Flying Through 500 Million Butterflies with a Tiny Hummingbird Drone

Feast your eyes on one of the greatest natural events on Earth- half a billion butterflies swarming in the mountains of Mexico. This colorful scene was captured by an incredible hummingbird drone that was able to get to them up close without causing any commotion.

Each fall, a dwindling population of monarch butterflies migrate to find a safer place to spend the winter. As the temperatures drop off, they travel from as far as Canada to find a warm blanket on the branches of oyamel fir trees in the grove of Mexico. In that sanctuary, the temperatures don’t go too high or too low for them to survive as they sleep and huddle together. And when the weather warms up to a critical point of 50 degrees, they start to fly and bring back the life of the forest that was once silent with their slumber.

Closeup view of monarch butterflies at rest
YouTube

The resulting footage will definitely take your breath away. Made possible by their “spy” hummingbird drone, we’re able to take a super close peek of the magical life of these butterflies. The tiny drone was built by engineer Matt Keennon and his team at AeroVironment.

Getting inspiration from these amazing silent fliers, they were able to successfully develop a small, low-flying drone that beats its wing like a bird. It weighs only 19 grams and can do 30 flaps per second which, as seen in the video, is perfect for secret nature missions.

Hummingbird drone
YouTube

In this time of stress and uncertainty, this is precisely the kind of content we all needed. I hope you’re as happy as I am to see this exquisite beauty in the comfort of your home. If you want to see more nature footages like this, you can check the PBS show “Nature” and explore its series “Spy in the Wild”. This heart-warming clip is specifically from “Spy in the Wild 2 – Episode Two: The North”. Happy watching!

In this time of stress and uncertainty, this is precisely the kind of content we all needed. I hope you’re as happy as I am to see this exquisite beauty in the comfort of your home.