Hummingbird Size: How Much Does a Hummingbird Weigh?

Lori VanoverUpdated: Mar. 15, 2022

You know hummingbirds are tiny birds, but their extra small size may surprise you. Get the answer from the experts: How much does a hummingbird weigh?

How Much Does a Hummingbird Weigh?

Hummingbirds seem so small and delicate as they zip, dart and dash from feeders to flowers. You may wonder how much does a hummingbird weigh? A tiny hummingbird typically weighs 0.1 to 0.2 ounces (less than the weight of a marshmallow). Costa’s, like this male (above), weigh in at only one-tenth of an ounce. Their crouched posture makes them look even smaller.

Did you know: A hummingbird’s brain makes up around 4% of its body weight. It remembers every flower it visits! How do hummingbirds find feeders?

Discover even more jaw-dropping facts about hummingbirds.

Hummingbird Size

blue throated hummingbird — Blue-throated hummingbird in Arizona

The bee hummingbird of Cuba is the smallest bird on earth, measuring only 2 inches from bill tip to tail tip. In contrast, the blue-throated hummingbird is almost the size of a sparrow. It is the largest breeding hummingbird found in the U.S.

Most types of hummingbirds measure between 3 and 4 inches. In the United States, Allen’s hummingbirds are the second smallest species after the Calliopes. Allen’s measure about 3 inches long. Anna’s hummingbirds are also quite small in size, measuring about 3.9 inches from beak to tail.

A broad-tailed hummingbird‘s tail is slightly wider and longer than that of most other hummingbirds found in the U.S. and Canada, extending beyond the wingtips when the bird is perched and resting.

Psst—if you see an insect-sized hummingbird look-alike visiting nectar flowers at dusk, it might actually be a hummingbird moth!

Meet the world’s largest and smallest hummingbirds.

Bill Length

hummingbird nectar — Ruby throated hummingbird with a droplet of sugar water on its long bill.

“After watching hummingbirds at my feeders, I noticed that males put their bills farther into the sugar water than females. Do females have longer bills?” asks Birds & Blooms reader Pat Comack of Hazelwood, Missouri.

Kenn and Kimberly Kaufman: That’s an interesting observation! Female ruby-throated hummingbirds do have a slightly longer bill, on average, than males. The difference is so minor—less than one-tenth of an inch— that most people would never notice. The females also average slightly larger bills overall.

Learn how hummingbirds use their tongues and beaks.

Originally Published: March 15, 2022

Lori Vanover

Lori has 20 years of experience writing and editing home, garden, birding and lifestyle content for several publishers. As Birds & Blooms senior digital editor, she leads a team of writers and editors sharing birding tips and expert gardening advice. Since joining Trusted Media Brands 13 years ago, she has held roles in digital and print, editing magazines and books, curating special interest publications, managing social media accounts, creating digital content and newsletters, and working with the Field Editors—Birds & Blooms network of more than 50 backyard birders. Passionate about animals and nature, Lori has a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural and Environmental Communications from the University of Illinois. In 2023, she became certified as a Wisconsin Extension Master Gardener, and she is a member of the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology and sits on the organization's Publications Advisory Committee. She frequently checks on her bird feeders while working from home and tests new varieties of perennials, herbs and vegetable plants in her ever-growing backyard gardens.