I heard that there are birds that can fly backwards. True or false?

Question

If true name the birds.

Answer 1

Like has been said - the humble hummingbird.

All other birds get their life/power on the downstroke, which means they essentially fall, then use power to lift themselves up on the downstroke.

The hummingbird flies very differently.  It get power from both the down and upstroke.  This means it can do things no other bird can do - stay perfectly still in space, fly backwards, forwards, sideways, upsidedown, and everything inbetween.  They can stay in exactly one spot for 5 minutes while feeding, then zip to the next tree in the blink of an eye.  But this capability comes at a price.

For most birds, the downstroke requires a large energy expenditure, and the upstroke requires very little energy.  The hummingbird gets no break - it expends a huge amount of energy on both strokes.  For that reason, the hummingbird spends more energy, and eats more, than any other animal.  If we ate as much as the hummingbird, we would be eating about 30,000 calories a day.  In fact, the hummingbird has to eat late into the night and rise very early in the morning - if it sleeps too long, it could starve to death.  The hummingbird also has the largest heart in proportion to its body, and has the highest heartbeat rate (something like 200 beats per minute at rest and 1000 in flight).

Despite all that, hummingbirds live a surprisingly long time - roughly 15-20 years or more, which is very long for such a calorie-burning machine.

Answer 2

hummingbird - only one that can

Answer 3

True!  However, there is only one bird…’The Hummingbird’ which is the only bird that can fly backwards. All other birds use the down stroke to power their flight. Hummingbirds can fly up and down, left and right, backwards, and unusually - even upside down - all due to their unique upstroke strength!!!.

Answer 4

True ~ Hummingbirds can fly backwards, hover in place, and fly straight up ~ the bones in their wings rotate to accomodate their movement.

Answer 5

I don't think birds can fly backwards. I'm sure their wings are a certain shape and the way their bones are designed, they are probably only designed to fly forwards. I can't imagine seeing a bird fly backwards, I would say it's False.

Answer 6

Yes! Hummingbirds have an ability to fly in many directions. Some include upside down, sideways, straight down, and straight up. Those are only some of them.

Answer 7

hummingbird is the only one... its where they got the idea to build a helicopter. the others cant some birds know how to hover though....

Answer 8

Yes, a hummingbird can fly backwards. It's almost like a mini helicopter. Pretty neat, isn't it?

Answer 9

i thought NO but then heard hummingbirds can-i DONT believe it unless i see it with my OWN EYES in REAL life!!!