The Bee Hummingbird weighs less than a single penny.

The Bee Hummingbird measures about 5.7 centimeters long. Its small size requires a very fast metabolism to stay alive. Its heart beats up to 1,260 times per minute. The bird must eat half its body weight in nectar and insects every day. During flight, its wings beat about 80 times per second. This rapid movement creates the humming sound that gives the bird its name. To get enough energy, one bird visits up to 1,500 flowers in a single day. Its body uses oxygen 10 times faster than a human athlete during a race. At night, the bird enters a state called torpor to save energy. This is a very deep sleep where its body temperature drops significantly. Its heart rate slows down to only 50 beats per minute. This process stops the bird from starving while it cannot eat. Their nests are about the size of a large coin. They use spider webs to build the nests. The webs are stretchy, which allows the nest to expand as the chicks grow larger.