Hummingbirds are the only birds that feed on sweet nectar, but like all other birds, they lack sweet-taste receptors on their palates and long tongues. So how did they evolve a taste for sugary food?
Now scientists have shed light on the evolutionary mystery of how the birds taste that sweetness. They developed their own kind of taste receptor, unlike any other birds.
(READ the story from the CS Monitor)
Photo: Leucistic Hummingbird at Inniswood Metro Gardens, by Lori Taggert