100 FLYING BIRDS: Photographing the Mechanics of Flight
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ADVANCED READING FOR CHAPTER 2: HUMMINGBIRDS
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THE VISUAL FIELD AND HUMMINGBIRD HOVERING
The importance of vision in the hovering hummingbirds was investigated in the following study:
Goller, Benjamin, and Douglas L. Altshuler. 2014. “Hummingbirds Control Hovering Flight by Stabilizing Visual Motion.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 111 (51): 18375–18380.
PMID 25489117
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1415975111
HUMMINGBIRD FLIGHT MUSCLES
This research discovered that hummingbird flight muscles contain exclusively fast muscle fibers (Fast Oxidative Glycolytic [FOG]), which is not typical of birds in general:
Welch, Kenneth C., and Douglas L. Altshuler. 2009. “Fiber Type Homogeneity of the Flight Musculature in Small Birds.” Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology - B Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 152 (4): 324–31.
PMID 19162216
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpb.2008.12.013
HUMMINGBIRD ENERGETICS
The following paper contains a review of studies relating to the energetics of hummingbird flight:
Suarez, Raul K, and C. Lee Gass. 2002. “Hummingbird Foraging and the Relation between Bioenergetics and Behaviour.” Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology - A Molecular and Integrative Physiology 133 (2): 335–43.
PMID: 12208304
https://doi.org/10.1016/S1095-6433(02)00165-4
TORPOR IN HUMMINGBIRDS
The reduction in metabolic rate that hummingbirds use as an energy-saving mechanism is described here:
McWilliams, Scott; Adkins-Regan, Elizabeth; Vleck, Carol. 2016. Chapter 7 Bird Physiology.” P 228 In Handbook of Bird Biology, edited by Lovette, Irby and Fitzpatrick, John, 3rd ed. Chichester, UK: John Wiley and Sons.
HUITZILOPOCHTLI
An article about the Aztec god Huitzilopochtli is here:
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. n.d. “Huitzilopochtli.” Accessed February 10, 2019. Britannica.com
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Huitzilopochtli
THE NAZCA LINES
Details of the Nazca lines, which are believed to have been created between 500 BCE and 500 CE, are here:
Wikipedia contributors.2019. "Nazca Lines." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Last modified September 13, 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nazca_Lines&oldid=915544494
THE APPEARANCE OF NEW SPECIES
For those who want a deep dive into the topic of how birds are separated into species, this article is the place:
Tobias, J. A., N. Seddon, C. N. Spottiswoode, J. D. Pilgrim, L. D. C. Fishpooland J. J. Collar. 2012. “Quantitative Criteria for Species Delineation.” IBIS (The International Journal of Avian Science) 152 (4): 3-21.
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.730.3012&rep=rep1&type=pdf
MANÚ ROAD
The following article contains a description of a trip on the Manú Road from 1969:
Morrison, Marion. “LOOKING BACK: The Cuzco-Atalaya (Manu) Road.” Andean Airmail and Peruvian Times. December 5, 1969.
https://www.peruviantimes.com/21/looking-back-the-cuzco-atalaya-manu-road/18583/
My experience fifty years later was not too different from what is described in the piece.
A recent study describing the value of the Manú Road to ornithology is here:
Boehm, Mannfred M.A., Micah N. Scholer, Jeremiah J.C. Kennedy, Julian M. Heavyside, Aniceto Daza, David Guevara-Apaza, and Jill E. Jankowski. 2018. “The Manú Gradient as a Study System for Bird Pollination.” Biodiversity Data Journal Mar 2;(6):e22241.
PMID: 29674936
https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.6.e22241
MARIA KOEPCKE
The Wikipedia page for the woman whose name is associated with the bird shown on page 41 is here:
Wikipedia contributors. 2019."Maria Koepcke." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Last modified May 10, 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maria_Koepcke&oldid=896370868
JULIANE KOEPCKE’S ESCAPE
The story of the survival of Maria Koepcke’s daughter, Juliane (Diller), from the Christmas Eve plane crash in 1971 is told here:
Wikipedia contributors. "LANSA Flight 508." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Last modified September 14, 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=LANSA_Flight_508&oldid=915696918
The movies based on her escape are:
Miracles Still Happen. Giuseppe Maria Scotese. Rome: (1974)
and
Wings of Hope. Werner Herzog. (1988)
DANIEL WINITZKY’S credits as a movie writer and director include:
Candamo, la ultima selva sin hombres (1996) [The last Jungle without men]
https://www.amazon.com/Candamo-Journey-Beyond-Daniel-Winitzky/dp/B074HSSGY5
and Cebiche de tiburón (2017) [Shark Ceviche]
ANATOMY OF THE MARVELOUS SPATULETAIL’S TAIL
A detailed examination of the anatomy and muscular control of the Marvelous Spatuletail’s tail has been published here:
Zusi, Richard L., and Frank B. Gill. 2009. “The Marvelous Tail of Loddigesia mirabilis (Trochilidae).” The Auk 126 (3): 590–603.
https://doi.org/10.1525/auk.2009.08216
THE AMERICAN BIRD CONSERVANCY
Details of the work that the American Bird Conservancy and its local conservation partners have done to establish the Huembo Reserve are here:
American Bird Conservancy. 2019. “Marvelous Spatuletail.” Accessed September 16, 2019.
https://abcbirds.org/bird/marvelous-spatuletail/
RUFOUS-CRESTED COQUETTE SOUNDS
The web page below contains links to sound clips of the insect-like chirp of the Rufous-crested Coquette and also one where the “buzzing” flight sounds are captured.
Lane, Dan. 2014. xeno-canto: Sharing bird sounds from around the world. “XC277061. Rufous-crested Coquette (Lophornis delattrei).” Accessed September 16, 2019.
https://www.xeno-canto.org/277061
PRINCE
The late music artist Prince’s love of the color purple is legendary. His most famous album, Purple Rain, was released in 1984 as the soundtrack of an eponymous film:
Purple Rain. Directed by Albert Magnoli. Los Angeles: Warner Brothers, 1984. Accessed February 10, 2019.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087957/
IMPERIAL STATE CROWN
A description and images of the Imperial State Crown of England with its purple cap is shown here:
The Royal Collection Trust. “The Imperial State Crown 1937.”n.d. Accessed September 16, 2019.
https://www.rct.uk/collection/31701/the-imperial-state-crown
ALLEN’S HUMMINGBIRD WING SOUNDS
Dr. Clark’s work on the Allen’s Hummingbird is here:
Clark, Christopher J., and Emily A. Mistick. 2018. “Kinematic Control of Male Allen’s Hummingbird Wing Trill over a Range of Flight Speeds.” The Journal of Experimental Biology 221 (14): jeb173625.
PMID 29776995
https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.173625
HUMMINGBIRD ATTACKS
These researchers compared the performance of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds who were defending, being chased from, and freely departing from a feeder. In addition to finding that the birds maxed out their speed and acceleration during feeder conflicts, they also found that the defending birds aimed toward the encroaching bird rather than the feeder.
Sholtis, Katherine M., Ryan M. Shelton, and Tyson L. Hedrick. 2015. “Field Flight Dynamics of Hummingbirds during Territory Encroachment and Defense.” PLoS ONE 10 (6).
PMID: 26039101
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0125659
TAIL-USE IN HUMMINGBIRDS
In the paper below, the authors showed that Anna’s Hummingbirds often deployed their tails to help recover from a destabilizing gust of air.
Badger, Marc A., Hao Wang, and Robert Dudley. 2019. “Avoiding Topsy-Turvy: How Anna’s Hummingbirds (Calypte anna) Fly through Upward Gusts.” Journal of Experimental Biology 222 (3).
PMID: 30718291