Maggie's Farm

Like many, I find hummingbirds absolutely fascinating.  I mean, it's one thing if a bird can hover.  That's pretty rare.  Quite another if it can actually fly backwards, and almost as accurately and as fast as forwards.

One of the things the Intelligent Design people like to pull out is that evolution wasn't smart enough to invent the eye.  It was, however, apparently smart enough to design a three-dimensional gyroscope.  Like all birds, watch how still their heads are, no matter what gyrations their bodies are going through.

Their tail feathers also perform an interesting role.  Notice how it's almost like the birds are hinged on a rod running through their wings and the tail feathers act as a 'tilting' mechanism.  One quick flap and they tilt up or down on the axis running through their wings.  Truly a marvelous animal.

Take it away, slo-mo!