Bee Hummingbird, pair (1/1 Bee Hummingbirds by SO-TA)

The bee hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae) is the world’s small extant bird, possibly the smallest bird ever known (but I am not up-to-date on the full extent of the avian fossil record). It is endemic to Cuba and its surrounding islands, especially the Zapata swamp in the eastern part of the island. They take nectar from several flowers, and will occasionally eat insects and spiders. Because of the energy required to power their wings, bee hummingbirds will consume about half their weight every day. The bee hummingbird is currently listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN. Earlier this year, SO-TA introduced this species to the toy realm as part of a new (?) line of 1:1 animals. There are four figures in the set, two males and two females, with both sexes sculpted either perching or flying. Today we’ll be looking at the flying male and perched female.

As previously mentioned, M. helenae is the smallest bird. Females are about 6.0 cm long and weigh 2.6 grams; males are slightly smaller, measuring 5.5 cm and weighing about 1.95 grams. The two figures presented here today measure 7.0 cm long, so they are technically slightly larger than the advertised size of 1:1.

The flying figures require assembly, as the wings come separate need to be attached. It also comes with a clear acrylic base and rod so it can be displayed as if in flight. In this case, my flying figure is the male. He is positioned upwards, as if feeding from a dangling flower or perhaps (for my display) trying to get the attention of a would-be mate. The sculpt is very well done, with good texturing representing individual feathers. The male is painted in full breeding display, complete with the pink chin feathers. The blue back shows purple iridescence when light hits it as the right angles. The chin flanks are also iridescent, although more orange than pink (which they can sometimes appear in nature, depending on the lighting). The wing feathers become gradually translucent towards their tips.

The perching figures do not require assembly. But, they come with two options for display. One is on an acrylic perch that attaches to the same style base as the flying figure. The other is a semicircular acrylic half-ring that appears to be designed to be worn on the finger (the flying figure can also be worn this way, but the wings are likely to come off with movement or if they come in contact with something). Like with the male, the female is very well sculpted and painted. She is also in her breeding plumage. The blue along her back also shows purple iridescence in the proper lighting.

These figures are a welcome addition to collectors of interesting taxa, especially those of you that animals in the 1:1 scale range (if you don’t find them being slightly larger than 1:1). Hummingbirds are very rarely made as toys and figures (surprisingly), and when they are, they are rarely marketed at the species level (take, for example, the hummingbird released earlier this year by Papo). Because of the two sculpt options for each sex, there are a variety of ways to display them. I chose the flying male and perching female in order to simulate the male trying to get the attention of the female.