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Sword-billed Hummingbird — printable fact sheet
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Sword-billed Hummingbird
Ensifera ensifera
The sword-billed hummingbird (Ensifera ensifera) of the high Andes is the only bird in the world whose bill is longer than the rest of its body, excluding the tail. The bill can reach 11 centimetres on a bird whose body is about 10, and the entire skeleton has been rearranged to…
Did you know?
- Sword-billed Hummingbirds must perch with their heads tilted upward because the sheer length of their bills makes it difficult to balance otherwise.
- It is the only bird whose bill is longer than its body. Because it cannot reach its own feathers with its bill, it is the only hummingbird known to preen with its feet. At rest it holds the bill pointing almost straight up, to relieve the strain on its neck. Its bill and the corolla of the passionflower Passiflora mixta have driven each other to extremes, and each would struggle without the other.
What I learned
Draw the sword-billed hummingbird
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