Hummingbirds Are Fast!

Wednesday, October 9, 2019,

Hummingbirds are fast. I mean really, really fast. This hummingbird, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, has an average of 55 wing beats per second. During mating season, when the males are showing off for their female counterparts, that number can jump as high as 200 wing beats per second. Two hundred wing beats per second! That’s amazing. They even hold a Guinness World Record for that feat.

These photos weren’t taken during mating season so this bird is probably only working those wings at a mere 55 beats per second. Even still, that’s plenty fast. All three of these photos were taken in the span of a single second. I shot them with a shutter speed of 1/1600th of a second and it still wasn’t fast enough to freeze those wings. As you can see, some blurring of the wings still occurs. Hummingbirds are fast! JK

JK

5 thoughts on “Hummingbirds Are Fast!

  1. Well, you got the flowers unblurred. 😉 That’s good and his little head. Even with slightly blurry wings, these are great shots — and the blurr just conveys action and speed so it adds a nice effect. 😉

  2. Oh, don’t misunderstand me. I like the photos. I was just trying to explain about the speed of those wings.
    By the way, I don’t post the photos I think are crappy. This way, you and others can go on believing that I’m any good as a photographer. JK.

  3. I’d like to see what you consider a bad photograph. I’m so used to dogs blurring pictures. What does one of YOUR “bad” photos look like??

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