Common Minke Whale
Species principle: Streamline
Move cleanly.
Efficiency is power shaped down to the movement that works.
Minke whales are smaller baleen whales with streamlined bodies that feed by lunging at schooling fish or krill.
Animal Powers
Energy Efficiency
Move cleanly.
Animals grouped here express a similar power through their behavior in nature. Each species still has its own principle, lesson, meaning, and field-guide page.
5 species
Eastern Emerald Elysia
Species principle: Borrowed Green
Borrow the light.
Efficiency can come from unusual relationships with energy.
Some sacoglossan sea slugs retain chloroplasts from algae in their tissues, creating green coloration and limited photosynthetic benefit.
Magnificent Frigatebird
Species principle: Lift Economy
Use the lift.
Efficiency improves when effort works with available forces.
Frigatebirds use long wings and soaring flight to travel over oceans for extended periods, often exploiting wind and thermal lift.
Rivoli's Hummingbird
Species principle: Highland Hover
Hold the shimmer.
Control can look delicate when speed is held still.
Magnificent Hummingbirds, now often called Rivoli’s Hummingbirds, hover to feed on nectar and flash iridescent colors in mountain forests.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Species principle: Control
Hold the hover.
Great power can live inside a body that holds itself exactly where it must be.
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds hover with rapid wingbeats while feeding on nectar using long bills and extendable tongues. They also make long seasonal migrations despite their tiny size.