Hummingbird courtship behavior is amazing to observe. With the female watching, the male flies up nearly 50 feet in the air, facing the sun, so his irridescent gorget glistens. Then he dives at 40 miles per hour, only to pull up making a u-shaped pattern. During this courtship display his wings beat up to 200 times a second.
"Out walking on Dock Point trail, through the salmonberries, I was hoping to see rufouses out and about. I heard some buzzing and stayed put for a few minutes. Next came the familiar buzz of two birds. One landed in a bush not far away, a female. The other was making calls as he zipped up and down in his mating display." Valdez, Alaska 05/15/14
Jeffrey Popenhagen Jr
