What’s so fascinating about hummingbirds?
Well... what’s NOT fascinating about them? They are the smallest and lightest birds on earth, ranging from slightly larger than a big insect to the size of a starling. Hummingbirds are tiny but bold, and sometimes even bluntly aggressive when it comes to defending their food sources. They mainly feed on nectar from flowers, but occasionally also snack on an insect.
Hummingbirds are real aerial acrobats. They can fly like a helicopter: backwards, upside down or in a somersault to flee from a rival or predator. The hummingbird is the only bird able to do this.
These smallest birds on earth come in every color of the rainbow. The feathers of some hummingbirds are even iridescent: they change color when looked upon from a different angle. Simply magical.
Hummingbirds have inspired many wildlife artists and illustrators. Dutch designer and illustrator Jeanne Melchels of Jeanne design is one of them. In 2016 Jeanne started a Hummingbird Illustration Project on Instagram. In this project Jeannne illustrated 300 different hummingbird species in different styles, materials or techniques (5 species in each illustration style, technique or material)
In this illustration overview you can find these hummingbird illustrations sorted on alphabetical order of their common name. You can also chose to see the illustrations sorted by style. This illustration project is based on the BirdLife international list of 371 hummingbird species.
As we speak, the 300 hummingbird illustrations are gathered in book that will be published in 2025!
