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Wingbeats and flight stability

The highest recorded wingbeat rate for hummingbirds during hovering is 99.1 per second, as measured for male woodstars (Chaetocercus sp.). Males in the genus Chaetocercus have been recorded above 100 beats per second during courtship displays. The number of beats per second increases above "normal" hovering while flying during courtship displays (up to 90 per second for the calliope hummingbird, Selasphorus calliope); a wingbeat rate 40% higher than its typical hovering rate.

During turbulent airflow conditions created experimentally in a wind tunnel, hummingbirds exhibit stable head positions and orientation when they hover at a feeder. When wind gusts from the side, hummingbirds compensate by increasing wing-stroke amplitude and stroke plane angle and by varying these parameters asymmetrically between the wings and from one stroke to the next. They also vary the orientation and enlarge the collective surface area of their tail feathers into the shape of a fan. While hovering, the visual system of a hummingbird is able to separate apparent motion caused by the movement of the hummingbird itself from motions caused by external sources, such as an approaching predator. In natural settings full of highly complex background motion, hummingbirds are able to precisely hover in place by rapid coordination of vision with body position.