Bee Hummingbirds

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The Bee Hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae) - also known as Zunzuncito or Zunzún hummingbird within its natural range - is a tiny hummingbird that is only found in Cuba - a Caribbean island south of Florida, USA, and possibly on nearby islands.

The "Smallest Bird" Controversy

There is some controversy with respect to which bird is the smallest bird in existence -- the Mexican Bumblebee Hummingbird (Atthis heloisa) or the Cuban Bee Hummingbird. Both of which are easily mistaken for bumblebees due to the obvious similarity in size and foraging behavior. Bumblebees are also attracted to yellow and red colors - just like hummingbirds - and will also hover in front of flowers and hummingbird feeders to sip nectar through a long feeding tube. One has to be very close to really know whether this is a hummingbird or a bumble bee.

The Cuban Bee Hummingbird and the Mexican Bumblebee Hummingbird may share some ancestry, but are not closely related and are clearly separated geographically. As far as size is concerned, the Cuban Bee Hummingbird is slightly smaller than the Mexican Bumblebee Hummingbird -- therefore, the smallest bird species is indeed the Cuban Bee Hummingbird. Then again, in nature the sizes of individuals vary. So-called "runts" amongst the Mexican Bumblebee Hummingbirds may very well be comparable in size to the Cuban Bee Hummingbirds - but that is not the general rule.

Bee Hummingbird Facts

• The Bee Hummingbird only measures about 2 inches or 5 cm in length and weighs between 0.06 - 0.07 oz (1.8 - 2 g) - which is less than the weight of a Canadian or US penny -- because of this it is often referred to as the "Penny Hummingbird." The Bee Hummingbird is, therefore, the smallest and lightest known living bird in the world. Because of its small size, it is often mistaken for a honey bee, which lead to its common name.


• The bee hummingbirds flap their wings around eighty times per second; or even 200 times per minute during the male's courtship display,


• Bee hummingbirds can fly up to twenty hours nonstop.


• Flight speed: This species is capable of flying at speeds of 25 to 30 MPH or even faster during their territorial chases and dives.


• Bee hummingbirds have a spectacularly fast heart rate of up to 1,200 times per minute - it is the second fastest heart rate ever recorded in any animal (second only to the Asian shrew)


• Bee hummingbirds have fewer feathers than any other bird (which makes sense since they are the smallest birds on earth with less "skin surface")


• Lifespan: Bee hummingbirds can live up to 7 years in the wild and up to 10 years in captivity.

Alternate (Global) Names

Spanish: Colibrí Zunzuncito, Trovador, Zunzuncito ... Italian: Colibrì ape, Colibrì di Elena ... French: Colibri d'Elena, Colibri d'Helen, Colibri d'Hélène ... German: Bienenelfe ... strong>Latin: Calypte helenae, Mellisuga helenae, Philodice helenae ... Czech: Kalypta menší, kolibřík nejmenší ... Danish: Bikolibri ... Estonian: kimalaskoolibri ... Finnish: Kimalaiskolibri ... Japanese: mamehachidori ... Dutch: Bijkolibrie ... Norwegian: Bikolibri ... Polish: Hawańczyk, koliberek hawanski, koliberek hawański ... Russian: Колибри-пчёлка ... Slovak: cmelovec vcelí ... Swedish: Bikolibri

Distribution

The Bee Hummingbird naturally occur in Cuba - a Caribbean island situated south of Florida, USA; with patchy populations found in Habana (the capital of Cuba), Sierra de Anafe, Guanahacabibes Peninsula, Zapata Swamp, Moa, Mayarí and the coast of Guantánamo.

Its natural range also includes the Isla de la Juventud (formerly known as the Isle of Pines) - the largest of the islands off Cuba's southern coast. However, there are some reports that the Bee Hummingbird is now extinct on that island.

There have also been several bee hummingbird sightings on the neighboring islands of Jamaica, Haiti. (Lack, 1971; Tyrrell, 1990) and Santo Domingo. However, some experts feel that these were instead sightings of the Vervain Hummingbird, which resemble the Bee Hummingbird, but is bigger in size.

They are also said to be vagrants to the Bahamas (an island group north of Cuba).

Bee Hummingbirds are mostly resident (non-migratory) as the humid subtropical climate they live in, with no seasonal extremes, optimally meets their needs. Therefore, there really is no need for them to migrate long distances, as other hummingbirds do. However, they will make movements in response to differing flowering seasons.

Habitat

Bee Hummingbirds primarily inhabit dense coastal forests and forest edges, but are also found in mountain valleys, interior forests, swamplands and gardens.

They prefer areas with the plant Solandra grandiflora - a vine with large ornamental flowers - and their preferred source of nectar.

Even though, they appear to live at both high and low altitudes, Bee Hummingbirds seem to prefer lowland areas.

Status

The Bee Hummingbird was formerly common and widespread, but is now rare and localized. The principal threat to its existence is habitat loss. Large parts of Cuba's natural vegetation has been converted for agricultural uses, with only 15-20% of land remaining in its natural state. This form of human encroachment has negatively impacted the subtropical and tropical forests and swamplands that sustain the Bee Hummingbird, and it is now confined to ever-shrinking suitable habitats.

Additionally, bee hummingbirds are preyed upon by birds of prey, frogs, fish and tropical spiders

As a result, its numbers have been declining in recent years and this hummingbird is now classified as Near Threatened.

Description

Bee hummingbirds are the smallest known living birds in the world - being comparable in size to bumble bees and are lighter than a Canadian or U.S. penny. Females are slightly larger than males.

Bee Hummingbirds measure mostly between 1.97 - 2.36 inches or 5 - 6 cm in length - including beak and tail; and they weigh between 0.06 - 0.07 oz or 1.6 - 1.9 g. Compare this to the largest hummingbird is the giant hummingbird of South America, which is 8 inches or 20 cm long and weighs around 0.70 ounces (20 grams).

• Males average 2.17 inches or 5.51 cm long and weigh about 0.07 oz or 1.95 g.
• The slightly larger females average 2.4 inches or 6.12 cm long and weigh about 0.09 oz or 2.6 g
• Average wingspan: 1.28 inches or 3.25 cm.
• The straight bills are rather short beaks compared with other species of hummingbirds

The adult male

The breeding male has a glossy red-pink head, chin and throat, and an iridescent gorget (throat patch) with elongated lateral plumes. His upper plumage is bluish, while the rest of the under plumage is mostly greyish white. His colorful plumage can only be seen during breeding season and is shed shortly afterward.

The non-breeding male looks like the female but their outer tail feathers are black-tipped (rather than white). There also have blue spots on the wingtips.

The adult female

The female's upper plumage is bluish-green; and her plumage below is whitish / pale grey. Her outer tail feathers are white-tipped.

Similar Species:

Vervain Hummingbirds are similar to the female and juvenile Bee Hummingbirds. However, apart from the fact that their ranges don't meet, the Vervains are slightly larger than the Bee Hummingbirds; additionally, the Bee Hummingbirds' back feathers have more of a blue tinge.

Calls / Vocalization

Bee Hummingbirds make a variety of simple, high-pitched songs typically consisting of a single repeated note, each note lasting less than a second. Their vocal sounds include squeaking and twittering.

Analysis has shown that different leks (assembly of displaying males) and individual males within a single singing assembly vary their songs. (Perrins and Middleton, 1989; Thomson, 1964)

Nesting / Breeding

The breeding season usually commences at the end of the wet season and the onset of the dry season, when many trees and shrubs are flowering -- in particular their favorite feeding plant - the Solandra grandiflora (Cup of Gold Vine, Chalice Vine).

Hummingbirds are solitary in all aspects of life other than breeding; and the male's only involvement in the reproductive process is the actual mating with the female. They neither live nor migrate in flocks; and there is no pair bond for this species. For all aspects of life other than breeding, bee hummingbirds tend to live a solitary existence.

Male Bee Hummingbirds form leks (groups of singing males that participate in competitive courtship rituals). The males will perform various songs to attract females, which may be brief warbles or a repetition of a few notes. Females may visit several leks throughout the day and select a mate based on his performance. A single male may mate with several females in one season. In all likelihood, the female will also mate with several males. Mating can occur on a perch or while hovering in the air

He will separate from the female immediately after copulation. The males do not participate in choosing the nest location, building the nest or raising the chicks.

The female Bee Hummningbird is responsible for building the small cup-shaped nest out of plant fibers (about 1 inch or 3 cm in diameter), woven together and green moss on the outside for camouflage in a protected location in a shrub, bush or tree. She lines the nest with soft plant fibers, animal hair and feather down, and strengthens the structure with spider webbing and other sticky material, giving it an elastic quality to allow it to stretch to double its size as the chicks grow and need more room. The nest is typically found on a low, thin horizontal branch between 3 to 20 feet from the ground.

The average clutch consists of two pea-sized white eggs, which she incubates alone for 14 to 16 days, while the male defends his territory and the flowers he feeds on. The young are born blind, immobile and without any down.

The female alone protects and feeds the chicks with regurgitated food (mostly partially-digested insects since nectar is an insufficient source of protein for the growing chicks). The hummingbird mother pushes the food down the chicks' throats with her long bill directly into their stomachs.

As is the case with other hummingbird species, the chicks are brooded only the first week or two, and left alone even on cooler nights after about 12 days - probably due to the small nest size. The chicks leave the nest when they are about 18 to 38 days old.

The young will start breeding when they are about 1 year old.

Diet / Feeding

The Bee Hummingbirds primarily feed on nectar taken from a variety of brightly colored, scented small flowers of trees, shrubs and epiphytes - visiting up to 1,500 flowers on an average day.

They favor flowers with the highest sucrose concentrations 15 to 30 percent - their favorite feeding plant being the Solandra grandiflora (Cup of Gold Vine, Chalice Vine).

Bee hummingbirds seek out, and aggressively protect, those areas containing flowers with high energy nectar. They use their long, extendible, straw-like tongues to retrieve the nectar while hovering with their tails cocked upward as they are licking at the nectar up to 13 times per second. Sometimes they may be seen hanging on the flower while feeding. Bee hummingbirds spend most of the day feeding as they have to eat half their total body mass and drink 8 times their total body mass in water each day to support their extremely high metabolism.

Many native and cultivated plants on whose flowers hummingbirds feed heavily rely on them for pollination. The mostly tubular-shaped flowers actually exclude most bees and butterflies from feeding on them and, subsequently, from pollinating the plants.

They may visit local hummingbird feeders for some sugar water, or drink out of bird baths or water fountains where they will either hover and sip water as it runs over the edge; or they will perch on the edge and drink - like all the other birds; however, they only remain still for a short moment.

They also take some small spiders and insects - important sources of protein particularly needed during the breeding season to ensure the proper development of their young. Insects are often caught in flight (hawking); snatched off leaves or branches, or are taken from spider webs. A nesting female hummingbird can capture up to 2,000 insects a day.

Males establish feeding territories, where they aggressively chase away other male hummingbirds as well as large insects - such as bumblebees and hawk moths - that want to feed in their territory. They use aerial flights and intimidating displays to defend their territories.

Males establish feeding territories, where they aggressively chase other male hummingbirds, large insects, such as bumblebees and hawk moths that want to feed in their territory. They use aerial flights and intimidating displays to defend their territories.

Hummingbird Metabolism and Survival & Flight Adaption - Interesting Information

With the exception of insects, hummingbirds have the highest  metabolism rate of any animal on earth (high breathing rate, high heart rate, high body temperature).

Because of their "extreme" metabolism, the active hummingbirds require frequent feedings throughout the day - every ten to fifteen minutes and potentially visiting 1,500 flowers a day. They have to eat up to half of its body mass and drink roughly eight times its body mass each day.

The hummingbird has the largest heart in proportion to its body - and has the highest heartbeat rate. Their hearts pump about 1,200 times per minute in flight and 200 beats per minute at rest – making it the fastest beating heart of all animals - except for the pygmy shrew with a recorded heartbeat of up to 1511 times per minute. (A shrew is a small animal that resembles a mouse – it occurs in Asia.). Their daytime body temperature ranges from 105° to 108°F (40.5° to 42.2°C).

To conserve energy at night when they are not feeding, their bodies go into a state of torpor (temporary hibernation), during which time the body heat escapes and the heart rate drops dramatically down to 19 °C (66 °F) to save energy. During this time, the hummingbirds cling to a branch and sit almost lifeless; sometimes their feet (which are known to be quite weak) will loosen their grasp enough to swing downwards and hummingbirds remain hanging upside down on the branch until the next morning or until they become alert when approached. People may even find semiconscious hummingbirds on branches, window sills or in garages, and when picked up, the warmth of hands is often enough to revive them, and they will buzz off in perfect health. This so-called "suspended animation" also enables hummingbirds to survive cold nights or any time that food might be scarce. At sunrise, the body temperature goes back up (which can take a few minutes up to an hour), and they will resume their normal activities - typically feeding before doing anything else. However, whether or not hummingbirds become torpid depends on their diet, health and type of activity they are engaged in (Long, 1997). For example, nesting female hummingbirds do not enter torpidity when incubating eggs as they need body heat to keep the eggs warm.

Unique flight abilities: Hummingbirds have skeletal and flight muscle adaptations that allow them to rotate their wings almost 180° - enabling them to fly forwards, backwards, up, down, sideways, even upside down. They can also remain still in space by moving their wings in a figure-eight pattern enabling them to remain stationary in the air - hovering in front of flowers as they feed on nectar. In fact, hummingbirds are more maneuverable than helicopters. Their normal flight speed is 30 mph (48 km/h), but they can reach 50 mph (80 km/h) during an escape or chase and even 63 mph (101 km/h) during a dive. Hummingbirds also spend a higher percentage of their lives flying than any other species. All of this is amazing particularly considering that these tiny birds weigh less than a penny.

Hummingbirds are named for the audible low-pitched humming sound made in flight. This humming sound is made by the wings, and the sounds differ depending on how fast the hummingbird beats its wings. Each hummingbird species generates a different humming sound in flight.

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