The world's "Smallest" and "largest" birds. Know them here.

The World's smallest bird 

Intoduction: The World's smallest bird is The Bee Hummingbird ,zunzuncito or Helena hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae) is a species of hummingbird  , which is found only in Cuba, is an absolute miniature, even among hummingbirds. It measures a mere two and a quarter inches long. Bee Hummingbirds are often mistaken for bees. They weigh less than two grams — less than a dime. That’s half the weight of our backyard hummers, like the Ruby-throated or Rufous. Females weigh 2.6 g  and are 6.1 cm (2.4 in) long, and are slightly larger than males, with an average weight of 1.95 g and length of 5.5 cm (2.2 in).Like all hummingbirds, it is a swift, strong flier.

A Hummingbird

Physical Appearance: The male has a green pileum and bright red throat, iridescent gorget with elongated lateral plumes, bluish upper parts, and the rest of the underparts mostly greyish white. The male is smaller than the female. The female is green above, whitish below, with white tips to the outer tail feathers. Compared to other small hummingbirds, which often have a slender appearance, the bee hummingbird looks rounded and plump.

The brilliant, iridescent colors of the bee hummingbird's feathers make the bird seem like a tiny jewel. The iridescence is not always noticeable, but depends on the viewing angle. The bird's slender, pointed bill is adapted for probing deep into flowers. 

Flight: In flight, the Bee Hummingbird’s tiny wings beat 80 times a second. And during a courtship flight, they beat up to 200 times per second! 

Diet:

The bee hummingbird has been known to visit 10 plant species. I am placing scientific names of these as because local names varies from place to place. These flowers include Hamelia patens , Chrysobalanus icaco, Pavonia paludicola , Forsteronia corymbosa , Lysiloma latisiliquum , Turnera ulmifolia , Antigonon leptopus , Clerodendrum aculeatum, Tournefortia hirsutissima , and Cissus obovata . They occasionally eat insects and spiders. In a typical day, bee hummingbirds will consume up to half their body weight in food.

The bee hummingbird feeds mainly on nectar, and an occasional insect or spider, by moving its tongue rapidly in and out of its mouth.

Ecological Importance:  In the process of feeding, the bird picks up pollen on its bill and head. When it flies from flower to flower, it transfers the pollen. In this way, it plays an important role in plant reproduction. In one day, the bee hummingbird may visit 1,500 flowers.

Habitat and distribution:

The bee hummingbird is endemic to the entire Cuban archipelago, including the main island of Cuba and the Isla de la Juventud in the West Indies. Its population is fragmented, found in Cuba's mogote areas in Pinar del Rio province and more commonly in Zapata Swamp (Matanzas province) and in eastern Cuba.

Breeding: The bee hummingbird's breeding season is March–June. They lay up to two eggs at a time. Males in the “bee” hummingbird clade court females with sound from tail‐feathers, which flutter during display dives. Using bits of cobwebs, bark, and lichen, the female builds a cup-shaped nest that is about 2.5 cm (0.98 in) in diameter. Nests have been built on single clothespins. She lines the nest with soft plant fibers. There she lays her eggs, which are no bigger than a coffee bean. She alone incubates the eggs and raises the young. The female lays only two eggs at a time, each about the size of a coffee bean.

Coevolution with flowersThe bee hummingbird interaction with the flowers that supply nectar is a notable example of bird–plant coevolution with its primary food source (flowers for nectar).

Eggs of Hummingbird  (Size comparision, image representation)

A hummingbird size representation

A hummingbird size representation (image)

The world's largest bird

Introduction: Struthio is a genus of birds in the order Struthioniformes, whose members are the ostriches. It is part of the infra-class Palaeognathae, a diverse group of flightless birds also known as ratites that includes the emus, rheas, and kiwis. There are two living species of ostrich, the common ostrich and the Somali ostrich. They are large flightless birds of Africa who lay the largest eggs of any living land animal. With the ability to run at 70 km/h (43.5 mph), they are the fastest birds on land. It is farmed worldwide , particularly for its feathers as they are used as decoration and feather dusters. Its skin is also used for leather products.

Distribution and habitat:

Today ostriches are only found natively in the wild in Africa, where they occur in a range of open arid and semi-arid habitats such as savannas and the Sahel, both north and south of the equatorial forest zone. The Somali ostrich occurs in the Horn of Africa, having evolved isolated from the common ostrich by the geographic barrier of the East African Rift. 

Species: There are nine known species in this genus, of which seven are extinct.

The living  species are: Struthio camelus (Common ostrich) and Struthio molybdophanes (Somali ostrich)

Ostrich on run

Ostrich egg size (left) vs chicken egg size(right)

Ostrich with her young ones

Ostrich guarding her Eggs

The largest extant bird species is the ostrich (Struthio camelus), a member of the Struthioniformes family from the plains of Africa and Arabia. A large male ostrich can reach a height of 2.8 metres (9.2 feet) and weigh over 156 kilograms . Ostrich eggs can weigh 1.4 kg  and are the largest eggs in the world today.

Notable: Donot confuse with The extant bird with the largest wingspan (Largest Flying bird), the wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) of the sub-Antarctic oceans. 

(I shall be wring on it in upcoming times, stay tuned)

Written/Authored and Presented by: Sahidul Islam (visit the profile of the blog for more info and contact)

dated: The 17th Nov, 2020

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