Astonishing flight skills Just as the albatross has exquisite soaring skills, the hummingbird is the master of maneuverability. The smallest hummingbird is the bee hummingbird, which is not much bigger than a bumblebee. A hummingbird may visit up to 2,000 flowers a day to sip the high-energy sugars it needs to fuel its spectacular flying abilities. It hovers and beats its wings an incredible 60 to 90 times a second. Such rapid wingbeats create a humming sound, which is how the hummingbird got its name.
Feathers insulate the bird from the sun's heat and protect it from the cold.
Feathers prevent birds from getting too wet, and are an important part of their wings. Tail feathers help the bird balance in the air, steer its flight, and act as a brake when it is slowing to land. It is clear that there is one overall reason why birds have always been able to fly, and why human attempts have taken off only with the invention of flying planes. Flight, like birds, could not, and did not, evolve. Poachers hypnotize birds Bird poachers in Vietnam found that birds went into a trance when they heard the Brazilian dance tune the Lambada .