These tiny creatures have an extremely high metabolism, with a heart rate up to 1,260 beats per minute and 250 breaths per minute. Male Anna’s hummingbird, El Cajon, California (L) all others in Costa Rica: male green violet-eared hummingbird (LC), male green-crowned brilliant (C), male purple-throated mountain gem (RC) and violet sabrewing (R). Most have plumage with iridescent colors resulting from a combination of pigmentation and refraction from prism-like cells in the upper layers of the feathers. Most species are only 3-5 inches long, with the smallest, the bee hummingbird, at only 2 inches long and less than an ounce in weight. These small birds are able to hover, travel up to over 30 miles per hour, and fly backwards and even upside down. The common name comes from the sound created by wings beating in a figure-8 pattern at such high frequencies (up to 80 beats per second) they are audible to humans. There are about 330 species of hummingbirds, the second largest family of birds (Trochilidae), all native to the Americas from south central Alaska to Tierra dĮl Fuego, and the Caribbean, with the greatest species diversity found in tropical and subtropical Central and the northern Andes of South America. Female red-tailed comet at horsechestnut ( Aesculus sp.) flowers in La Cumbre, Córdoba, Argentina (L), swallow-tailed hummingbird at mallow near Santo Antônio do Retiro, Brazil (LC), female green-tailed trainbearer in garden in Otavalo, Ecuador (C), female purple-throated mountain gem at Trogon Lodge, Costa Rica (RC) and male crowned wood nymph near Uvita, Costa Rica (R).
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