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Genus of birds From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mellisuga is a genus of hummingbirds in the family Trochilidae. They are notable for being the first and second smallest bird species in the world.
Mellisuga | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Mellisuga helenae | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Clade: | Strisores |
Order: | Apodiformes |
Family: | Trochilidae |
Tribe: | Mellisugini |
Genus: | Mellisuga Brisson, 1760 |
Type species | |
Trochilus minimus Linnaeus, 1758 |
The genus was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 with the vervain hummingbird as the type species.[1][2] The name Mellisuga is a combination of the Latin words mel or mellis, meaning "honey" and sugere, meaning "to suck".[3]
The genus contains two species:[4]
Common name | Scientific name and subspecies | Range | Size and ecology | IUCN status and estimated population |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bee hummingbird | Mellisuga helenae (Lembeye, 1850) |
Cuba and Isla de la Juventud![]() |
Size: Habitat: Diet: |
NT
|
Vervain hummingbird | Mellisuga minima (Linnaeus, 1758) Two subspecies
|
Hispaniola (the Dominican Republic and Haiti) and Jamaica![]() |
Size: Habitat: Diet: |
LC
|
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