{"id":4243,"date":"2012-03-21T17:46:00","date_gmt":"2012-03-21T17:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thales.mit.edu\/bush\/?p=4243"},"modified":"2021-04-15T00:51:27","modified_gmt":"2021-04-15T00:51:27","slug":"nectar-loading-by-hummingbirds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thales.mit.edu\/bush\/index.php\/2012\/03\/21\/nectar-loading-by-hummingbirds\/","title":{"rendered":"Nectar loading by hummingbirds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-cover alignwide has-purple-background-color has-background-dim\"><div class=\"wp-block-cover__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-cover-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-twentytwentyone-border\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/thales.mit.edu\/bush\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/image-5.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4245\" width=\"347\" height=\"618\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"tw-text-wide\" style=\"font-size:16px\">We present the results of a combined experimental and theoretical investigation of the dynamics of drinking in ruby-throated hummingbirds. In vivo observations reveal elastocapillary deformation of the hummingbird\u2019s tongue and capillary suction along its length. By developing a theoretical model for the hummingbird\u2019s drinking process, we investigate how the elastocapillarity affects the energy intake rate of the bird and how its open tongue geometry reduces resistance to nectar uptake. We note that the tongue flexibility is beneficial for accessing, transporting and unloading the nectar. We demonstrate that the hummingbird can attain the fastest nectar uptake when its tongue is roughly semicircular. Finally, we assess the relative importance of capillary suction and a recently proposed fluid trapping mechanism, and conclude that the former is important in many natural settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center tw-text-wide has-normal-font-size\">See paper:&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/math.mit.edu\/~bush\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/ProcRoySocB-2012-Kim.pdf\">Kim, Peaudecerf, Baldwin &amp; Bush, Proc Roy Soc B (2012)<\/a>&nbsp;.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":4533,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bio","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v16.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Nectar loading by hummingbirds - John W. M. Bush<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/thales.mit.edu\/bush\/index.php\/2012\/03\/21\/nectar-loading-by-hummingbirds\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nectar loading by hummingbirds - John W. M. Bush\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/thales.mit.edu\/bush\/index.php\/2012\/03\/21\/nectar-loading-by-hummingbirds\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"John W. M. 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