Flight of Shimmering Light: Exploring Insights into Hummingbird Biology from Comparative Morphology
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Abstract:
The 377 species of hummingbirds (Family Trochilidae) occur across the Americas and are considered the most colorful group of birds in the world. This status is achieved due to the majority of species exhibiting various degrees of brilliant plumage iridescence. Hum- mingbirds also include the smallest birds in the world, with the Bee Hummingbird of Cuba weighing less than 3 grams! Hummingbirds, in fact, hold many records in the world of birds. Accordingly, in this article I discuss how hummingbirds display extreme characteristics, from their tiny size to their shimmering coloration, from their highly elaborated wing structure and advanced flight mechanics to their disproportionately large brain and hyper-neurosensory emphasis, and from their super-rapid wingbeats, enabling an ability to hover in place in three- dimensional space, to their racing heart and fast breathing rate, thus enabling these birds to exist at the edge of physiological possibility for an endothermic vertebrate. To contextualize these features among birds in general, I employ a comparative morphological approach. Ac- cordingly, I maintain that we can better understand hummingbird biology by comparing and contrasting their features with, for example, those of the Ostrich—the largest living bird—as well as with characteristics of swifts, presumably the closest living avian relatives of hum- mingbirds. Furthermore, comparing exaggerated versus stunted anatomical structures within the hummingbird, as well as tracing morphological transformations during development from hatchling to adult, offer insights into the uniqueness of hummingbird morphology. I also note how people are drawn to »the magic« of hummingbirds and express their impres- sions through art, photography, and prose, and many hope to observe these feathered jewels in home gardens or even travel to remote mountainous neotropical rainforests to glimpse some of the most spectacular hummingbird species. And finally, I explore selected ancient and contemporary mythologies of Indigenous peoples of the Americas to learn how hum- mingbirds played, and continue to play, important roles in those cultures.
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