Gail Pierson, age 12, of Allentown, Pa., for her question:

Can a bird fly backwards?

So far as we know, there is only one bird in the world who can fly backwards. And. he is the smallest of all birds, the beautiful little hummingbird. This tiny fellow can beat his wings so fast that they whirr. They can beat at the rate of 55 times a, second, so fast that all you. can see is a fuzzy blur.

 The pretty hummer can maneuver very mach like a helicopter. He can hover, ‑ stand still in the air with his wings boating at full speed, and he can fly backwards. He usually backs away politely when he leaves a flower. To do this tricky maneuver, he moves his wings backwards in oval sweeps ‑ at 55 times a second. No other bird can do this because his wings are not built to swing in a backward direction, any more than your knee joint will bend. backwards,