Quick Facts
- Type
- Bird
- Size
- About 6 cm long
- Weight
- Roughly 2–2.4 g
- Habitat
- Forests and gardens of Hispaniola and Jamaica
- Diet
- Flower nectar and small insects
- Active Time
- Active by day (diurnal)
- Lifespan
- Several years
Field Notes
- It is the second-smallest bird in the world, after the bee hummingbird.
- Its wings beat dozens of times per second, letting it hover and fly backward.
- It lays eggs smaller than a coffee bean in a thimble-sized nest.
About the Vervain Hummingbird
The vervain hummingbird is one of the smallest birds in the world, found only on the Caribbean islands of Hispaniola and Jamaica. Tiny and metallic green above with a pale underside, it weighs barely more than a coin. Like all hummingbirds, it can hover and even fly backward, its wings beating so fast they blur into a hum. It feeds mainly on flower nectar, using a long, needle-like bill, and supplements its diet with small insects. It also builds one of the tiniest nests of any bird.
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Or spin for another random animal on the explorer, or browse all species in the full directory.