Meeting Abstract
Hummingbirds face many environmental challenges during flight (e.g. wind, rain, and constrictions formed by vegetation), and movement through the natural world often presents these challenges simultaneously. Whereas we know in part how hummingbirds confront individual challenges, we do not understand how they handle multiple constraints at once. In these situations, birds could use a combination of the compensatory behaviors they use to overcome individual challenges. Alternatively, novel behaviors could emerge when birds are confronted with simultaneous constraints. Novel behaviors would suggest the importance of learning when adapting to complex situations. To assess responses to multiple locomotor challenges, we measured behaviors and kinematics in hummingbirds flying through a geometric constriction in either a headwind or a tailwind. Then, we compared our findings with what hummingbirds do when confronted with wind or constrictions individually to determine if birds use predictable or novel behaviors when faced with simultaneous constraints. Results demonstrate the capability of birds to adapt to complex environments, and suggest principles for designing flying devices that operate in these environments.
