bee hummingbird

The bee hummingbird is the smallest living bird. Females weigh {{convert|2.6|g|oz|abbr=on}} and are {{convert|6.1|cm|in|frac=16|abbr=on}} long, and are slightly larger than males, which have an average weight of {{convert|1.95|g|oz|abbr=on}} and length of {{convert|5.5|cm|in|frac=8|abbr=on}}. Like all hummingbirds, it is a swift, strong flier.

The male has a green pileum and bright red throat, iridescent gorget with elongated lateral plumes, bluish upper parts, and the rest of the underparts mostly greyish white.{{cite book |last1=Chai |first1=Peng |title=Bee Hummingbird, Mellisuga helenae |last2=Kirwan |first2=Guy M. |date=4 March 2020 |publisher=Birds of the World, Cornell University Laboratory of Ornithology |editor-last1=Del Hoyo |editor-first1=Josep |chapter=Bee Hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae) |doi=10.2173/bow.beehum1.01 |editor-last2=Elliott |editor-first2=Andrew |editor-last3=Sargatal |editor-first3=Jordi |editor-last4=Christie |editor-first4=David |editor-last5=De Juana |editor-first5=Eduardo |chapter-url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/beehum1/cur/introduction |accessdate=14 April 2023 |s2cid=216294824}} Compared to other small hummingbirds, which often have a slender appearance, the bee hummingbird looks rounded and plump.

Female bee hummingbirds are bluish green with a pale gray underside. The tips of their tail feathers have white spots. During the mating season, males have a reddish to pink head, chin, and throat. The female lays only two eggs at a time, each about the size of a coffee bean.

The bee hummingbird's feathers have iridescent colors, which is not always noticeable, but depends on the viewing angle. The bird's slender, pointed bill is adapted for probing deep into flowers. The bee hummingbird feeds mainly on nectar, by moving its tongue rapidly in and out of its mouth. In the process of feeding, the bird picks up pollen on its 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. In one day, the bee hummingbird may visit 1,500 flowers.{{cite book |author-link=Ross Piper |last=Piper |first=Ross |year=2007 |title=Extraordinary Animals: An Encyclopedia of Curious and Unusual Animals' |publisher=Greenwood Press |isbn=978-0313339226 |page=[https://archive.org/details/extraordinaryani0000pipe/page/114 114] |url=https://archive.org/details/extraordinaryani0000pipe/page/114 }} It is a diurnal bird that can fly at {{cvt|40-48|km/h|kn m/s}}, and it beats its wings 80–200 times per second, which allows it to remain stationary in the air to feed on flowers. The bee hummingbird lives up to seven years in the wild, and 10 years in captivity.

The bee hummingbird has also been described as {{qi|the smallest dinosaur}}.{{Cite book|title=Discovering dinosaurs: evolution, extinction, and the lessons of prehistory |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=moOBFoBAZlgC&dq=%22bee+hummingbird%22+%22smallest+dinosaur%22&pg=PR7|last2=Dingus |first2=Lowell |last3=Gaffney |first3=Eugene |last1=Norell |first1=Mark |date=1995 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-22501-5 |location=Berkeley |page=25}} This characterization is based upon the recognition that birds are, in fact, a living form of theropod dinosaurs (or, strictly speaking, avian dinosaurs),{{cite journal|last=Chiappe|first=Luis M.|year=2009|title=Downsized Dinosaurs: The Evolutionary Transition to Modern Birds|journal=Evolution: Education and Outreach|pages=248–256|doi=10.1007/s12052-009-0133-4|volume=2|issue=2|doi-access=free}} and no smaller bird or non-avian dinosaur has been found in the fossil record.

The call is described as {{qi|high pitched, jumbled twitter}}.{{Cite web |title=Bee Hummingbird – eBird |url=https://ebird.org/species/beehum1 |access-date=2024-02-13 |website=ebird.org |language=en}} Within their territory a male will often sing atop the highest tree.{{Cite journal |last=Mitchell |first=Andy |last2=Wells |first2=Lyn |date=7 April 1997 |title=The threatened birds of Cuba project report |url=https://www.neotropicalbirdclub.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Cotinga-07-1997-69-71.pdf |journal=Cotinga |issue=7 |pages=71 |via=Neotropical Birding and Conservation}}

File:Mellisuga helenae Size Comparison.svg|Size of M. helenae compared to a human hand

File:Bee hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae) adult male non-breeding.jpg|Adult male, Cuba

File:Bee hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae) immature male.jpg|Juvenile male

File:Mellisuga helenae (16626749138).jpg]]

The bee hummingbird has been reported to visit ten plant species, nine of them native to Cuba.{{cite journal|author=Dalsgaard, Bo|url=https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/ON%2023%281%29%20143-149.pdf|title=Floral traits of plants visited by the bee hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae)|journal=Ornitologia Neotropical|volume=23|issue=1|year=2012|pages=143–149|access-date=27 June 2019|archive-date=13 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200313192559/https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/ON%2023%281%29%20143-149.pdf|url-status=live}}

They occasionally eat insects and spiders. In a typical day, bee hummingbirds will consume up to half their body weight in food.

The closest evolutionary relative of the bee hummingbird is the vervain hummingbird (Mellisuga minima), the only other member of its genus. The habitats of the vervain hummingbird are in Cuba's neighboring islands, Hispaniola and Jamaica.{{Cite web |title=Hummingbirds|publisher= IOC World Bird List, v14.1 |url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/hummingbirds/ |access-date=10 March 2024 |date=24 December 2023}}

The bee hummingbird is endemic to the entire Cuban archipelago, including the main island of Cuba and the Isla de la Juventud in the West Indies.{{cite journal|pmid=19132403|year=2009|last1=Dalsgaard|first1=B|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/23767160|title=Plant-hummingbird interactions in the West Indies: Floral specialisation gradients associated with environment and hummingbird size|journal=Oecologia|volume=159|issue=4|pages=757–66|last2=Martín González|first2=A. M.|last3=Olesen|first3=J. M.|last4=Ollerton|first4=J|last5=Timmermann|first5=A|last6=Andersen|first6=L. H.|last7=Tossas|first7=A. G.|doi=10.1007/s00442-008-1255-z|bibcode=2009Oecol.159..757D|s2cid=35922888|access-date=27 June 2019|archive-date=15 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215081223/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/23767160|url-status=live}} In these regions bee hummingbirds generally live in areas of thick growth that contain lianas and epiphytes. Its population is fragmented; it is found in Cuba's mogote areas in Pinar del Río Province{{cite journal|author=Ibarra, Elena|url=http://jco.birdscaribbean.org/index.php/jco/article/view/443|title=Bird Surveys In The Mogote Vegetational Complex In The Sierra Del Infierno, Pinar del Rio, Cuba, June 2000|journal=El Pitirre|year=2002|volume=15|issue=1|pages=7–15|access-date=27 June 2019|archive-date=27 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190627213322/http://jco.birdscaribbean.org/index.php/jco/article/view/443|url-status=live}} and more commonly in Zapata Swamp (Matanzas Province) and in eastern Cuba, with reference localities in Alexander Humboldt National Park and Baitiquirí Ecological Reserve (Guantánamo Province) and Gibara and Sierra Cristal (Holguín Province).{{Cite book|last=Navarro|first=Nils|title=Endemic Birds of Cuba. A Comprehensive Field Guide|publisher=Ediciones Nuevos Mundos|year=2015|isbn=978-0-9909419-1-0|pages=56–57}}

File:Nido en un patio Cubano de Mellisuga helenae.JPG

Bee hummingbirds reach sexual maturity at one year of age. The bee hummingbird's breeding season is March–June, with the female laying one or two eggs.{{cite journal |last1=Martínez García |first1=Orestes |first2=Loraiza |last2=Bacallao Mesa |first3=Elio |last3=Nieves Lorenzo |year=1998 |title=Estudio preliminar de la conducta reproductiva de Mellisuga helenae (Aves, Apodiformes) en condiciones naturales |language=es |trans-title=Preliminary study on the reproductive behaviour of Mellisuga helenae (Aves, Apodiformes) in natural conditions |journal=El Pitirre |volume=11 |issue=Winter |pages=102–106 |url=https://eurekamag.com/research/038/567/038567451.php |access-date=16 May 2017 |archive-date=15 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190115023557/https://eurekamag.com/research/038/567/038567451.php |url-status=live }}

Using strands of cobwebs, bark, and lichen, female bee hummingbirds build a cup-shaped nest about {{convert|2.5|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} in diameter and {{cvt|3|–|5|m|ft}} off the ground. The nest is lined with a layer of soft plant wool.{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/handbookofbirdso0005unse |title=Handbook of the birds of the world |date=1992 |location=Barcelona |publisher= Lynx Edicions |isbn=978-84-87334-10-8}} Branches in mature, leafy jucaro (Terminalia buceras) and juvenile ocuje (Calophyllum antillanum) trees are commonly used for nest building.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}} After completion of the nest, the eggs are incubated for 21 days by only the female, followed by 2 days of hatching, and 18 days of care by the mother. During days of care the mother will hunt for small insects while chicks are left alone in the nest. Over the final 4–5 days of care, juvenile bee hummingbirds practice their flight capabilities. The nests are used only once.

The bee hummingbird's interaction with the flowers that supply nectar is a notable example of bird–plant coevolution with its primary food source (flowers for nectar). Flowers that bee hummingbirds often feed from are odorless, have long narrow tubular corolla that are brightly colored, and has dilute nectar.{{Cite journal |last=Bolten |first=Alan B. |last2=Feinsinger |first2=Peter |date=1978 |title=Why Do Hummingbird Flowers Secrete Dilute Nectar? |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2387684 |journal=Biotropica |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=307–309 |doi=10.2307/2387684 |issn=0006-3606}}

• Dinosaur size
• Hummingbird moth
• Smallest organisms

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Wikispecies|Mellisuga helenae}}

{{Commons category|Mellisuga helenae}}

• [https://search.macaulaylibrary.org/catalog?taxonCode=beehum1&q=Bee%20Hummingbird%20-%20Mellisuga%20helenae Bee hummingbird videos, photos, and sounds], Internet Bird Collection
• [http://vireo.acnatsci.org/search.html?Form=Search&SEARCHBY=Common&KEYWORDS=bee+hummingbird&showwhat=images&AGE=All&SEX=All&ACT=All&Search=Search&VIEW=All&ORIENTATION=All&RESULTS=24 Bee hummingbird photo gallery], Vireo

{{Taxonbar|from=Q213036}}

Category:Mellisuga

Category:Endemic birds of Cuba

Category:Birds described in 1850

Category:Taxa named by Juan Lembeye