I am in Vence, Provence, France and in our garden are several Bee Hummingbirds which I thought were found only in Cuba and the Isle of Youth. The vdeo and pictures that I took confirm that these birds are less than two inches in length (I used a measuring tape).

Would anyone care to comment on the presence of these birds here in the south of France?

Hi Roger,
to my astonishement during my last holiday in Lnagedoc I've seen what I would dear to call a Bee Hummingbird. I've spent some just like you trying to find whether it's possible, but didn't come across anything. Are there any other species alike Hummingbirds?
Unfortunately, no other commentators yet.

I would say that you have Hummingbird Moths. They look and act like hummingbirds. Hummingbirds are only found in the Americas.Yet , the Hummingbird Moth is an enchanting insect

I have seen in Portugal last Saturday, ( 10th September 2008 ) what my wife and I at first thought was a rather flat Bumble bee, on closer inspection I realised that it was indeed a tiny humming bird, that is until I read on this site that the smallest was from Cuba and is about 2.5 inches long. The one we saw was no more than 2.5 cms with a wingspan of about 3 cm, the tail end was rather flat with some lighter spotting, the overall colouring was very moth like, (grey) the head was indistinguishable from the main body, it had a very curved probiscous ? which was about 9mm long which it was dipping into the flower heads.

Was this a bird or some kind of moth like insect?

I must say that I have seen a creature of the same size that you are speaking about here, in Israel. Since we got rid of the flowering bushes in the court garden, however, they have not been seen at all.

They are tiny and I thought that they might be an insect as well, but I see that the bee hummingbird description seems to fit them.

A friend and I just spotted a bee hummingbird in the Florida Keys! While in flight and hovering it was black with white wings or a low white collared neck. It looked just like a bumble bee from the North, but instead of being black and yellow, it was black and white. It was definately a hummingbird and it was the size of a bumblebee! We are only 90 miles from Cuba, so I guess it is not that extraordinary to see, yet my friend has lived 50 some years in the Florida Keys and never saw one like this before! It was a joy to see this beautiful bird!

Live in River Hall Country Club, Fort Myers Florida area. Spotted a Bee Hummingbird while walking dog on the Gof Course. What attracted me to him was the size, thought it was a bumble bee, watched it flit severals times and knew right away it was not a real bee, because of the way it hovered. Pretty Cool

I saw a bee hummingbird in the region of Eure et Loir, France in the hameau of Lesfromat, in the extraordinary garden of a woman named Mme. Lieux. This was 15 years ago and one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen. The body was maybe an inch and a half long, not much bigger than bumble bee. I have always felt so lucky to have seen such a wonder!

I saw this tiny marvel in the region of Eure et Loir near the village of Arrou about 15 years ago. It was amazing. I think of it so often. It was such a gift to have had the privilege of seeing this wonder of nature.

FYI: There is a few species of moths with a much wider distribution than the bee hummingbird called the hummingbird bee (i swear even though it sounds strange). They are also called hummingbird moths and are from the family Sphingidae. In pictures they kind of look like a bee or moth with a probiscus, but in motion they look like baby hummingbirds (with antenas if you can get a close enough peak)!

I'm in michigan . Me and my neighbor was sitting on the porch i have a variety of all types of flowers and was shocked to see this very small bee like creature (wings moved just like a humming bird) but it had some yellow spots on the tail the body looked black could have been dark purple . At first i though what the heck is that its not a moth the wings don't move like that and it fed just like a humming bird . Is it possible to have a small species of that size here in michigan ? I've never seen this thing ever . was shocked

I also live in michigan and tonight i saw what i thought was a baby hummingbird but thought noooo cant be . looked like a bee but wings were moving just like a hummingbird. He was hovering over my potted flowers on my deck. Loved it!!!

http://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.asp?identification=Hummingbird-Moth

Sounds like a humming bird moth... was this it (above link)?

I'm in Ella Valley, Israel, the valley where David fought Goliath, I think we saw two of these flying from flower to flower last weekend, is this possible.

i SAW A HUMMING BIRD MAURITIUS(in Indian Ocean) . It was about 3 cm and very fast. It was drinking the nectar of a flower and it immediately ran away when I presented myself.

i've saw a bird,3cm as you told....it was red and black,the wings was really quick,,,and it was drinking nectar while flying...i was too surprised and curious to know wether its really a hummingbird that i didn't have the time to take a photo of it....it was a grand bassin...

if you saw it at grand bassin then i can confirm you. because i live near grand bassin, and every time there's a plant that flowers that smells good i can see a bunch at my place. before i could not take any picture of it but today i have been able to take a few pics. thnx to confirm me that im not the only one to see it.

Nice Information

We have seen them in central Maine in August of 2010. We were very surprised to learn of them from our neighbor who's brother had seen them earlier in the week. So far we have observed them on flower blossoms. We have a humming bird feeder in the same area and they have not attempted to feed on it.

Took my grandsons to Disney World for the weekend, and spotted one at the Old Key West Resort. August 15, 2010

Saw a bee hummingbird on a mountain top in Yunnan, China. It was the size of and looked like a moth, reddish-brown and black with white spots. It flew extremely fast and was hard to follow visually unless it hovered. Its wingbeat was very fast and just a blur.

its very interesting to learn that the hummingbird is ahlf smaller than a robin

Spotted 3 in Melbourne Beach, Florida on 2/19/2011. 1st Time I ever saw one. I identified it by this web sight. Sure thought it was a large bee at first.

SO CUTE!

Saw hundreds of bee hummingbirds on lavender flowers in Provence, near Avignon, France in 1996. Like many birds that wind up out of their range, scientists say that the bee hummingbird was probably caught in the jetstream during storms in the Caribbean and carried across the Atlantic. Makes sense, as we are now seeing the occasional pair of West Coast birds here in Southern Ontario.

Last night we are sure we saw a hummingbird the size of a bumble bee in the garden here in La Charite, Loire valley, France. Some have told us it was likely the hummingbird moth. But this had a straight beak, not curved proboscis, a defined head colouring, and darted in and out of the lavender and other flowers like the larger hummingbirds we see in British Columbia. A bee hummingbird is my conclusion. Will be watching for it again.

This creature seems to have been seen in in my backyard in Bosnia and Herzegovina which is very unusual for this geographical location. We even got it on camera...It was amazing...

Thursday 1st Sept 2011 Nottingham
Today I saw what I first thought was a moth, But it was beating its wings and flying backwards & forwards dipping its beak into various flowers. It was about 3to 4 cms. it was definatly a small bird,(very small) It must have escaped from some collection,how else could it be here.

For the last 3 years we have had one of the bumblebee sized hummingbirds
for about 3-4 days. Today, we have seen one feeding at the 4 o'clock flowers and lantana. We live 22 miles north of Palestine, Tx. Is this a rare occurence?

Saw a Bee Hummingbird this morning at the crack of dawn in my garden, I live in Pembroke Pines, Florida, in the Miami/Fort Lauderdale area. I didn.t know what it was until I researched it all day. Was amazing to see. Hope to see again.

I've seen several times in my backyard garden,. bee hummingbirds between 2-3 birds as small as 2.5 cm feeding on nectar from sweet smelling bunch of flowers. It has a long beak and a pointed tail and because it is so fast i couldn't catch it on camera. It's amazing to see these birds in Malaysia.

We have a dwarf Poinciana tree in our front yard. On Halloween night, around 5:00 p.m., while waiting for the kids, I spotted something flying around our tree. I could not believe my eyes, they were Bee Hummingbirds. There were at least 8 to 10 of them swarming the tree for the nectar. I have never seen a sight like this, it was an experience.

Gosh darn, what I thought was a bee hummingbird turned out to be a hummingbird moth. Could have fooled me. Smitty