The Surprising Secret of Hummingbird Tongues

BirdNote Daily

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. But when scientists spent years using slow-motion cameras to capture hummingbirds drinking in greater detail, they uncovered a completely different story: the tongues act like a tiny but powerful pump.

More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.

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