The Sword-billed Hummingbird (Ensifera ensifera) is a species of hummingbird from South America and the sole member of the genus Ensifera. It is noted as the only species of bird to have a bill longer then the rest of its body. This allows it to feed on flowers with long corollas such as Passiflora mixta. The tongue is therefore also unusually long. Most of these flowers hang straight down, and the hummingbird comes up from below to feed on their nectar and pollinate them.
Hummingbirds are rather unusual birds in the relatively large size of their sternum - it makes up much of the volume of the body skeleton and has a very large keel for muscle attachment. In this species especially, you can imagine that very powerful flight muscles are needed to propel that bill across the landscape!
In a bird wing, the primaries are the source of thrust, and hummingbirds depend on thrust for much of their flight; the lift provided by the inner wing feathers in most birds is of little importance to hummingbirds.
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Hummingbirds are rather unusual birds in the relatively large size of their sternum - it makes up much of the volume of the body skeleton and has a very large keel for muscle attachment. In this species especially, you can imagine that very powerful flight muscles are needed to propel that bill across the landscape!
In a bird wing, the primaries are the source of thrust, and hummingbirds depend on thrust for much of their flight; the lift provided by the inner wing feathers in most birds is of little importance to hummingbirds.
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