An article published on Live Science has provided insight into how hummingbird feeds itself after almost two centuries of wrong notions about the same. A five-year experiment has helped researchers determine that hummingbirds' tongues serve the purpose of a micropump, helping in pulling nectar.

The findings have debunked the previous theory related to capillary actions in humming birds. The research showed that capillary action has got nothing to do with humming birds as it is not possible for the slender birds' tongues to sip up nectar too slowly.

Capillary action is a phenomenon in which liquid flows through narrow areas. The hummingbird's tongue work like a micropump, said the lead researcher of the study, Mr. Alejandro Rico-Guevara.

The so-called micropump in hummingbirds helps in pumping nectar for feeding very fast. Rico-Guevara said forces resulting from re-expansion of a collapsed section help in driving fluid at the tip into the tongue's grooves.

Previously, researchers were of the belief that the grooves in the hummingbird's tongue were placed where the capillary action took place. However, the new study has proved that theory wrong.

For the study, the researchers analyzed different kinds and species of hummingbirds, including 32 birds. They even recorded 96 feeding stints and studied them for hours.

The study is certainly a first to show how hummingbirds drink and feed on nectar with the first real mathematical model that precisely depicted their energy intake using these micropumping actions. It also helped understand how hummingbirds find their food and their overall ecology.