Mellisuga | |
---|---|
Mellisuga helenae | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Clade: | Strisores |
Order: | Apodiformes |
Family: | Trochilidae |
Tribe: | Mellisugini |
Genus: | Mellisuga Brisson, 1760 |
Type species | |
Trochilus minimus Linnaeus, 1758
|
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.
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]