Would you like to know which are the world smallest birds? Would you like to know how much they measure? Are you interested in knowing a little about their feeding, location and reproduction? Find here a list of tiny birds in the world and learn about the unique characteristics that distinguish them.
1. Bee hummingbird
Scientific name: Mellisuga helenae
Also called “Helena hummingbird”, it is the smallest known bird species in the world. It lives in two places in Central America such as Cuba and the Isle of Youth. The male is smaller than the female, and its plumage is metallic blue on the wings, white on the abdomen, and red on the neck. Females have blue-green tones, white breast and white spots on the tail. Depending on the specimen, these tones may vary.
The length of the beautiful tiny bee hummingbird, from beak to tail, is only two inches. This hummingbird weighs less than two grams, its nest is three centimeters in diameter, and its eggs are almost invisible to humans. The bee hummingbird is undoubtedly the smallest exotic bird in the world and at the same time one of the most beautiful.
2. Weebill bird
Scientific name: Smicrornis brevirostris
It is an endemic bird to Australia and very small in size, although almost twice the size of the bee hummingbird. This little bird measures only nine centimeters. The Weebil has brown wings, gray legs, and yellow eyes. The tail is brown with black and white spots; there are no noticeable differences between females and males.
This small bird is an excellent singer that inhabits the forests and jungles of the entire oceanic continent and feeds on larvae and insects. The eggs of the Weebill are brown with white spots and each season the female lays a maximum of three eggs.
3. Forty-spotted pardalote
Scientific name: Pardalotus quadragintus
The Forty-spotted pardalote is a small exotic bird native to Oceania, living mainly in Australia. It is one of the rarest species in the world as it has only been seen on a few small islands in Tasmania, such as Maria Island. This bird is sedentary and is in danger of extinction.
The Forty-spotted pardalote is between 9 and 10 centimeters long. This species has a greenish-brown back and head instead of the colorful plumage that distinguishes other types of Pardalote. Their cheeks and the underside of the tail are yellow. His chest is white with a yellow hue. Their wing feathers are black and each has a white point at the tip. This bird does not show seasonal variation in its feathers, but when they are young, they are lighter in color than the adults.
4. Goldcrest
Scientific name: Regulus regulus
When you learn about this beautiful exotic bird, it is not only striking that it is one of the smallest known birds in the world, but one of the things that stands out the most in this species is its yellow and black crest that it has above head.
The Goldcrest is the smallest bird in Europe and at most nine centimeters. When it opens its wings it does not exceed 14 centimeters. It lives in the low branches of trees, forms nests with moss and each year it lays a maximum of eight eggs. This cute-looking little bird feeds on spiders and insects. It has a sharp, modulated and fast song.
5. American goldfinch
Scientific name: Spinus tristis
This exotic bird receives many names on the continent, such as canary goldfinch, linnet or wild canary. It lives mostly in North America and some islands in the Caribbean, including the Bahamas. It is characterized by changing plumage and by the differences between females and males.
Males have green or brown feathers, which change to yellow at the time of mating. Females are brown or grayish in color, although their feathers also become more showy and beautiful in summer. The American goldfinch is monogamous, feeds on small seeds, inhabits meadows and areas near cities and towns. This bird can measure 13 centimeters and weigh a maximum of 20 grams.
6. Tropical parula
Scientific name: Setophaga pitiayumi
The “tropical parula” or “parula”, is a species of passerine bird in the Parulidae family. It is a sedentary species that is distributed from the extreme southeast of Texas, in the United States, to the north of Argentina and Uruguay. It mainly inhabits premontane forests with some degree of disturbance or fragmentation. Its name Parula derives from the Latin parrula which means small bird. The origin of the word pitiayumi is unclear and is probably derived from the sound produced by the bird, pitpit.
It measures 10 centimeters and weighs around 7g. It has a clearly bicolor thin bill with a black upper jaw and a yellow lower jaw. Adult males are grayish-blue above with a large olive-green triangle on the back, the loreal, orbital area, and cheeks are black, and the wings show don white wing bars. Underneath it is bright yellow with an orange tawny tint on the throat and chest and its undercoats are white. The female is similar to the male, but with black only in the loreal and orbital areas, and with a much fainter orange tint to the breast.
7. Bananaquit
Scientific name: Coereba flaveola
It is about 11 cm long. Both sexes are similar. The dorsal parts of the wings and the back are dark gray and at the crown it becomes black, the rump is yellow. It has a conspicuous white superciliary band, and a black one at eye level. The throat is white, the chest is yellow, and the other underparts are yellowish-white. The immature one is more opaque and has a yellowish superciliary band. The bill is dark black, with red corners, thin and curved, adapted to take nectar from flowers.
Sometimes it pierces the flowers on one side, taking the nectar without pollinating the plant. It cannot hover in still flight like hummingbirds, so it must always perch while feeding. It feeds mainly on bananas, mangoes and papaya or lechoza. It also feeds on fruits and insects. He often visits the gardens and can be very confident. The nickname ‘sugar bird’ comes from its craving for grain sugar dispensed in wells or bird feeders, which is a common method of attracting nectarivorous birds of the genera Coereba, Dacnis and other similar ones of what was previously considered Coerebidae , all referred to as ‘sugar birds’. The populations that live in the islands of Granada and San Vicente diverge from those of other Antillean populations because they have black backs.
8. Brown Gerygone
Scientific name: Gerygone mouki
The Brown Gerygone (also called brown warbler) is one a group of species of small birds which were formerly known as warblers, due to their loud, melodious song. However, as they are not related to the ‘true warblers’ that occur in Europe, Africa, the Americas and Asia, their name was changed. Their new name, ‘gerygone’, which is pronounced ‘jer-ig-on-nee’, comes from Greek, meaning ‘the children of song’. However, the song of the Brown Gerygone is said to be less sweet and sibilant than the songs of Australia’s other gerygones.
It is a small bird, olive-grey (race richmondi, in south) to buff-brown (race mouki, in north) above, with a pale grey face and underparts, with the flanks washed brown. It has a long white eyebrow and a red-brown eye. The tail band is dark and the tail tips are white. It is usually seen in pairs or small parties, fluttering around foliage. Also known as the Brown Warbler. The Brown Gerygone is similar to both the Large-billed, G. magnirostris, and Mangrove,G. levigaster, Gerygones. It differs from the former by having a distinctive white eyebrow and a grey-tinged face. The Mangrove Gerygone, while having a white eyebrow, lacks the grey face, has more white on the flanks and has a redder eye.