So, one of the things that I both adore and try to avoid is accidentally zoning out during science podcasts. I hate that I tend to miss information, but I can always replay them. The thing that makes it ok, to some degree, is that I sometimes start listening again with a very weird sentence, such as a question if wasps would be less angry if they weren't wearing corsets, or camels having beauty contests, or a dozen other things that I've randomly heard over the years. In this case, I was listening to a podcast and accidentally zoned out enough to be rather surprised to hear that hummingbirds chirp with their feathers.
Sounds bogus, right? I seriously thought I was insane. But...Google supports it. There's science behind it.
Hummingbirds chirp with their feathers.
Well, more specifically, some male hummingbirds can chirp using special feathers in their tails.
To attract a lovely lady, certain male hummingbirds fan or furl their tail feathers to create their own unique song. There's a guy that's been studying those sounds for years, and you can even hear a few of them at the link below for Audubon.
Another interesting thing about these lovely hummingbirds and how they make the sounds, is that they have similar but very different ways of doing it. Anna's Hummingbirds have the second from the outside feather that amplifies the sounds from the furthest outside. The Allen's hummingbird has two pairs of feathers that create slightly different notes, to make a two-toned song. The Calliope hummingbird apparently has a few feathers that strike against each other during their mating dive and make a stuttery sound.
In another show of Scientists having their students do weird things, and the ridiculous sentences Science brings us, they actually captured several hummingbirds that they then plucked or trimmed the tails of, and either checked if those males could still make the sound, or took the feathers to an air tunnel to see if they could get the sound. While this isn't so bad, please remember the bunch of poor hummingbirds that can no longer do a mating dance because of this all.
This isn't exactly the best studied of things though, so there's still a lot getting figured out. Some sources say that it's tail feathers, but there's also two saying wing feathers, which I don't have a lot of proof on. Like a lot of interesting science, it got it's moment in the sun, then the details of further investigation are hidden away until more research can be done. I'm sorry I can't provide a lot more information on this.
I hope this is just as cool for you as it is to me, and that you have a lot of fun telling someone this some day. Personally, I'm looking forward to telling my dad, who really likes hummingbirds. And testing my brother, who likes doing trivia.
Have a great day, I'll see you again soon.
Summary:
Audubon-- Hummingbird tails make sounds
PerkyPet-- Hummingbird sounds with tails
Nat Geo-- Hummingbirds Dive to Sing
UC Berkley News Archive--Anna's Hummingbird Chirps with Tail
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