Hummingbird’s 👅Tongue
How It Works
By James Gorman - Sept. 8, 2015
Hummingbirds are
great subjects for evolutionary biologists because they are so extreme.
They live at a fast pace, wings a blur, tongue darting in and out of
flowers at a frenetic pace, often 15 or 20 times a second.
And, according to Alejandro Rico-Guevara at the University of Connecticut: “They’re just fascinating. They are so bold.”
Dr. Rico-Guevara, who just published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B a
description of how the hummingbird’s tongue works to draw up nectar,
said that when working in the middle of the forest, he has often had
hummingbirds approach him. “They just come to hover right in front of
your face.” He said it is as if they are asking, “Why are you here?”
Dr.
Rico-Guevara could have explained that he had reasons beyond his
delight in the birds, which he said were everywhere when he was growing
up in Colombia.
He was researching how their tongues work, with his colleagues Tai-Hsi Fan and Margaret A. Rubega, also at the university.
Scientists
had studied hummingbirds for a long time, he said, but had not reached a
clear understanding of how they drink nectar. In the recent work and earlier experiments
with Dr. Rubega, he and his colleagues showed that the tongues, which
are forked, open up in the flower to trap nectar in the tongue and to
pump nectar up two grooves in the tongue.
It was once thought that capillary
action, the force behind fluid rising in a narrow straw even without
suction, propelled the nectar up the tongue. But high speed video of the
tongues at work showed that the nectar is drawn up too fast for
capillary action. The tongue is compressed until it reaches nectar. Then
it springs open and that rapid action traps the nectar and it moves up
the grooves. Capillary action does not play a role.
The
findings could affect thinking about how flowers and hummingbirds have
evolved together, since the shape of the flower, the composition of the
nectar and the shape and workings of the tongue must all fit together
for the system to work.
How These Hummingbirds Turned Their Beaks Into Swords
ScienceTake
In the South American tropics, where hummingbirds must compete for food,
evolution has drastically reshaped their bills. They are thicker and
more rigid, often with a hook on the end. In some cases, they have
jagged points, like rows of teeth — all the better for fighting off
rivals!
Read the story here: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/05/sc...
Every week, ScienceTake answers questions like how monkeys teach
manners, elephants show empathy and ants imitate water.
Tune in Tuesdays
at 4 p.m.
Subscribe: http://bit.ly/U8Ys7n
More from The New York Times Video: http://nytimes.com/video
The Hummingbird's Tongue
How do hummingbird tongues work?
How do hummingbird tongues work?
ScienceTake S1:E64
Find out in this ScienceTake video from 2015:
https://nyti.ms/2Q99c7w
https://nyti.ms/2Q99c7w
Scientists at the University of Connecticut used high-speed cameras to
investigate the mechanics of a hummingbird's tongue, which is forked at
the end and works like a pump for retrieving nectar. Watch this 2015
episode of ScienceTake for more.
Read the story here: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/08/sc...
Every week, ScienceTake answers questions like how monkeys teach
manners, elephants show empathy and ants imitate water. Tune in Tuesdays
at 4 p.m.
To fuel its heart and wings a hummingbird eats 4-8 times an hour. The
mechanisms that enable a hummer to consume several times it body weight
in nectar each day are revealed in this unforgettable study of
biological engineering and intelligent design.
This video is an excerpt from the feature-length documentary FLIGHT: THE
GENIUS OF BIRDS. For more information contact www.go2rpi.com
Anyone care o explain the mechanism of action a little better? How does its tongue pull liquid into its beak?
The forked tongue opens up in the flower trapping nectar between grooves. This rapid action forces the nectar through these grooves and up the tongue into the bird's mouth.
Edit: here's an NYT article that explains it better than me.
The forked tongue opens up in the flower trapping nectar between grooves. This rapid action forces the nectar through these grooves and up the tongue into the bird's mouth.
Edit: here's an NYT article that explains it better than me.
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