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Watch a Hummingbird Slap a Bee in Slow Motion

The fiery throated hummingbird beats its wings close to 100 times per second.

Published June 17, 2021

 (Instagram)
Image Via Instagram

When a fiery throated hummingbird approaches a flower to feed, its wings are beating at nearly 100 times per second. To the naked eye, its wings are moving so fast, they appear to be little more than blurs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8UWaKdCSEA

But when you slow it down, you can see just how majestic these tiny creatures really are, and, on some occasions, how clumsy the humble honeybee looks when it gets knocked on the head by one of these speedy wings.

A video of a hummingbird "slapping" a bee in slow motion is frequently shared on social media. In many cases, the video that gets shared on social media is slightly cropped to remove the watermark of the original photographer. This viral video was captured by wildlife photographer Filipe Deandrade in 2019 in Costa Rica. Deandrade originally shared his footage with the caption:

"Check out this male Fiery-Throated Hummingbird accidentally slap this bee away from its food source. Hummingbirds are notoriously competitive over nectar, but I've never seen an accidental back hand (or back wing) before. #costarica #puravida"

Here's the original video:

Dan Evon is a former writer for Snopes.

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