This is bird note.

Broad-tailed hummingbirds are small but hardy creatures built for life in the mountains.

They survive freezing cold nights by slowing their heart rate and metabolism.

They snatch insects in midair and chase other hummingbirds out of their territories.

And they perform a death-defying stunt for potential mates.

Male broad-tailed hummingbirds begin their performance by flying up 60 feet or more in the air.

Then they dive toward the earth, reaching speeds of up to 50 miles per hour.

At the last moment, they pull out of their dive and fly

horizontally past the female they're trying to impress. Their tail feathers

make a buzzing noise and the iridescent feathers on their throats appear to change from bright magenta to jet black as they fly past.

Then they fly right back up for another dive.

Scientists showed that broad-tailed hummingbirds time their dives just right so that all of the effects,

the tail buzz, the high speed, and the color change in their throat feathers

all happen in the same 300 millisecond window as they zoom past the female.

Now that is some fancy flying.

For Bird Note, I'm Michael Stein.

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