Fracking is controversial but likely to have at least one real fan − the black-chinned hummingbird. The noise of machinery at gas extraction sites in the US appears to benefit the nectar-loving birds, boosting their nesting capacity and the rate at which they pollinate flowers.

Scientists believe the racket of compressors is driving away the hummingbirds’ natural predators, enabling them to raise their chicks in peace despite the din.

The extraction of shale gas from rocks using powerful jets of liquid, known as ‘fracking’, has stirred up heated debate in the UK but is already widespread in the US.

Clinton Francis, from California Polytechnic State University, led a study that compared numbers of hummingbird nests around noisy and quieter gas extraction sites. His team found 36 black-chinned hummingbird nests on the noisy sites and only three where noise levels were much lower.

Black-chinned hummingbirds, which live throughout the southwest US, make their nests on the ground and have a number of predator enemies including snakes, jays and even mountain lions.