Hummingbirds control turning velocity using body orientation and turning radius using asymmetrical wingbeat kinematics

Read, Tyson J Gavin; Segre, Paolo S.; Middleton, Kevin M.; Altshuler, Douglas L.

doi:10.1098/rsif.2016.0110

Cited by 20 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 36 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…2B). Similar bilateral-asymmetric changes in the wing deviation and stroke plane angle have been observed in significantly slower yaw turns in Anna's hummingbirds (Calypte anna) as they fed continuously from a revolving artificial feeder (Altshuler et al, 2012;Read et al, 2016). Bilateral differences of wing spanwise rotation corresponded to reduced pronation and enhanced supination for the inner wing so that its stroke-averaged lift was reoriented backwards and was more perpendicular to the body longitudinal axis.…”

Section: Wing Kinematics For Roll Rotationmentioning

confidence: 57%

“…The flapping motions used by hummingbirds and insects, with aerodynamic force production during most of wingbeat cycle (Warrick et al, 2009), should facilitate authority of flight control because it allows for rapid and drastic alterations to the magnitude and direction of flight forces to the extent that the animal can alter its wing kinematics (Read et al, 2016). However, closed-loop control of flapping flight during maximal manoeuvres may impose stringent demands on neural-sensing and motor-control systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Flight mechanics and control of escape manoeuvres in hummingbirds I. Flight kinematics

Cheng

Tobalske

Powers

et al. 2016

Journal of Experimental Biology

110

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Hummingbirds are nature's masters of aerobatic manoeuvres. Previous research shows that hummingbirds and insects converged evolutionarily upon similar aerodynamic mechanisms and kinematics in hovering. Herein, we use three-dimensional kinematic data to begin to test for similar convergence of kinematics used for escape flight and to explore the effects of body size upon manoeuvring. We studied four hummingbird species in North America including two large species (magnificent hummingbird, Eugenes fulgens, 7.8 g, and blue-throated hummingbird, Lampornis clemenciae, 8.0 g) and two smaller species (broad-billed hummingbird, Cynanthus latirostris, 3.4 g, and black-chinned hummingbirds Archilochus alexandri, 3.1 g). Starting from a steady hover, hummingbirds consistently manoeuvred away from perceived threats using a drastic escape response that featured body pitch and roll rotations coupled with a large linear acceleration. Hummingbirds changed their flapping frequency and wing trajectory in all three degrees of freedom on a stroke-by-stroke basis, likely causing rapid and significant alteration of the magnitude and direction of aerodynamic forces. Thus it appears that the flight control of hummingbirds does not obey the 'helicopter model' that is valid for similar escape manoeuvres in fruit flies. Except for broad-billed hummingbirds, the hummingbirds had faster reaction times than those reported for visual feedback control in insects. The two larger hummingbird species performed pitch rotations and global-yaw turns with considerably larger magnitude than the smaller species, but roll rates and cumulative roll angles were similar among the four species.

show abstract

Section: Wing Kinematics For Roll Rotationmentioning

confidence: 57%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flight mechanics and control of escape manoeuvres in hummingbirds I. Flight kinematics

Cheng

Tobalske

Powers

et al. 2016

Journal of Experimental Biology

110

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Two types of more complex maneuvers were also identified: pitch-roll turns [6,17] and arcing turns [18,19]. A pitch-roll turn (PRT) is when a bird ''turns on a dime'' by pitching up to decelerate, rolling about the vertical longitudinal axis, and then accelerating again in a new direction [6,17].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanical Constraints on Flight at High Elevation Decrease Maneuvering Performance of Hummingbirds

et al. 2016

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

High-elevation habitats offer ecological advantages including reduced competition, predation, and parasitism [1]. However, flying organisms at high elevation also face physiological challenges due to lower air density and oxygen availability [2]. These constraints are expected to affect the flight maneuvers that are required to compete with rivals, capture prey, and evade threats [3-5]. To test how individual maneuvering performance is affected by elevation, we measured the free-flight maneuvers of male Anna's hummingbirds in a large chamber translocated to a high-elevation site and then measured their performance at low elevation. We used a multi-camera tracking system to identify thousands of maneuvers based on body position and orientation [6]. At high elevation, the birds' translational velocities, accelerations, and rotational velocities were reduced, and they used less demanding turns. To determine how mechanical and metabolic constraints independently affect performance, we performed a second experiment to evaluate flight maneuvers in an airtight chamber infused with either normoxic heliox, to lower air density, or nitrogen, to lower oxygen availability. The hypodense treatment caused the birds to reduce their accelerations and rotational velocities, whereas the hypoxic treatment had no significant effect on maneuvering performance. Collectively, these experiments reveal how aerial maneuvering performance changes with elevation, demonstrating that as birds move up in elevation, air density constrains their maneuverability prior to any influence of oxygen availability. Our results support the hypothesis that changes in competitive ability at high elevations are the result of mechanical limits to flight performance [7].

show abstract

“…Similar banking strategies are executed by aircraft, which generally increase their bank angle to make faster or tighter turns. Hummingbirds also adjust their body-dependent kinematics to make faster turns, but change their body-independent kinematics, such as wingbeat asymmetries, more significantly in response to different turning radii [151]. Force vectoring may also be used by birds to accelerate and brake, based on pitching movements that pigeons exhibit after takeoff and before landing [152].…”

Section: Performance Manoeuvring and Stabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To initiate these body reorientations, birds generate a rolling torque by producing bilateral asymmetries in their wing velocities [148], wing trajectories [149], wingbeat amplitudes or feathering angles [150]. Cockatiels (Nymphicus hollandicus) [150] and hummingbirds (Calypte anna) [151] also reorient their bodies and stroke planes to carry out turns. Similar banking strategies are executed by aircraft, which generally increase their bank angle to make faster or tighter turns.…”

Section: Performance Manoeuvring and Stabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Inspiration for wing design: how forelimb specialization enables active flight in modern vertebrates

Chin¹,

Matloff²,

Stowers³

et al. 2017

J. R. Soc. Interface.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Harnessing flight strategies refined by millions of years of evolution can help expedite the design of more efficient, manoeuvrable and robust flying robots. This review synthesizes recent advances and highlights remaining gaps in our understanding of how bird and bat wing adaptations enable effective flight. Included in this discussion is an evaluation of how current robotic analogues measure up to their biological sources of inspiration. Studies of vertebrate wings have revealed skeletal systems well suited for enduring the loads required during flight, but the mechanisms that drive coordinated motions between bones and connected integuments remain ill-described. Similarly, vertebrate flight muscles have adapted to sustain increased wing loading, but a lack of in vivo studies limits our understanding of specific muscular functions. Forelimb adaptations diverge at the integument level, but both bird feathers and bat membranes yield aerodynamic surfaces with a level of robustness unparalleled by engineered wings. These morphological adaptations enable a diverse range of kinematics tuned for different flight speeds and manoeuvres. By integrating vertebrate flight specializationsparticularly those that enable greater robustness and adaptability-into the design and control of robotic wings, engineers can begin narrowing the wide margin that currently exists between flying robots and vertebrates. In turn, these robotic wings can help biologists create experiments that would be impossible in vivo.

show abstract

Hummingbirds control turning velocity using body orientation and turning radius using asymmetrical wingbeat kinematics

Cited by 20 publications

References 36 publications

Flight mechanics and control of escape manoeuvres in hummingbirds I. Flight kinematics

Flight mechanics and control of escape manoeuvres in hummingbirds I. Flight kinematics

Mechanical Constraints on Flight at High Elevation Decrease Maneuvering Performance of Hummingbirds

Inspiration for wing design: how forelimb specialization enables active flight in modern vertebrates

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About