Life Lines by Dr. Dolittle

Tag Archive for ‘nectar’

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“Hummingbirds of the Night”

A reference to nectar-feeding bats as “hummingbirds of the night” in a presentation at the 2025 American Physiology Summit in Baltimore last month caught my eye. What an appropriate nickname for bats that can have blood sugar levels exceeding 750 mg/dl after a meal! Sure, a hummingbird would think this was normal, but for a human these levels would warrant a trip to the emergency room. New research shared by […]

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Very high intensity exercise: hovering

I just read an interesting review published in Physiology of flight energetics and fuel use in nectar feeding hummingbirds and bats. While flight is considered pretty high intensity exercise, hovering flight is even more demanding. Hummingbirds and nectar feeding bats are really tiny and thus have very high metabolisms to maintain body heat. Some of these animals are also migratory, which is an even greater energy demand. Remarkably, they sustain […]

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