Hummingbirds are named for the sound of their rapidly beating wings, but now their tongues have captured scientists’ attention. Because of this, it would make sense that their tongues would be equipped with features that let them feed in a hurry, shifting from flower to flower at blinding speed. When the hummingbird pinches and squeezes the liquid from its tongue, it once again collapses the tubes, loading elastic energy and facilitating a pumping action that draws more nectar.
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Alejandro Rico Guevera, lead researcher of the new study at the University of Connecticut , knew something wasn’t quite right with this old hypothesis.
For dozens and dozens of decades, scientists have been trying to figure determine exactly how the tongue of a Hummingbird works.
Until now, the general consensus was that hummingbirds used capillary action to sip tiny bursts of nectar. “It’s payment for the hummingbird to come frequently enough so that they will go off and act as pollinators to other flowers of the same species”.
The lengthy research included the construction of transparent “flowers”, to help researchers see the hummingbirds’ tongues actions more clearly. Upon making contact with the nectar, the tip opens up, in effect “pumping” fluid up through the two prongues, and into the hummingbird’s cylindrical tongue.
When a hummingbird feeds, its tongue flicks in and out of its beak fifteen to twenty times per second, Discovery Magazine explains. The, when the bird begins to compress its tongue, the nectar travels all the way up to the grooves of the tongue, essentially being pumped in.
The hummingbird is able to repeat this process upwards of 20 times per-second, which is consistent with the numbers crunched using computer models. Earlier studies indicate that some flowers produce diluted nectar, which would be helpful for hummingbirds feeding using capillary “wicking” as previously assumed, but which is unnecessary for micro-pump feeding.
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The study on the hummingbird’s tongue and how it works to feed itself has been published online via online the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences on Wednesday, August 19, 2015.
