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| Mellisuga helenae (Lembeye, 1850) |
The Bee Hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae) is a hummingbird, and the smallest of all birds. It can be found in Cuba (where it is called the zunzuncito), including the Isle of Youth. Its mass is approximately 1.8 g, and it is about 5 cm (2 inches) long.
Description
The male has the pileum and fiery green throat, iridescent gorget with elongated lateral plumes, bluish upper-parts, and the rest of the underparts mostly greyish white. The female is green above, whitish below with white tips to the outer tail feathers. While more apt to be mistaken for a bee than a bird because of the size, the bird is not a bee.
Female bee hummingbirds are bluish green with a pale gray underside. The tips of their tailfeathers have white spots. Breeding males have a redish to pink head, chin, and throat. Non-breeding males look like females, except that their wingtips have blue spots. The female lays only two eggs at a time and they are bright orange with pink spots.
The bee hummingbird is the smallest bird in the world. Its body is about the size of a large bee. Like all hummingbirds, it is a swift, strong flier. It also can hover over one spot like a helicopter. The bee hummingbird beats its wings an estimated 80 times per second - so fast that the wings look like a blur to human eyes.
The brilliant, iridescent colors of the bee hummingbird's feathers make the bird seem like a tiny jewel. But the iridescence isn't always noticeable. It depends on the angle at which a person looks at the bird. The bird's slender, pointed bill is designed for probing deep into flowers. The bee hummingbird feeds mainly on nectar. With a tongue shaped like a long tube,the bird sucks up nectar-and an occassional insect or spiders - just as if it were using a drinking straw. In the process of feeding,the bird picks up pollen on it's bill and head. When it flies from flower to flower, it transfers the pollen. In this way, it plays an important role in plant reproduction.
Using bits of cobwebs, bark, and lichen, the female bee hummingbird builds a cup-shaped nest that is only about 1 inch in diameter. She lines the nest with soft plant fibers. In this nest she lays her eggs, which are smaller than coffee beans. She alone incubates the eggs and raises the young.
References
- BirdLife International (2004). Mellisuga helenae. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 10 May 2006. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is near threatened
External links
- Bee Hummingbird videos on the Internet Bird Collection
- Bee Hummingbird videos on the [1]
- Bee Hummingbird photo gallery VIREO
- Article with synopsis (with photos); Photo
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 11 November 2008, at 16:49.
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