You don't need to be a bird expert to know that hummingbirds are cool! Check out this list of facts about these flying jewels of the bird world.

• The smallest bird in the world is the bee hummingbird, native to Cuba. It measures only 2 inches from bill tip to tail tip.
• The largest hummingbird in the world is the giant hummingbird, a resident of the Andes. It is 8½ inches in length, or about two inches smaller than a robin.
• There are several species of nectar-drinking moths that resemble hummingbirds, called hummingbird moths. Note: Hummingbirds don't have antennae, but moths do!
• In a normal day of feeding, hummingbirds consume more than their body weight in nectar and insects.
• Hummingbird tongues are shaped like a W, with twin canals. The tip is forked, with featherlike edges.
• Hummingbirds require more energy to live than any other warm-blooded animal. Among birds, they have the highest normal body temperature, proportionally the largest brain and heart, the highest heart rate, and the fastest wingbeats.
• Hummingbirds can fly horizontally up to 30 miles per hour, but males descending in their courtship display can dive at speeds of 60 mph.
• Hummingbird eggs are as tiny as the eraser on a No. 2 pencil.
• The female alone builds the nest, incubates and tends to the young.
• Hummingbird nests are constructed of spider webs, fluffy plant fibers, and animal hair. The outside is often camouflaged with lichen, moss, bark, or leaves.
• It takes about three weeks from hatching until fledging. Fledglings remain dependent upon their mom for food for about one more week.
• Young male hummingbirds resemble females until the following spring.
• Fewer than 35 percent of hummingbird fledglings survive their first year.
• The old-age record for any wild, banded hummingbird is 12 years, but such geriatric birds are extreme exceptions.
• During cool weather at night, hummingbirds go into a state of mini-hibernation, called torpor. The bird's body temperature drops significantly; its heart rate slows, and its metabolism runs at as little as 1/50th that of an active bird.