And the clock starts... now. Did you miss it? It wasn’t some bug buzzing by  or a weird trick of the light. You just saw a hummingbird perform astonishing aerial acrobatics, eat lunch in midair, pollinate a flower, and then escape a threat upside down— all in a matter of seconds. So let’s slow down the action, and unpack each step in this blazing-fast feast. First up, their incredibly rapid flight. Hummingbirds typically beat their wings  30 to 40 times per second, creating the high-frequency hum  they’re named for. To flap their wings at this speed, hummingbirds have evolved  giant pectoral muscles that comprise over a third  of some species’ bodyweight. But the real secret to their fine-tuned flight is all in the wrist. Most birds only generate lift  on the downstroke of each flap, while using the upward recovery stroke  to set up their next wing beat. Hummingbirds however,  turn their wrists during the upstroke, changing their wing’s angle to flap  in a figure 8 pattern that continually generates lift  throughout their wingbeats. Alongside their massive muscles, this special lift-producing technique allows hummingbirds to achieve  sustained hovering flight— an aerial feat no other bird can perform. Hovering lets hummingbirds slow  to a stop almost instantly and assess scenarios in midair. Then, they can take off in any direction, reaching speeds faster than a fighter jet, relative to the bird’s size. And since they can beat each of their wings at different speeds and angles, the birds can perform  incredible spins and turns all while flying backwards  or even upside down. Of course, flying this way  can be exhausting. Hovering is one of the most energy intensive forms of movement in the animal kingdom. And relative to their body size, hummingbirds have the highest  metabolic rates of all vertebrates. This leads them to eat very frequently— often consuming an average  of four meals an hour while flying. Fortunately, their hovering lets them eat at remarkable angles without perching, consuming food that would otherwise be impossible to reach. Using their long slender bills, they reach deep inside flowers  and pump out nectar with their thin grooved tongues. This sugary liquid is a hummingbird’s most important energy source, and a single bird consumes six times  its weight in nectar every day over hundreds of small meals. Each of these sugary snacks also  pollinates the flower being visited with pollen left on the bird  from previous meals. That's just a rough idea of what hummingbirds can do in several seconds. But if we hang around a little longer, we might see their aerial acrobatics put to a more dangerous test. Hummingbirds keep track of which flowers they've recently drained, as well as those they plan to drain next. And each bird will fight ruthlessly  to defend this floral territory from their only real competition:  other hummingbirds. Using their spear-like bills  and blindingly fast flight, dueling hummingbirds chase each other  through the air, aggressively stabbing  and plucking feathers. The bills of some species are specialized for fighting, with spiny tips, hooks,  or even saw-like serrations. Some hummingbirds employ  these aerial fencing techniques to chase off larger birds  like hawks and owls. But the most extreme fights are between male hummingbirds competing for flowers and females. Fortunately, these duels  are rarely deadly. After 15 to 20 seconds, one bird will typically surrender— flying off to seek its breakfast  elsewhere. After all this fighting, feeding,  and flying, hummingbirds sometimes need  to sleep off the day’s events in a mild form of hibernation  called torpor. Their hearts— proportionally  the largest in the animal kingdom— slow from 1,200 beats per minute  to a mere 50. But when they wake up 4 to 7 hours later, their lightning-fast metabolism  kicks back into gear. With all this speed and strength, it’s no wonder the Aztecs revered  these energetic birds as agents of the god of war  Huitzilopotchli— a reminder that immense power  can come in the smallest packages.