smallest bird.

[stirling]

Does anyone know what is the smallest bird in the world?
From mike.

[Guy F]

The smallest bird in the world is the Bee Hummingbird, which lives in Cuba and possibly elsewhere in that area. I'm not sure about exact sizes, but I think it's only about 5cm.
Guy

[stirling]

Thanks guy,thought it would be hummingbird but didn"t know which one.
Best from mike.

[Hank Freid]

Birds are truly beautiful creatures, they are also fascinating and all around us, roosting and nesting on our buildings and feeding in our gardens and refuse dumps, they are easy to find and fun to observe. The smallest bird in the world is the Bee Hummingbird which lives in Cuba

[goosey]

Hi Hank, welcome and thanks for the info .

I have just had a look for some piccies to see it, and found some interesting facts.

As you said the Bee Hummingbird is the smallest bird in the world. Male bee hummingbird are slightly smaller than the females. They do live in Cuba and Isla de la Juventud, weigh 1,6g, and their length is 5,7cm, half of length make up the tail and a beak.

They fly extremely fast - up to 80 km per hour. Their wings beat 80 times a second.

They can live upto 8 years which seems a lot for such a bird - perhaps they don't have many preditors or are just too fast! They eat every 10 minutes, mainly nectar and insects. Bee hummingbirds eat half their total body mass and drink 8 times their total body mass in water each day.

[mtngoat]

Here's to give you a sense of their size....


Bee Hummingbird

Here are the other extremes:

Giant Hummingbird


Sword-billed Hummingbird
(please don't poke me... )

[paul m]

Doesn't compare with hummingbirds but the smallest parrot has been filmed: BBC - Earth News - World's smallest parrot filmed

[Beverly Stayart]

Thanks for posting the photo of a Bee Hummingbird perched on top of a pencil eraser. I am amazed at the speed of hummingbirds in my backyard. The speed of the Bee Hummingbird is even more miraculous. I really enjoy hummingbirds so appreciate this information.