Hummingbirds are the only birds that can fly backward and hover in one spot like a tiny helicopter.

A hummingbird has a special ball-and-socket joint where its wing meets its body. This allows the wing to flip over and rotate 180 degrees. Most birds only get a boost when they flap their wings down, but hummingbirds get power on both the upstroke and the downstroke. A famous 2005 study from Oregon State University used high-speed cameras to prove that hummingbirds get 25% of their lift from that upward motion.These tiny birds beat their wings between 50 and 200 times every single second. To keep this up, they have the fastest metabolism of any animal with warm blood. Their hearts can beat over 1,200 times per minute, which is about 20 times faster than a human heart. They have to eat half their body weight in sugar every day just to stay alive.Even when the wind is blowing hard, a hummingbird can keep its head perfectly still to drink from a flower. They can fly at speeds of 34 miles per hour and are found only in North and South America. There are more than 360 different species of these amazing flyers. Their unique ability to hover helps them reach nectar that other birds simply cannot get to.