15 Strange And Beautiful Hummingbird Species

There are about 338 different species of hummingbirds - an amazing family of birds found only in the New World. Their ability to hover for extended periods of time and even fly backwards makes them unique in the bird world. What they lack in size, they make up for with energy; the pinnacle of this being the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds incredible ability to flap up to 200 times per second during courtship displays.

Rufous-Breasted Hummingbird: The rufous-breasted hermit (Glaucis hirsutus), also called a hairy hermit, is a picky eater. It will only feed from flowers whose corolla (the whorl of petals that leads down into the nectaries) length and curvature exactly matches that of its bill. Interestingly, the males and females have differently shaped bills, an evolutionary trait that researchers think cuts down on food-related competition. These birds are bronze-green with undersides that are colored reddish-brown (a color which also happens to be called "rufous"). They have a broad distribution from Panama throughout the Caribbean.