Resolution of a paradox: hummingbird flight at high elevation does not come without a cost.

ABSTRACT: Flight at high elevation is energetically demanding because of parallel reductions in air density and oxygen availability. The hovering flight of hummingbirds is one of the most energetically expensive forms of animal locomotion, but hummingbirds are nonetheless abundant at high elevations throughout the Americas. Two mechanisms enhance aerodynamic performance in high-elevation hummingbirds: increase in wing size and wing stroke amplitude during hovering. How do these changes in morphology, kinematics, and physical properties of air combine to influence the aerodynamic power requirements of flight across elevations? Here, we present data on the flight performance of 43 Andean hummingbird species as well as a 76-taxon multilocus molecular phylogeny that served as the historical framework fo

SUBMITTER: Altshuler DL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC539726 | biostudies-literature | 2004 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature