A hummingbird hovers while sipping some sugar water at Pacific Palisades on Thursday , November 22, 2007. Known for their ability to hover in mid-air by rapidly flapping their wings, 15–80 times per second. Capable of sustained hovering, the hummingbird has the ability to fly deliberately backwards (this is the only group of birds able to do so) or vertically, and to maintain position while drinking nectar or eating tiny arthropods from flower blossoms.