- [Narrator] The very smallest bird on Earth,

the Bee Hummingbird.

Barely larger than the bee it's named after,

almost everything about this hummingbird is special.

They can beat their tiny wings

an incredible 80 times a second.

Their tiny size makes them tasty prey

for snakes, birds, even spiders.

Nothing about the Bee Hummingbird's life is easy.

They may visit over a thousand flowers a day

on their eternal quest for nectar.

The males are the showoffs of the family.

Their dazzling head feathers usually irresistible

to the less colorful females.

But this lady's showing no interest.

She has already mated.

For her, it's nesting time.

The whole nest is smaller than a golf ball.

The mother will lay one or two eggs

the size of coffee beans

and then all she can do is wait.

Three weeks must pass before she'll know

if all is going to plan.

Three weeks have passed since the mother hummingbird

laid her tiny eggs.

(gentle Latin guitar music)

It's a good year and two healthy chicks have hatched.

Blind and helpless at birth the chicks grow explosively,

doubling their weight in just four days.

Bee Hummingbirds are so scarce

and their tiny nests so hard to find

that this is a scene rarely, if ever, filmed before.

18 days after hatching

the chicks have already grown their flight feathers.

In just a couple of days,

they will leave the nest for good

and, with luck, live up to seven years.

A whole new chapter in the story

of the world's smallest bird.