From Opus

Photo by Richard Stern
Photo taken at Maria la Gorda, Pinar del Rio Pro., Cuba, February 2009
Click on photo for larger image

Mellisuga helenae

[edit] Identification

At 5cm, the Bee Hummingbird is the smallest bird in the world.

Male

• Green crown
• Red throat
• Iridescent gorget, with elongated lateral plumes
• Bluish upper-parts
• Greyish white underparts
• Slender pointed bill
  

Breeding males have red-pink head, chin and throat
Non breeding males have blue spots to their wingtips
Female

• Green above
• Pale grey below
• White tips to the outer tail feathers<brc/>

While more apt to be mistaken for a bee than a bird because of the size, the bird is not a mimic.

[edit] Distribution

The Bee Hummingbird is endemic to Cuba and Isle of Pines

[edit] Taxonomy

No subspecies are known.^[1]

[edit] Habitat

Woodland, shrubbery, and gardens.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Diet

The diet includes nectar.

[edit] Breeding

The female builds a cupshaped nest from cobwebs, bark,and lichen, lined with soft plant fibres. The 2 bright orange eggs with pink spots are incubated by the female, who also raises the young.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Wikipedia
3. Arthur Grosset

• List of references

[edit] External Links

• Arthur Grosset's Birds