The vervain hummingbird (''Mellisuga minima'') is a species of

hummingbird Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are found in the tropics aro ...

in tribe

Mellisugini Mellisugini is one of the three tribes that make up the subfamily Trochilinae in the hummingbird family Trochilidae. The other two tribes in the subfamily are Lampornithini (mountain gems) and Trochilini (emeralds). The informal name "bees" has ...

of subfamily

Trochilinae Trochilinae is one of the six subfamilies that make up the hummingbird family Trochilidae. The subfamily is divided into three tribes: Lampornithini (mountain gems) containing 18 species, Mellisugini (bees) containing 37 species and Trochili ...

, the "bee hummingbirds". It is found on

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...

(split between the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

and

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

) and

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

.HBW and BirdLife International (2020) ''Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world'' Version 5. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v5_Dec20.zip xls zipped 1 MBretrieved 27 May 2021

Taxonomy and systematics

The vervain hummingbird was formally described by the Swedish naturalist

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ''

Systema Naturae ' (originally in Latin written ' with the ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the system, now known as binomial nomen ...

'' under the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''Trochilus minimus''. Linnaeus based his description on a bird that had been described and illustrated in 1747 by the English naturalist George Edwards. The type locality is Jamaica. The vervain hummingbird is now placed together with the tiny Cuban

bee hummingbird The bee hummingbird, zunzuncito or Helena hummingbird (''Mellisuga helenae'') is a species of hummingbird, native to the island of Cuba in the Caribbean. It is the world's smallest bird. Description The bee hummingbird is the smallest living ...

in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Mellisuga ''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. The genus was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 with the ...

'' that was introduced by the French zoologist

Mathurin Jacques Brisson Mathurin Jacques Brisson (; 30 April 1723 – 23 June 1806) was a French zoologist and natural philosopher. Brisson was born at Fontenay-le-Comte. The earlier part of his life was spent in the pursuit of natural history; his published works ...

in 1760. Two

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of vervain hummingbird are recognised, the nominate ''M. m. minima'' (Linnaeus, 1758) and ''M. m. vielloti'' ( Shaw, 1812).

Description

The vervain hummingbird is perhaps the second-smallest bird in the world after the smallest, the

, though some other tiny ones are close to it in size. It is about long, including the bill, and weighs about . The sexes are nearly alike but for their tails and the subspecies have only subtle plumage differences. All have a short, straight, dull black bill. Males are unique among hummingbirds by not having any iridescent feathering.Clark, C. J. (2020). Vervain Hummingbird (''Mellisuga minima''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.verhum1.01 retrieved July 27, 2022 Males have dull metallic green uppersides that are almost black on the rump and uppertail

coverts A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which, as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are s ...

. The chin, throat, and chest are pale gray lightly spotted with darker gray; the belly and undertail coverts are dark metallic green. Its tail is entirely black and slightly forked. Females are dark metallic green to bluish green above and on the flanks. The throat is pale gray that darkens down the underparts to the vent area. The tail is rounded, not forked like the male's. The base of its central feathers are dark green and the rest of their length is black. The other tail feathers are black with varying amounts of white on their tips.

Distribution and habitat

The nominate subspecies of vervain hummingbird is found on Jamaica. ''M. m. vielloti'' is found in both the Dominican Republic and Haiti on the island of Hispaniola and also smaller nearby islands. There is one sight report from

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

. The species inhabits almost every available landscape throughout its range except the interior of dense

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

. It occurs in

gallery forest A gallery forest is one formed as a corridor along rivers or wetlands, projecting into landscapes that are otherwise only sparsely treed such as savannas, grasslands, or deserts. The gallery forest maintains a more temperate microclimate above th ...

, dry forest, desert scrub-shrub, gardens, and even urban areas. In elevation it ranges from sea level to at least .

Behavior

Movement

The vervain hummingbird does not migrate in the conventional sense but appears to make elevational movements in response to food availability.

Feeding

The vervain hummingbird forages for nectar at a very wide variety of flowering plants though it typically feeds at small, low-yield flowers. It does not defend feeding territories. It typically cocks its tail up when feeding. In addition to nectar, it captures small insects by

hawking Hawking may refer to: People * Stephen Hawking (1942–2018), English theoretical physicist and cosmologist * Hawking (surname), a family name (including a list of other persons with the name) Film * ''Hawking'' (2004 film), about Stephen Ha ...

from a perch or by hovering in a patch of flying insects.

Breeding

Male vervain hummingbirds make what appears to be courtship display flights, a flat horizontal circle by itself or with dives between two circles. The species' breeding season spans from December to August. The female makes a tiny cup nest of soft material such as hair and plant down covered with lichen or moss; it is held together and anchored to a branch with spiderweb. Nests are typically somewhat hidden and are often within of the ground. The clutch is two eggs that are among the smallest of all birds', with an average length of and weighing about . The female incubates them for 16 to 19 days and fledging occurs about 21 to 25 days after hatch.

Vocalization

Male vervain hummingbirds are highly vocal. The sing during most of the day from exposed perches in their territory and also during the courtship display and during encounters with other males. The song is complex, a mix of syllables some of which may be repeated during a song bout. The songs of the two subspecies are subtly different but the differences might be within the range of individual birds' repertoires. Both sexes make a "dry 'chittering' scolding sound" during

agonistic An agonist is a chemical that activates a receptor to produce a biological response. Receptors are cellular proteins whose activation causes the cell to modify what it is currently doing. In contrast, an antagonist blocks the action of the agon ...

encounters.

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has assessed the vervain hummingbird as being of Least Concern. It has large range, and though its population size is not known it is believed to be stable. It is widespread and uses many habitats including human-altered areas both for food and breeding. No specific threats have been identified.

Gallery

Vervain hummingbirds (Mellisuga minima) courting.jpg, Courting, Jamaica Vervain Hummingbird.jpg, On nest Vervain hummingbird (Mellisuga minima) feeding.jpg, Feeding, Jamaica