Dissertation Research: ECOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF HUMMINGBIRD FEEDING MECHANISMS

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Since all life depends on water, the movement of fluids is profoundly important in both natural and engineered systems. The physics of flow in large volumes of fluids is fairly well understood, but we know less about how to move very small volumes of liquid efficiently. Rico-Guevara and Rubega recently showed that hummingbirds use a previously unknown method to move tiny volumes of fluids very rapidly while feeding. Hummingbirds eat more than twice their body weight in nectar daily. Thus, hummingbirds are a premier natural example to mimic in engineering effective fluid-moving devices for biomedical and other purposes. Rico-Guevara and Rubega's previous work generated predictions about how much fluid can be collected and transported in a second. This project will use high-speed camera traps to test those predictions by measuring actual rates of nectar extraction (in microliters/second) for hummingbirds feeding at wild flowers. The results will have two benefits: 1) They will confirm a model of the physics of a method of fluid transport that has potential for the engineering of microfluidic devices; and 2) will provide insight into how the limits on how fast birds can feed on nectar have shaped the behavior, distribution, ecology and evolution of hummingbirds. The project will contribute to the professional development of four students (Hispanics) from one of the most underrepresented groups in science. The project is already engaging members of the public through a database of bird-plant interactions called "Hummingbirds and flowers" on iNaturalist.org (see http://www.inaturalist.org/projects/hummingbirds-and-flowers), making behavioral and ecological data publicly available.