What is the smallest living bird?

The smallest living bird is the bee hummingbird. Including its beak and tail, this bird measures only about 2 inches (5.5 centimeters) and weighs about two-thirds of an ounce (20 grams).

The more than 300 species of beautiful, brightly colored hummingbirds live throughout North and South America. They can flap their wings at amazing speeds. the smaller species beat their wings from 60 to 80 times per second. They are the only birds who can fly upside-down. The special structure of their wings also enables them to fly backwards, sideways, and straight up and down. Hummingbirds get their food by hovering over plants and inserting their long, thin beaks into flowers to get the nectar (and insects) inside.

Some can hover for close to an hour at a time. Like bees and other nectar eating creatures, hummingbirds help to spread pollen, the dusty grains that allow fertilization in plants. The pollen clings to their feathers when they come in contact with the male parts of a flower and gets deposited in another plant’s female parts, thus helping to produce new plants. Because of their unusually small size, often brilliantly colored feathers, and extraordinary methods of flying, hummingbirds are favorites with birdwatchers.