex and flexible, a superb functional structure for both flight and heat retention.

 

312.  How many feathers does a bird have?  The number of feathers a bird has usually increases with its size.  Summer counts on a hummingbird indicate that it has about 1,500 feathers at that period.  A robin has almost 3,000 feathers while a whistling swan has more than 25,000.

Illustrations (upper to lower):

Albrecht Durer, Wing of a Blue Roller, 1512, Gouache and watercolor on vellum, Graphische Sammlung Albertina

New Guinea Parrot

Upper and lower surfaces of a rock dove's wing, diagrams from Pettingill, Jr. 1985

Hummingbird

American Robin

Whistling Swan

Text from:  1001 Questions Answered About Birds by Allan D. Cruickshank and Helen G. Cruickshank (Toronto, General Publishing Company, 1958)

Ornicopia 2: Is it true that a woodcock sings with its wings?

    

American Woodcock

 

578.  Is it true that a woodcock sings with its wings?

Many birds produce very musical sounds with their wings.  A mourning dove generally leaves its perch with loudly whistling wings, and a duck called the goldeneye produces such a loud sweet sound with its wings that hunters call it the "whistler".  The woodcock has an elaborate flight song and a good part of the twittering musical sounds are actually produced by air rushing through the special stiff, attenuated outer wing feathers.

Goldeneye Duck


 

Mourning Dove

579.  What bird sings with its tail? 

One may say the common snipe sings with its tail.  On rapidly vibrating wings, it gives its flight song high above the marsh.  It circles around and around, periodically dashing downward and producing an eerie ventriloquistic sound, as the air rushes past its unique rigid outer tail feathers.

Common Snipe

From:  1001 Questions Answered About Birds by Allan D. Cruickshank and Helen G. Cruickshank (Toronto, General Publishing Company, 1958)

Goldeneye family crossing the road



Video: The Lovely Goldeneye Courtship
Video: Common Snipe In Regent's Park
Video: American Woodcock (Move It, Move It)
Video: Mourning Dove on a brisk winter's day