Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds are among the smallest birds on earth, measuring around 7.5-13 cm (2-3 inches).  In our part of France we often see the Bee Hummingbird, which is not a bee, but a real hummingbird, but so tiny that people sometimes think it is a bee.  These tiny Bee Hummingbirds gather around a red flower, which I think must be a gorse bush of some sort (I have tried looking it up on Google to no avail) in the grounds here.  They measure barely 3 cm, perhaps 4 cm, and they move so quickly that it takes a while to realize what they are.  In fact were it not for the long beak, I too would have long ago assumed it was a bee.
I spend quite a lot of time in Belize where there are several types, all tiny, but none so tiny as the Bee Hummingbird.  But then Belize boasts a lot of wonderful plant and animal life, amazingly-plumed birds.  This one (illustartion)  is in Belize and measures barely 8 cms..

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