You just put your feathers together and dive. Here's why I love the study of birds. It's endlessly surprising. Consider the male Anna's hummingbird. Like other hummers it likes to show off for the ladies. It swoops and dives, dancing in the sunlight, flashing its iridescent feathers in a show of sheer avian sexiness. Yeah baby, take a ride with me. I've got the hottest sports car in town. Then, to really show off, he gives a loud squeak. Gets 'em every time.
Thing is, no one was quite sure how he produced that squeak. Researchers have now figured it out. He does it with his tail feathers. He gets up to about fifty m.p.h, forms his feathers into something like a reed, and gives his girl a whistle.
Nature equipped the bird with its own kazoo. Don't you just love surprises?
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