In this video, filmmaker Ann Prum describes how she and her team made a Nature documentary about hummingbirds using high-speed HD cameras and specialized lenses. It’s exquisite footage, and reveals surprising truths about the hummingbirds — like what goes on when one encounters another at a flower (hummingbird fight!), and how scientists study hummingbirds both in the wild and captivity. For example, did you know that hummingbirds catch and eat insects for protein? And did you know it’s insanely hard to photograph that brief moment?
Here’s the behind-the-scenes video (note, you can see it in HD on YouTube):
And if you like that, you’re in luck — the entire film Hummingbirds: Magic in the Air is streaming online for free (although the full show isn’t streaming in HD). If you like awesome photography and/or hummingbirds, it’s well worth your time!
See also: Hummingbirds in Slow Motion, a collection of YouTube clips.
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One of my cherished moments was a hummingbird encounter. A friend and I were camping near Aspen at what was apparently a hummingbird’s favorite place. At some point we took to whistling show tunes at it, and so help me if that bird didn’t go wild when I was whistling “I Dream of Jeanie”. This was summer of 1994. We were on a long road trip and when we finally got into town there was an article about O.J. Simpson being arrested in a slow car chase.
posted by Mike on 8-23-2010 at 12:56 pm
Fabulous! Every spring my mom puts out about 6 hummingbird feeders and must have 50-70 birds fighting for position. She sometimes has to refill the feeders twice a day. It’s great fun to watch.
posted by Fran on 8-23-2010 at 1:57 pm
Thank you for making this beautiful video. I think that most people love hummingbirds but rarely get to see them and then only for a few seconds.
They are so pretty. I love to see all the new things about wildlife that we’ve learned about in the last few years.
Thanks to everyone that worked on it.
posted by Cookie on 8-25-2010 at 8:09 pm
Pound for pound (or should that be ounce for ounce?), hummingbirds are possibly the fiercest animal in nature.
When hiking in the foothills of Southern California, I was set upon by one such winged warrior. The little bugger dived bombed me for a good half hour, forcing me to “hit the deck”, where I could enjoy a comfortable view on my back as he swooped within inches of me, elevated about 15′ straight up, hovered a moment, then dove again. It really was an amazing experience.
posted by Marcos El Malo on 9-19-2010 at 9:41 am