Field Guide to the Hummingbirds

Weighing as little as two grams, while hovering, flying backwards and beating their wings up to 80 times a second, hummingbirds are among the most dazzling birds on Earth – and among the most challenging to identify. Field Guide to the Hummingbirds is a compact, fully illustrated guide to all 363 of the world’s hummingbird species. More than 1,300 illustrations by author and artist Miles McMullan bring together for the first time every known plumage type – showing adult males and females, juveniles and subspecies – with behaviour and habitat also depicted. Hummingbirds are found only in the Americas, from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego and across the Caribbean, with their greatest diversity in the Andes of Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. This guide covers the entire family across that vast range: from the Bee Hummingbird of Cuba, the world’s smallest bird, to the Giant Hummingbird of the high Andes; from the hermits and sicklebills of the rainforest understorey to the coquettes, sylphs, sunangels, pufflegs and metaltails, and such extraordinary species as the Sword-billed Hummingbird and Marvelous Spatuletail. Every species and subspecies is mapped, with detailed range information. Full species accounts cover identification, natural history, habitat, feeding, behaviour and voice, together with practical notes on where to find them. Taxonomy and nomenclature follow the 2025 eBird/Clements Checklist. This book is an indispensable companion for birders travelling in Central and South America, hummingbird enthusiasts at home, and researchers, museum workers and field ornithologists who need to identify species and subspecies with confidence.