We have a lot of cute visitors to our gardens during the summer, but for many the delicate hummingbirds are definitely the most adorable ones. These lovely creatures go from flower to flower to get the sweet nectar, and though sometime they can easily be mistaken for butterflies or even some insects – because of their very tiny stature – they are actually quite easy to spot because of their incredibly fast-beating wings.
However, you need to know there is one particular hummingbird type which is even smaller than the rest, and these one are frequently mistaken for the bee. They even got a similar name – the bee hummingbird. A very tiny and delicate bird which isn’t only the smallest hummingbird, but the tinniest bird in the world.
Extremely elusive and very shy, the bee hummingbird is indeed extremely difficult to spot, even for the habitants of Cuba – where these tiny little hard-workers use to live. But once you noticed this bright-colored creature, the memory will stay with you forever. Obviously, a bird watcher’s dream!
About the size of a bee, the bee hummingbird only measures around two inches and they weigh less than 0,07 oz – that’s not even half of a teaspoon of honey!
Bee hummingbirds are incredibly small, and they are often mistaken for bees, not just because of their stature, but because of they sound they make while flying, which is very familiar with the bee’s buzzing. In fact, even the species’ name came from this humming noise their tiny wings make.
Beings so small, comes with some disadvantages, as they need to compete for food with so many insects. But there are some positive aspects as well. Due to their tiny bodies, the bee hummingbirds are able to beat their wings over 200 times per second, while other hummingbirds have only 80 beats. But harder the work, bigger the amount of food.
The bee hummingbird need to eat their body weight in nectar every day, so for that they need to visit almost 1,500 flowers. But it’s a win-win process, as these tiny birds – just like bee – help plants to reproduce!
Because of their size, the bee hummingbirds are an easy target for larger birds, and even for fish or frogs. As a result, these adorable creatures have been recently listed as a ‘near threatened’ species.