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Encyclopedia > Bee Hummingbird

Wikipedia:How to read a taxobox
How to read a taxobox
Bee Hummingbird
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Trochiliformes
Family: Trochilidae
Genus: Mellisuga
Species: M. helenae
Binomial name
Mellisuga helenae
(Lembeye, 1850)

The Bee Hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae) is a hummingbird, and the smallest of all birds (with the male being smaller than the female of the species). It can be found in Cuba (where it is called the zunzún) and the Isle of Pines. Its mass is approximately 1.8 grams, which is lighter than a Canadian or U.S. penny, and it is about 5 cm (2 inches) long. The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive either in the present day or the future. ... Image File history File links Status_iucn3. ... Near Threatened (NT) is an conservation status assigned to species or lower taxa which may be considered threatened with extinction in the near future, although it does not currently qualify for the threatened status. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ... Digimon, the only known animals. ... Typical Classes See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ... “Aves” redirects here. ... For the Australian jangle pop band, see The Hummingbirds. ... For the Australian jangle pop band, see The Hummingbirds. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... Juan Lembeye born in Galicia -Spain, Discovered three for new species for cience like as Myadestes elisabeth, Teretistris fernandinae. ... Year 1850 (MDCCCL) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Subfamilies Phaethornithinae Trochilinae For a list of species, see: Alphabetic species list Taxonomic species list Hummingbirds are small birds in the family Trochilidae. ... “Aves” redirects here. ... The Isla de la Juventud (English: Isle of Youth) is the largest island of Cuba after Cuba proper. ...


Description

The male has the pileum and fiery red throat, the iridescent gorget with elongated lateral plumes, bluish upperparts, and the rest of the underparts mostly greyish white. The female is green above, whitish below with white tips to the outer tail feathers. More apt to be mistaken for a bee than a bird because of the size, the bird is not a mimic. A mimic is any species that has evolved to appear similar to another successful species in order to dupe predators into avoiding the mimic, or dupe prey into approaching the mimic. ...


Female bee hummingbirds are bluish green with a pale gray underside. The tips of their tailfeathers have white spots. Breeding males have a pink to red head, chin, and throat. Non-breeding males look like females, except that their wingtips have blue spots.


Facts

The bee hummingbird is the world's smallest homeothermic vertebrate. When flying, its wings beat 80 times per second, up to 200 times per second during courtship displays. Its heart rate is the second fastest of all animals. Bee hummingbirds also have the fewest feathers of all birds. Their body temperature is 40 °C (104 °F), the highest of all birds. At night, their body temperature drops down 19 °C (66 °F) to save energy. Bee hummingbirds eat half their total body mass and drink 8 times their total body mass in water each day. The bee hummingbird can be found in woodland, shrubbery, and gardens in Cuba and the Isle of Pines. Its nest is only 3 cm across. The bee hummingbird's diet consists mainly of nectar and insects. A warm-blooded (homeothermic) animal is one that can keep its core body temperature at a nearly constant level regardless of the temperature of the surrounding environment (that is, to maintain thermal homeostasis) . This can involve not only the ability to generate heat, but also the ability to cool down... Classes and Clades See below Male and female Superb Fairy-wren Vertebrates are members of the subphylum Vertebrata (within the phylum Chordata), specifically, those chordates with backbones or spinal columns. ... Two feathers Feathers are one of the epidermal growths that form the distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on birds. ...


References

Insert non-formatted text here==External links== The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List and Red Data List), created in 1963, is the worlds most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species and can be found here. ... The World Conservation Union or International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation. ...


  Results from FactBites:
 
Hummingbird - MSN Encarta (676 words)
Hummingbirds are known for their rapid flight; their strong wing beat is so rapid that it produces a hum, which accounts for their common name.
Hummingbirds occur in every portion of the Americas, from Tierra del Fuego, at the southern tip of South America, almost to the Arctic Circle, but the majority of species inhabit tropical South America.
The ruby-throated hummingbird is about 10 cm (about 4 in) long and is notable for its long-distance migration, annually flying nonstop across the Gulf of Mexico, a minimum distance of 800 km (500 mi).
Hummingbirds (1715 words)
Studies of hummingbirds' metabolism are highly relevant to the question of whether a migrating Ruby-throated Hummingbird can cross 800 km (500 miles) of the Gulf of Mexico on a nonstop flight, as field observations suggest it does.
For nectar, hummingbirds will happily take artificial nectar from man-made feeders Such feeders allow people to observe and enjoy hummingbirds up-close while providing the hummingbirds with a reliable supply of nectar, especially when flower blossoms are less abundant.The feeders can be placed as high as 60 meters maximum.
Hummingbirds are thought by evolutionary biologists to have evolved in South America, and the great majority of the species are found there.
  More results at FactBites »

 

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