Wild Things: Life as We Know It

Flight of the hummingbird, termite cloning and the rise of the octopus

(Kenji Matsuura)

smithsonian.com
May 31, 2009

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How do birds and flying insects control a turn? According to high-speed video studies of seven species by the university of Delaware and North Carolina, they flap, say, the right wing more vigorously than the other to start a left turn—then flap both symmetrically to straighten out. Surprisingly, the technique is the same for creatures from fruit flies and moths to hummingbirds and cockatoos.

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