What’s so fascinating about hummingbirds?
Well... what’s NOT fascinating about them? They are the smallest and lightest birds on earth, ranging from slightly larger than a big insect to the size of a starling. Hummingbirds are tiny but bold, and sometimes even bluntly aggressive when it comes to defending their main food sources: flowers.
Hummingbirds can fly like a helicopter: backwards, upside down or in a somersault to flee from a rival or predator. The hummingbird is the only bird able to do this.
These smallest birds on earth come in every color of the rainbow. The feathers of some hummingbirds are even iridescent: they change color when looked upon from a different angle. Simply magical.
In 2016 Jeanne Melchels of Jeanne design started the Hummingbird Illustration Project on Instagram. In this project Jeannne illustrated 300 different hummingbird species in different styles, materials or techniques (5 species in each illustration style, technique or material). This illustration project is based on the BirdLife international list of 371 hummingbird species.
