Bee Hummingbirds : Smallest birds on the planet. Everything you need to know

Ever wondered about the smallest species of birds on the planet?. Today we are going to learn about the smallest individual bird of a particular species which are known for their small size and unique styles of flight. We are going to talk the "Humming birds" which are considered to be the smallest birds on earth. So, let's go.

 

Mellisuga helenae (Bee Hummingbird)

General Info

Bee hummingbirds are one of the 300+ (around 340 known species, to be precise) known species of humming birds distributed around the world. They can be identified by their small size, rapidly flapping wings and their quick movement. 

According to some researchers, these birds came into existence at around 22 million years ago. The evolved modern days humming birds were first described by a French writer named Jean de Léry in 1557 when he published a journal about his travel to brazil.

Their lifespan is around 6 to 7 years (in the wild) but can also live up to 10 years (in captivity). Although the exact population of bee hummingbirds are unknown, they are slightly less in numbers as they are on the spot of "Near threatened" on the IUCN red list.

Physical Characteristic

Bee humming birds are small sized birds. As they sexual dimorphism, there is differences in the size of females and males. The female bee hummingbirds are slightly larger in size as compared to the males in both size and weight. The female have a 2.4 inch (6.09 cm) body length and weight of 2.6 g (0.0917 ounces), while the males have a body length of 2.2 inch (5.58 cm) and a weight of 1.95 g (0.068 ounces).

Male (left) vs Female (right) bee hummingbirds

As for their body colors, males have a green forehead, bluish back and body color, dark wings towards the half way and a greyish-white color for the rest of the body (other than the throat, which is reddish-brown in color). On the other hand, the females have more greyish white and bluish-green body with white spots on the tip of their feathers.

Behavior and lifestyle

Like most of the other species of hummingbirds, they are not aggressive and do not posses any threat or danger to human beings. However, they are seen to fight among themselves, but other than that they are not seen to attack anyone else. They are also seen to migrate during change in seasons or in search of flowers.

They are quite fast and can fly with the speed of 25 to 30 miles per hour (40.23 to 48.28 Kmph). Also, like all the other hummingbird species, they can fly backwards and upside down while making a humming noise at the same time which comes from their wings when they are flapping them.

As for their diet, they mainly rely on nectars from flowers but can also eat small insects and bugs. They feed themselves in every 15 to 20 minutes, consuming nectar from 1,000 to 2,000 flowers per day and eating around half the amount of their own body weight easily.

Biological Features

NOTE: The factors/features below are common to all the hummingbird species.

Sexual dimorphism 

The phenomenon of sexual dimorphism is seen in these birds. The female bee hummingbirds are slightly bigger than the male bee hummingbirds. Not also in size, but also in appearance. The two genders look completely different from each other.

Vision

Since they fly with great speeds, they are also adapted to analyse their environment clearly with the help of their strong eyesight. They are highly sensitive to any movements going on around them and immediately react to any disturbance.

Thermoregulations

Flying and hovering very fast or resting idle in a cold place can easily raise or lower the body temperature. Bee hummingbirds use thermoregulations to keep their body temperature normal in these conditions. Also, they use the process of evaporation to exhale out the body heat. During low temperature, they tuck their feet in their breasts and retract them in such a way so the sensitive parts of their body are not fully exposed to the external temperature.

Kidney Functions

The assessment of kidney functions in them are adapted in such a way that the their kidneys always balance the condition of their water levels irrespective of how much water they consume, preventing them from over hydration, irregular balance of electrolytes, acid-base concentration and excess amount of toxins.

Metabolism

This is probably the most interesting biological feature in them. Not only bee hummingbirds, but all the species of hummingbirds is that they have the highest metabolism in the entire animal kingdoms. As a result of this, they require high amount of oxygen and calorie consumption (with respect to their body and weight). Not only they have high metabolism, they also have the ability to slow down their metabolism during the low availability of food or during the night. They go in a low energy consuming state known as torpor. During this state, they loss very less body rate and their heart rate slows down by 85 to 96 %. (Their heart rate is around 1260 beats per minute).

Reproduction

At the age of 1 year, both female and male bee hummingbirds reach sexual maturity. Their breeding season starts from the month of March to the month of June. During this season the males are mostly active and are seen competing with other males with their vocals in order to attract the females.

The female lays up to two eggs at a time.  The female lay their eggs in a small cup-shaped nest made by herself using barks, spider-webs and lichens (small organisms on algae). The size of the eggs can be compared with peas as they are very tiny.

Facts and summary

• Not only they are the smallest bird on the planet, they are also known to have the ancestors of the smallest dinosaurs.

• Bee hummingbirds are one of those 300+ known species of hummingbirds.

• They are the size of bumble bees and weighs as same as a penny.

• They fly very fast with the speed of 25 to 30 miles per hour (40.23 to 48.28 Kmph).

• They can fly up to 20 hours non stop.

• Females and males are different both in size and appearance.

• Like all the other hummingbirds, they can also fly backwards and upside down.

• They have the highest metabolism as compared to any animal (debatable against the Asian Shrew).

• They can slow down their metabolism by slowing down their heart rate and oxygen and calorie consumption.

• They have an amazing eyesight.

• They have no sense of smell whatsoever.

• Their system is designed in such a way that they automatically regulates their body temperature according to the conditions.

• The eggs of bee hummingbirds are of the size of a pea.

• They have super tiny legs, so they can't walk or jump/hop.

• During the mating season, the males attracts females in particular area by singing and showing off their vocal abilities. They are often seen to be competing with other males.

• They can eat up to half of their own body weight. They eat after every 15 to 20 minutes and can consume nectar from 1,000 to 2,000 flowers per day.

• Sometimes a group of hummingbirds is called a "charm".

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