Photographer's Fascination Revealed the Secrets of a Hummingbird's Tongue

    LAS VEGAS, NV, September 24, 2014 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Using a high-speed camera at 2,000 frames per second, the couple captured remarkable close-up views of the wild hummingbird's minute tongue imbibing nectar from a specially created feeder. Their work morphed into a 13 minutes short film "Secrets of the Hummingbird's Tongue" which is an Official Selection at Imagine Science Film Festival among more than 600 entries from around world. Schedule of screening is 7:00 PM on Sun Oct. 19 2014, at The Made in New York Media Center by IFP (30 John St. Brooklyn N.Y. ) The festival's week of events starts from Oct 17 at several locations in New York, including Google Headquarters, Rockefeller University and the American Museum of Natural History.

A hummingbird's long, bifurcated tongue, less than 1mm thick, quickly moves in and out of the nectar from a feeder at 10 to 20 times per second. Each branch has clear membrane along its edge, called Lamellae. It unfurls as the tongue extends in the nectar and curls, trapping the liquid as it returns to the bill to swallow. Hummingbirds feed by lapping this action while hovering, collecting nectar and transferring pollen from one flower to another.

Don Carroll's goal was to create the most beautifully detailed and accurate images of the hummingbirds tongue ever made. He designed and built various glass feeders to reveal close-up detail on how the Lamellae functions as a nectar trap.

During the summer when the most hummingbirds visit sizzling hot Las Vegas, Olympus had loaned the couple an i-Speed 3, slow-motion video camera. To achieve shutter speed 1/10,000 of a second at 2,000 frames per second, the Carrolls used several mirrors reflecting sun on to the feeder in their garden studio. The temperature at the feeder would exceed 150 degrees. Hummingbirds participating this shoot were offered ice-cold nectar which would warm up within a minute.

In 2013, the Carrolls shared their photos and footage with the foremost authority on hummingbird feeding, ornithologist Dr. Alejandro Rico-Guevara of the University of Connecticut's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. He replied,

"The images you obtained are Spectacular. These are by far the best images of hummingbirds drinking nectar ever shown. Even stepping away from my biased perspective, I think the segment is really inspiring and conveys unseen magic capturing the essence of the tongue dancing within the nectar. The milonga was a great musical choice, impeccable taste."

Noriko skillfully edited the best of the sequences together, presenting unique points of view that ornithologists and America's 42 million backyard birders had never witnessed before.

The Carrolls are the authors of several books, including, First Flight: A Mother Hummingbird's Story (Andrews McMeel Publishing). The same-titled film produced by Concept Images, LLC, won several international film festival awards, including Best Independent at the International Wildlife Film Festival. "Secrets of the Hummingbird's Tongue" is one of the bonus features of their newly released international edition of "First Flight: A Mother Hummingbird's Story" DVD The movie trailers are available at hummingbirdstory.com. For more information on Noriko & Don Carroll please call (702) 437-1614 or visit HummingbirdStory.com.

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