Often mistaken for a bumblebee because of its buzzing wings, the “bee hummingbird’s” body is only one inch long and weighs less than a penny!
The “bee hummingbird” is the world’s smallest living bird. measuring only 2 inches from beak to tail feathers (or 1 inch excluding them).
It’s often mistaken for a bumblebee because of its tiny size and the buzzing sound of its super-fast wings, which flap 80-200 times per second!
Weighing only 2 grams, they are lighter than a penny!
Their eggs are the size of coffee beans, which they lay two at a time in their 1-inch nests.
Their back feathers are an iridescent bluish-green, and the males have a reddish-orange head.
The Caribbean birds are native to Cuba. They primarily inhabit dense coastal forests, but are also found in mountain valleys, inland forests, swamplands and gardens on the island. There have also been rare sightings of the birds in the Bahamas, Jamaica and the Isle of Pines.
Many native flowers rely on bee hummingbirds for pollination. The mostly tubular-shaped flowers they feed on actually cannot be pollinated by bees or butterflies because they do not have the long narrow beaks to reach the nectar.
The bee hummingbird is classified as “near threatened,” as it’s forest habitat continues to shrink, with only 15-20% of land remaining in its natural state.