The first-of-its-kind study opens up new questions around animal welfare and could aid scientists as they seek to understand and treat human neurodegenerative diseases.
The wings and beak of a hummingbird are vastly more sensitive than many other birds, traits that likely allow them to absorb a gust of wind and maintain a hover in front of a flower, a new study has found.
“Hummingbirds definitely are pushing the lower limits of what flying little vertebrate animals could be.” Inside his lab in Vancouver, Leitch and his team anesthetized individuals from both bird species and placed electrodes directly on the surface of their brains. Leitch said they then exposed the birds to several stimuli — from flashes of light and the ringing of bells, to the brush of a Q-tip and the light puff of an air compressor.
Birds, on the other hand, have that map broken in two, with one part of the brain lighting up when something touches their wings, breast, and torso, and another part reacting when the feet and the tail feathers are stimulated. UBC research provides a 'sense of empathy' for hummingbirds Pei-Hsuan Wu, a PhD student in UBC's zoology department and a co-author on the study, said their research represents the first time anyone has tried to measure how Anna’s hummingbirds respond to touch. Their data, she said, shows the birds can detect even a tiny bit of force, especially in the sensitive areas of the wing tips and bill.
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