Anna's hummingbird chirps with its tail during display dives

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A male Annas hummingbird caught during a display dive compiled from high speed video. At the bottom of the dive the bird flares its tail for 60 milliseconds. The inner vanes of the birds two outer tail feathers vibrate in the 50 mph airstream to prod ...
A male Anna's hummingbird caught during a display dive, compiled from high speed video. At the bottom of the dive, the bird flares its tail for 60 milliseconds. The inner vanes of the bird's two outer tail feathers vibrate in the 50 mph airstream to produce a brief chirp. Credit: Christopher J. Clark and Teresa Feo/UC Berkeley

The beeps, chirps and whistles made by some hummingbirds and thought to be vocal are actually created by the birds' tail feathers, according to a study by two students at the University of California, Berkeley.


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