One outstanding thing is their wing muscles. These represent an unusual 25 to 30 percent of the whole body weight. Ordinary birds flap their wings up and down. Not so the hummingbirds. Their unique winglets pivot forward and backward, like oars. Although the movement is not circular, the effect is much like the performance of a helicopter rotor. For example, the rotor tilts when the helicopter moves forward and backward. A hummingbird does the same thing with its wings.

And how about going in reverse? No other bird is able to do it. The plane of the wings simply tilts backward. Whoosh! There goes another hummingbird.