Mellisuga

<i>Mellisuga</i>

Mellisuga

Genus of birds

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.

Quick Facts Mellisuga, Scientific classification ...

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]

More information Common name, Scientific name and subspecies ...


References

  1. [1]
    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.
  2. [2]
    Peters, James Lee, ed. (1945). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 5. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 135.
  3. [3]
    Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Names. London, UK: Christopher Helm. p. 249. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  4. [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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