How Fast Do Hummingbirds Fly and Flap Their Wings?
Specific hummingbird species have different wing speeds. Hummingbirds flap quicker as they get tiny. Ruby-throated hummingbird wings beat 50 times per second.
Rufous hummingbirds have 52–62 wingbeats per second. The Andean gigantic hummingbird, approximately the size of a cardinal, hums 12 times a second.
High-speed motion photography lets scientists measure and study wing movements too fast for the human eye.
Hummingbirds hover by flapping their wings 10–80 times per second. In certain species' male courtship display dives, they flap their wings quicker.
The fastest hummingbirds fly swiftly. The male Anna's hummingbird folds its wings during its wooing dive, according to UC Berkeley hummingbird researcher Christopher James Clark.
More amazingly, as it pushes up with wings wide, the bird experiences centripetal accelerations approximately nine times larger than gravitational acceleration.
Compared to combat jets, hummingbirds can fly quicker. They can resist g-forces that would knock most people out.
Most species feed on flower nectar by hovering, and hummingbirds are masters at it. They can fly backwards and briefly upside down.