Two profs at the University of Maryland, my alma mater, developed a remotely controlled ‘bird’ that can fly. The wings operate independently which provides lots of maneuverability.
This is cool, just by itself.
The next step is to add a small camera and small transmitter. Then you have a usable surveillance system
You can view the video in this article: Newly developed micro robot bird able to perform reconnaissance, surveillance.
You will need to watch a 15 second commercial before the news report starts.