Bee Hummingbirds
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The Bee Hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae) is a hummingbird, and the smallest of all birds (with the male being smaller than the female of the species).
With a body length of about 2.25 inches and a weight of 0.07 ounces (2 grams), the bee hummingbird is indeed not much bigger than a bumblebee and is lighter than a Canadian or U.S. penny.
Even the largest hummingbird, the giant hummingbird of South America, is just 8 inches long and weighs 0.70 ounces (20 grams).
Description
The male has the pileum and fiery red throat, the iridescent gorget with elongated lateral plumes, bluish upperparts, and the rest of the underparts mostly greyish white. The female is green above, whitish below with white tips to the outer tail feathers. More apt to be mistaken for a bee than a bird because of the size, the bird is not a mimic.
Female bee hummingbirds are bluish green with a pale gray underside. The tips of their tailfeathers have white spots. Breeding males have a pink to red head, chin, and throat. Non-breeding males look like females, except that their wingtips have blue spots.
Nesting:
Hummingbirds lay the smallest birds' eggs. They always lay 2 at a time, each the size of a person's small fingernail.
Facts:
The bee hummingbird is the world's smallest homoeothermic vertebrate. When flying, its wings beat 80 times per second, up to 200 times per second during courtship displays. Its heart rate is the second fastest of all animals. Bee hummingbirds also have the fewest feathers of all birds. Their body temperature is 40 °C (104 °F), the highest of all birds. At night, their body temperature drops down 19 °C (66 °F) to save energy. The bee hummingbird can be found in woodland, shrubbery, and gardens in Cuba and the Isle of Pines. Its nest is only 3 cm across.
Diet:
The bee hummingbird's diet consists mainly of nectar and insects. Bee hummingbirds eat half their total body mass and drink 8 times their total body mass in water each day.
Adapted from Sources: Wikipedia.org & http://www.naute.com/zunzun/
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