The smallest birds

Bird diversity can shake anyone. Among them you can find the mighty 150-kg giants such as African ostrich, and real babies, which weigh only a few grams. Unfortunately, very little is known about the smallest representatives of the bird kingdom. This is the gap that this article will fill.

10. Horned hummingbird

The length of this bird is only about 12 centimeters. Despite its miniaturization, this horned hummingbird is very beautiful. Like other members of its family, this bird has an eye-catching bright color and plumage painted in copper-green. The front of the neck and throat are velvety black in a very deep shade. At the same time the belly of the bird is white. It is found in Brazil, in the province of Minas Jeiraz, preferring the steppe landscape.

9. King finch

The body length of this bird is almost the same as the owner of the previous rankings of the smallest birds in the world and is 11-12 centimeters. You can meet it only in the highlands of India, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey and the Caucasus. But since the King's finch breeds quite well in captivity, it can be met in other countries.

8. Banana singer

The length of this bird is about 11 centimeters. At the same time, it has a very expressive appearance: a small, bent down beak, black hat, bright yellow belly and chest, and gray back. Just like a hummingbird, the banana singer eats small insects, berry juice and nectar, but unlike it, it cannot hang in the air in one place. To make the nectar more successful, the bird has a long double tongue, which still has special plates.

7. Fantail cysticola

Completely unsightly owner of the seventh line and length of 10 centimeters. This feathery can be found almost everywhere. The preference is given to moderately dry landscapes near water bodies with overgrown vegetation. It is also found on agricultural land. Particularly fond of rope-tailed cysticola rice paddies.

6. Green foam

Another ten-inch baby. At this length, the weight of this foam is only about eight grams. Its appearance is made unpretentious: abdomen is dirty white and the back is painted in olive green. It is found in the southern taiga, high-mountainous coniferous forests and the mixed forests of Central Europe. The bird's lifestyle is very secretive: as a rule, it hides in the upper part of tree crowns. It eats mainly clams, spiders and other small insects.

5. Hives

The body length of the hives ranges from 9-10 centimeters. It may look like a lump of feathers, from which the tail sticking upwardly. It's found in North Africa, North America and Eurasia. It gives preference to heather wastelands, thickets near reservoirs, ravines and raw deciduous, coniferous and mixed forests. Interestingly, hives do not like to fly, preferring to stay as close to the ground as possible, where they are very fast moving through the thickets.

4. Korolki

The size of the king is so small that it is often called the "northern hummingbird". The maximum length of their bodies is 9 centimeters and weighs 5-7 grams. Prefer coniferous forests, in whose high crowns they live. It should be said that despite their small size, these birds are very resistant and confidently withstand the harsh climate. They feed on insect larvae and eggs, as well as seeds.

3. Ochre hummingbird

This feathery is much smaller than the previous ones. With a body length of about eight centimeters, it weighs only three or four grams. Interestingly, it is the only hummingbird that is found in Russia. Like most other birds, males are much brighter colored: a bronze green hat on the head, white goiter and ochre-red plumage. But females look more modest: ochre sides, white bottom and greenish plumage on top.

2. Short Butterfly

The body length of this bird is no more than eight centimeters, and its weight is no more than six grams. Thanks to its modest size, it is considered Australia's smallest bird. It is found in wooded areas. It's easiest to find in eucalyptus thickets.

1. Colibri-bee

It's the smallest bird in the world. It's no longer than six centimeters long. Even more surprising is its weight, up to two grams. That's about the weight of half a teaspoon of water. The hummingbird bee lives exclusively in Cuba, preferring wooded, liana-rich areas. The diet consists only of flower nectar. The nests are built as tiny as they themselves - about two centimeters in diameter. Pieces of bark, lichen and spider web are used as building material. Each clutch usually has two eggs, the size of which is about as big as a pea.