hummingbird

Everyday

A hummingbird is a very small, brightly coloured bird from the Americas that beats its wings so fast they hum, and that can hover in one place and even fly backwards. tree →

In the lessons

In science lessons, hummingbirds are an example of adaptation: long thin beaks and tongues for drinking nectar from flowers, very fast wing beats (dozens of beats each second), and a very fast heartbeat. They help pollinate flowers. The smallest bird in the world, the bee hummingbird, is a hummingbird. They live in North, Central and South America only.

Examples

• A hummingbird hovered beside the red flower. tree →
• Hummingbirds can fly backwards. tree →
• The hummingbird drank nectar with its long tongue. tree →
• Its wings beat so fast they looked like a blur. tree →
• The bee hummingbird is the smallest bird in the world. tree →
• We hung a feeder with sugar water for the hummingbirds. tree →

Note

One word, countable: hummingbirds. Hummingbirds live only in the Americas, not in the UK, Europe or Australia. They are named after the humming sound of their wings, not because they hum songs.