Muscle Performance in Hovering Hummingbirds
Open Access
- 1 May 1993
- journal article
- Published by The Company of Biologists in Journal of Experimental Biology
- Vol. 178 (1) , 39-57
- https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.178.1.39
Abstract
The flight energetics of hovering hummingbirds was examined by simultaneous collection of metabolic and kinematic data followed by a morphometric analysis of wing characteristics. These data were then used for an aerodynamic analysis of the power output required to generate sufficient lift; this, together with the metabolic power input, allowed an estimate of the flight efficiency. The use of two closely related species demonstrated common design features despite a marked difference in wing loading. Considerations of the inertial power costs strongly suggest that hummingbirds are able to store kinetic energy elastically during deceleration of the wing stroke. This analysis predicts that hummingbirds hover with a muscle power output close to 100–120 W kg−1 at 9–11% mechanochemical efficiency.Keywords
This publication has 57 references indexed in Scilit:
- Effect of pH and stimulus phase on work done by isolated frog sartorius muscle during cyclical contractionJournal of Muscle Research and Cell Motility, 1988
- The aerodynamics of hovering insect flight. II. Morphological parametersPhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences, 1984
- The aerodynamics of hovering insect flight. IV. Aerodynamic mechanismsPhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences, 1984
- The aerodynamics of hovering insect flight. III. KinematicsPhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences, 1984
- The aerodynamics of hovering insect flight. I. The quasi-steady analysisPhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences, 1984
- Quantitative analysis of the respiratory system of the house sparrow, budgerigar and violet-eared hummingbirdRespiration Physiology, 1981
- A vortex theory of animal flight. Part 1. The vortex wake of a hovering animalJournal of Fluid Mechanics, 1979
- Wing Disc Loading: Implications and Importance for Hummingbird EnergeticsThe American Naturalist, 1975
- The physiology of insect fibrillar muscle - II Mechanical properties of a beetle flight muscleProceedings of the Royal Society of London. B. Biological Sciences, 1959
- Der Schwirrflug des Kolibri im ZeitlupenfilmJournal of Ornithology, 1939