by Louise Nilon

Created on: October 30, 2008   Last Updated: November 06, 2008

There is only one species of bird in the world that can fly backwards; it is perhaps one of the most easily recognisable and most likeable birds there is. The bird I'm referring to is the hummingbird, a species of bird only found in the Americas, which is one of the world's most amazing aeronautical acrobats.

What is a hummingbird?

There are thought to be over 340 species of hummingbirds in the world, however the majority of these live and breed in South America. Hummingbirds are migratory birds which means they travel long distances to breed and sixteen species of these birds are known to breed in the United States.

Hummingbirds come in all different shapes and sizes, from quite plain birds to elaborately feathered and brightly coloured varieties. One of the most common species of hummingbird to be found in the United States is the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird. It is around 3 and a half inches in length and unsurprisingly has a bright red throat!

The smallest hummingbird is the Bee Hummingbird, so-called because it is about the same size as a bee. The largest, the aptly named Giant Hummingbird would tower over the Bee Hummingbird at 8 inches in length.

One of the rarest hummingbirds is the Marvellous Spatuletail hummingbird. It lives in Peru and is easily recognisable with its long display feathers. These are a glorious blue and are used for attracting females. The Marvellous Spatuletail is unique as it only has 4 feathers in its tail.

Hummingbirds have a life span of 3 to 4 years, their main diet is sugar and pollen, their tongues are long and have grooved sides which enable them to lap up nectar from deep inside flowers. As well as eating nectar part of their diet is made up of insects.

Despite their cute appearances hummingbirds are actually quite territorial, when they are not searching for food they will perch in their territory and attack any invaders.

How does it fly?

Hummingbirds' wings flap so fast they look like a look like a blur to the human eye. A hummingbird will flap its wings 60 to 80 times a second during normal flight, during courtship this can reach up to 200 times a second. As they flap their wings they make a humming noise, hence the name hummingbird. Hummingbirds are unique in the way that they fly; they can stop and accelerate in an instant. They are also able to fly upwards, downwards, sideways and as this article's title suggests, backwards. As if that wasn't enough they can also fly upside down over short distances and hover on the spot.

Hummingbirds hover while eating nectar from flowers, they can rotate their wings in both directions, in order to hover they alternate their flapping wings in different directions which keeps them in one spot. In scientific tests hummingbirds have been known to hover for as long as fifty minutes in one place.

Hummingbirds are able to rotate their wings in a circle which enables them to perform such amazing aerobatics. Their flight muscles make up around a quarter of their bodyweight which means they are able to beat their wings amazingly fast. They travel at around 25 miles per hour but have been known to reach speeds of around 40mph.

So as you can see, the bird that flies backwards' is a unique and interesting species that is anything but backwards.

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