This picture is take from my village in Gujarat, India. I think it is a small bird which I have never seen before. It is smaller than an Indian hummingbird and even smaller than a neem tree leaf. You can see the leaf and the flowers. That flower's diameter is maybe a half inch so you can see how small the bird is. This bird has a very little trunk like a butterfly. You can't see this in the picture, but I saw it. This bird sucks liquid from flowers by that trunk.
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David
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Dhirendrasinh Sisodiya
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2There are no true hummingbirds (birds of the family Trochilidae) native to India (or in the old world at all). So the reference to an "Indian Hummingbird" in this post is likely to some introduced species or a small bird resembling birds from the family Trochilidae. – Aug 04 '16 at 22:16
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2I have shortened your title. A good title expresses the essence of the question for readers who may be interested or able to answer, and to make later indexing easier and more relevant. Try to do this yourself in future. – David Aug 05 '16 at 20:01
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Related-one from same country: http://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/50592/please-help-to-identify-this-insect – Always Confused Aug 28 '16 at 08:05
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Similar-one (and marked as duplicate with this one): http://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/50804/what-is-this-hummingbird-like-insect – Always Confused Aug 28 '16 at 08:29
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I've also seen some "exactly hummingbird like" creatures in Kurseong, Eastern Himalayas, in flying condition. Now I think that could be a moth of this sort. I've also some photos and a video, though they are hazy just like these ones. – Always Confused Aug 28 '16 at 08:38
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When I was in Afghanistan, I saw what looked like a large moth but it flew like a hummingbird. Another soldier that was nearby me saw it too. It was the only time I have ever seen anything like it and no one would believe us when we told them what we saw. I had to google it to see if what I saw was real. The funny part is that I described it to people as a hummingbird-moth. And that's what it was called! – Programmer Sep 28 '16 at 20:16
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Great picture and great find. But unfortunately I don't think that is a new species of bird...or even a bird at all!
It looks like a hummingbird hawk-moth, Macroglossum stellatarum.
Here you can really see the 'little trunk' (as you described it) known as a proboscis, which it uses to feed on flowers.
Fun fact: It's believed not to be a mimic of the hummingbird, but rather an example of convergent evolution.
Dave Gruenewald
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12@DhirendrasinhSisodiya If this answer addressed your problem, please consider accepting it by clicking on the check mark/tick to the left of the answer, turning it green. This marks the question as resolved to your satisfaction, and awards reputation both to you and the person who answered. If you have >= 15 reputation points, you may also upvote the answer if you wish. There is no obligation to do either. – MattDMo Aug 04 '16 at 20:57
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23@DhirendrasinhSisodiya And don't give up on finding new species. They're all over the place. – Williham Totland Aug 04 '16 at 21:16
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1+1 That was a fun fact indeed! But what benefits would there be in biomimicry of a humming bird? – James Aug 05 '16 at 01:35
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@James - camouflage from predators I'd imagine. Birds would be unlikely to try and eat other birds, but a recognizable moth would be fair game. – Aug 05 '16 at 05:31
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2+1 These are cool little moths. I first saw one in Japan and was completely baffled. – Geobits Aug 05 '16 at 06:49
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I had one in my garden in the UK once - it caused much confusion for a while util I managed to get a closer look. – SeanR Aug 05 '16 at 08:07
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2There are also moths that mimic bees and are active during the day (cephonodes picus) – Scribblemacher Aug 05 '16 at 11:55
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3Omg, fascinating creature! I had no idea such fat moths existed :) Wow, what a good picture too.. The eyes make it look like a Pokemon. – HC_ Aug 05 '16 at 17:55
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The words "I don't think that is " should be replaced with "that is not". – peter May 03 '18 at 00:18
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I'd also like to poimt out that I have seen a larger species of this family,Manducca quinqueimaculata,flying around in september. They can generate some heat in ther bodies. – peter May 10 '18 at 18:00
