There is a story on BBCNews.com currently reporting on the finding that Anna’s Hummingbirds chirp with their tail. Using high speed video, some researchers were able to see the male’s tail feathers vibrating during their display flights. These display flights are exceptional because they can reach 50 mph in a dive to impress nearby females and it is this high speed dive that causes the vibrations.
Click here to watch the video of the display flight and here is the link to the story.
In other hummingbird news, two 30-million old fossils from Germany are the oldest known hummingbirds. One interesting part of this find is that they are in the Old World while hummingbirds only occur in the Americas. It is thought that these ancient hummingbirds may have helped determine the shape of African and Asian plant species