The Tiniest Birds

Record-breaker
                 Hummingbirds are so tiny that one of their enemies is an insect, the praying mantis.  The smallest bird on Earth is the Cuban bee hummingbird.
                 It is less than 2 inches long from the tip of itss beak to the tip of its tail.  It weighs about 6/100ths of an ounce.  You could mail 16 of these birds with one stamp!
American beauties
                Hummingbirds are found only on the American continents and Caribbean islands.  The areas near the equator have the most species, or types.  Colombia has 153 species, the most of any country.  Sixteen species nest regularly in the United States.
                There are 331 known species.  About one-tenth of these are endangered.
Nesting
                The mother binds plants together with spiderwebs to make a tiny nest about as big as a golf ball.  Spiderwebs can stretch a lot without breaking, so the nest can stretch out as the chicks get bigger.
                 The mother sticks bits of leaves and other matter around the nest for camouflage.  She also lines the nest with plant material from her area, such as frayed cattails, dandelion fluff or cotton.