Pretty cool. Just two servos per wing, with one shared BLDC motor to provide the power to the strokes. That's comparable to what normal fixed wing drones have. Extreme mechanical complexity though.
I can't see this being practical, but it makes for one hell of a tech demo. Wish there was footage available. It feels really incomplete without a video of this bird taking off, flying and landing.
I saw recently the Chinese (The Chinese!) are experimenting in this area (and with flying insect machines?) — perhaps for surveillance drones that will look for all practical purposes like an ordinary bird/insect.
The whole "surveillance drone" thing is so overrated. No one gives a shit, really.
People make things like insect drones and bird drones because they're cool. That's it. That's the only practical purpose. Anything else is flimsy justification, sometimes employed to get the funding to do the cool thing.