Capturing the wonders of hummingbird flight

Simulations illustrate swirling air currents around birds’ wings

hummingbird simulation

AIR SET ASWIRL  Small pockets of air circulate around a hummingbird’s wings in this image from a computer simulation of flight.

Yan Ren, Haibo Dong, Xinyan Deng, B. Tobalske (CC BY-NC 4.0)

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Hummingbirds are extreme athletes, deftly hovering and darting between flowers.