Hummingbirds are known for their ability to hover in place and fly backwards, which is unlike any other bird. This is made possible by their unique wing structure and rapid wing beats, flapping their wings up to 80 times per second! This incredibly fast wing movement allows hummingbirds to perform their signature aerial stunts. However, it also leads many to wonder – with their wings beating so quickly, do hummingbirds make noise when flying?
Do hummingbird wings make noise?
The short answer is yes, hummingbird wings do create noise when flapping, though it is typically very faint to our human ears. The noise their wings generate is simply a result of rapidly moving air. The faster their wings beat, the more air is displaced, producing sound waves. However, three factors limit the volume of noise hummingbird wings produce:
Small wing size
A hummingbird’s wings are very compact in size, with an average wingspan of just 3 to 4.5 inches. Smaller wings mean less air displaced with each flap. Larger birds like geese have more substantial wing spans, enabling them to displace far greater amounts of air with each motion and generate more sound.
Specialized feather structure
Hummingbird wing feathers have flexible tips and comb-like features on their inner vane that help minimize airflow separation as their wings slice through the air. This allows their wings to move with less turbulence, reducing noise.
High wing beat frequency
The rapid cyclical nature of a hummingbird’s flapping reaches such high frequencies that it falls outside the normal human hearing range. The average human can only hear sounds between 20 Hertz and 20,000 Hertz. A hummingbird’s wing beat frequency averages around 50 flaps per second, or 3,000 beats per minute. This equates to a frequency of around 83 Hertz – outside of our audible range. Only young children and some pets may be capable of detecting this high-pitched humming sound.
When can you hear hummingbird wings?
Though difficult for humans to hear under normal conditions, there are a few instances where a hummingbird’s wings may produce audible sound:
- During a rapid dive or ascent, when wing speed and air displacement increases
- When flying very close to your ear
- In a video recording played back in slow motion, the normal audio will drop to a detectable frequency
- Using specialized recording equipment capable of detecting high frequency sounds
During courtship displays, male hummingbirds often produce audible wing buzzing and high-pitched chirps as they dive at rapid speeds past females. This momentary increase in air turbulence generates sounds loud enough for us to hear.
So while hummingbird wings do create noise, evolution has shaped them to fly as silently as possible. Next time you spot a hovering hummingbird, listen closely to appreciate how their specialized wings allow these aerial masters to go about their business in near silence.
How do hummingbird wings work?
Hummingbirds have evolved very unique wing anatomy and flight muscles enabling them to hover and fly with great agility in any direction. Here’s a closer look at how their wings work:
Specialized bones and joints
A hummingbird’s wing joints can rotate more than 180 degrees, allowing their wings to flip completely backwards as well as forwards during the flapping motion. Hummingbird shoulders also have greater flexibility compared to other birds, further adding to their range of movement.
Rotating wings
As hummingbird wings flap, they rotate in a full circle – rather than just moving up and down like most birds. This circular motion maximizes lift on both the upstroke and downstroke.
Lightweight build
Hummingbird wings are very lightweight in relation to their body size. Less weight to move translates to less effort required during rapid flapping. Some other adaptations like fewer primary feathers also reduce weight.
Aerodynamic feathers
The primary flight feathers closest to the wing tips are narrow, stiff, and well-aligned to slice smoothly through the air. They also have flexible tips that curl to further minimize air resistance.
Powerful flight muscles
Up to 25-30% of a hummingbird’s total body mass is concentrated flight muscle contained within their chest. This allows their small wings to generate the heavy lifting power required for sustained hovering and instant acceleration in any direction.
Hummingbird wing structure
Let’s take a closer look at the specialized physical adaptations that enable unique hummingbird wing movement and flight capabilities:
Bones
– Shoulder joints can rotate over 180 degrees for maximum wing movement range
– Ball-and-socket wrist joint provides stability while permitting some flexibility
– Reinforced thoracic skeleton to which large flight muscles attach
Feathers
– 10 primary flight feathers (other birds have 9 or 11)
– Narrow with stiff shafts and flexible tips minimizing drag
– Symmetrical shape allowing lift on both upstroke and downstroke
– Fewer secondary and marginal coverts reduces weight
Flight Muscles
– Account for up to 30% of their body weight
– Large pectoral muscles power main downstroke
– Smaller supracoracoideus muscles power upstroke
– Located entirely within the chest rather than attached to the wing itself
Tendons
– Sturdy tendons transfer power from the muscles to the wings
Unique hovering ability
Hummingbirds are the only family of birds capable of sustained hovering. This allows them to stay nearly motionless while feeding on nectar from flowers. Other birds can only hover briefly to perform courtship displays or as part of a quick maneuver.
So what enables hummingbirds to achieve this seemingly impossible aerial feat?
Rapid wing beats
Hummingbird wings can flap up to 200 times per second, generating the lift required to counteract gravity and stay suspended in midair. Most other birds only flap their wings 15-30 times per second.
Rotating wings
As already covered, hummingbird wings rotate in a circular figure-eight pattern. This allows their wings to generate lift on both the upstroke and downstroke for balanced hovering.
Lightweight build
A hummingbird’s light skeletal structure and compact wing design reduces the power required for rapid flapping during hovering.
Aerobatic maneuvers
While hovering, hummingbirds can rapidly alter their orientation and flight direction performing twisted dives, loops, rolls, and inverted flight to access flowers from any angle.
Instant acceleration
Hummingbirds can accelerate instantly from a precise hover to speeds over 30 mph for chasing rivals or escaping predators.
This unmatched hovering precision provides hummingbirds special access to food sources that cannot be exploited by other birds, an important evolutionary adaptation.
Slow motion hummingbird wings
Though difficult to observe with the naked eye, slow motion video provides a fascinating window into the inner workings of hummingbird wings.
Filmed at thousands of frames per second, high speed cameras can capture the details of hummingbird wing movement that happen too quickly for human perception. Here’s what we can observe:
Figure-eight pattern
The circular orbit of their wings flipping forward, up, backward, and down is revealed in stunning detail.
Extreme flexibility
The full extent of joint rotation and feather articulation is on display as their wings move through the figure-eight stroke.
Aerodynamic efficiency
You can see how the wing feathers morph during movement to perfectly catch and direct airflow.
Muscle coordination
The overlapping action of different muscle groups is visualized as some contract to flap while others extend.
Slow motion provides an appreciation for the true complexity, efficiency and precision of hummingbird wings that is otherwise imperceptible. Their finely-tuned movement is a true wonder of nature and evolution.
Observing their wings in ultra slow motion grants scientists an invaluable tool for understanding the aerodynamics of hummingbird flight. Detailed study of how their specialized wings function during hovering, turns, dives and climbs continues to provide bio-inspired breakthroughs in robotic design and drone technology.
Reasons hummingbirds make noise
While hummingbird wings themselves make minimal noise discernable to humans, hummingbirds do intentionally produce audible sounds in particular contexts:
Communication
Hummingbirds have specialized vocalizations and non-vocal sounds they use to communicate with each other:
- Chirps and squeaks for alarming others about danger
- Whining or tweeting during courtship
- Tail-feather rustling to signal dive displays
- Buzzing created with their syrinx during competitive encounters
Mating displays
Male hummingbirds perform dramatic courtship dives along U-shaped flight paths to impress females. The rapid acceleration creates louder wing noise audible to human ears.
Hearing health
Hummingbirds may produce odd vocalizations if suffering from respiratory infections or other health issues affecting their hearing.
Communication with humans
Hummingbirds around feeders associating humans with food may use chirping vocalizations or wing buzzing to intentionally draw human attention for refilling empty nectar.
So while hummingbird wings themselves are nearly silent in flight, hummingbirds have evolved a range of sounds they produce for communication purposes essential to their survival.
Conclusions
In summary, while hummingbird wings do generate faint noise from rapidly displaced air, the sound is outside of the normal human audible range due to the tiny size of their wings, specialized feather adaptations and high flapping frequencies. The noise becomes most detectable during courtship dives or slow motion video. Hummingbird vocalizations and wing-created sounds represent an important form of communication, not just an inadvertent byproduct. So next time you have a close encounter with a hovering hummer, listen intently – you just may hear the faint high-pitched hum of its wings working away!
Facts about hummingbird wings
– Over 200 different hummingbird species exist worldwide.
– Their wings flap in a figure eight pattern up to 200 times per second.
– Normal wing beat frequency is 50 flaps per second or 3000 per minute.
– Wings can rotate up to 180 degrees at the shoulder joint.
– 10 primary flight feathers on each wing.
– Fewer secondary feathers reduces weight (most birds have more).
– Specialized feathers minimize turbulence and drag.
– Only birds capable of sustained hovering in place.
– Up to 25-30% of their body weight is flight muscle.
– Lightweight build allows extreme aerobatic maneuvers.
– Can accelerate instantly from 0 to over 30 mph.
