This is bird note.

Hummingbirds use their long tongues

to sip nectar from flowers.

They're able to roll their tongues into a tube-like shape.

Since the 1800s, scientists thought those tongues worked through capillary action,

like how water instantly rises into a straw in a full cup.

This happens passively.

The water is attracted to the surface against gravity.

But when scientists spent years using slow motion cameras to capture hummingbirds drinking in greater detail,

they uncovered a completely different story.

The tongues aren't just passively drawing up nectar.

They act like a tiny but powerful pump.

Basically, hummingbirds use their tongues a bit like a bulb syringe or baster.

First, the hummingbird flattens the tongue before putting it in the nectar.

Then, once in contact with the liquid, the tongue expands sucking the nectar inside.

Finally, the hummingbird whips the tongue back to drink the mouthful.

The whole process repeats many times per second.

Actively pumping their nectar, let's hummingbirds drink about three times faster

than if they just use their tongues like straws.

While it's a surprising adaptation,

it's no surprise to find that the tongues of hummingbirds

are just as busy as their bodies. For Bird Note, I'm Michael Stein. You're going to.

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