Mellisuga
Genus of birds
| 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 | |
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 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]
Extant species
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
|
References
- ^ Brisson, Mathurin Jacques (1760). Ornithologie, ou, Méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, especes & leurs variétés (in French and Latin). Vol. 1. Paris: Jean-Baptiste Bauche. Vol. 1, p. 40, Vol. 3, p. 694.
- ^ Peters, James Lee, ed. (1945). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 5. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 135.
- ^ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Names. London, UK: Christopher Helm. p. 249. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2019). "Hummingbirds". World Bird List Version 9.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
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