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From Cuban Nature - The Zunzuncito


The zunzuncito
The zunzuncito

The Zunzuncito or hummingbird is a bird endemic to Cuba, also known as Zunzún or Colibrí, Trovador and Zumbete.


Its flight is extraordinarily fast, emitting with its wings a sound similar to that of an insect. With an unprecedented speed, it effectively reaches a flight speed of up to 114 kilometers per hour and takes nectar from flowers in full suspension thanks to its hovering flight and its long, thin beak. It is thus a pollinator par excellence, because at the same time as it feeds, it effectively helps the reproduction of plants.


This small bird, which can measure just seven centimeters at its largest, is the smallest bird in the world. Like other endemic birds, the Zunzuncito is protected because it is in danger of extinction.


The male, smaller than the female, has a bright red head and neck, metallic blue on the back and wings and grayish white on the chest and abdomen. It measures about 5 cm at most from beak to tail and weighs about 1.8 g. The female for her part has a bluish green color, with white on the chest and abdomen, and they have white spots on the tip of the tail.


Its nest measures only 3 cm, it is logically the smallest of all birds, and can easily go unnoticed. They nest between February and September and lay 1 to 2 eggs, also tiny.


The male of the species is the smallest warm-blooded vertebrate in the world. Its body temperature is 40°C, also the highest of all birds. The zunzún has the second fastest heart rate of all animals and is the bird with the fewest feathers. It is more likely to be confused with a bee, rather than a bird, precisely because of its small size.


This little bird flaps its wings about 80 times / sec, which allows it to stay in the air, in the same position for a long time, in this way it is able to suck nectar from flowers, without the need to lean on them, or in the branches. This extraordinary bird can flap its wings up to 200 times per second during mating.


Zunzunes consume half their weight in food and up to 8 times their weight in water in a day. Their diet consists primarily of mead, which they extract from flowers with their long beaks and mobile tongues, although they also feed on small insects.


The Zunzuncito is found both in forests and other natural spaces, as well as in city gardens. In Cuba it is found preferably in the Ciénaga de Zapata, the Isla de la Juventud, the Guanahacabibes peninsula, the Sierra Maestra, in the Sierra Cristal, the Sierra del Escambray and the Sierra de los Órganos.

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