Levels of Classification for a Hummingbird

There are more than 350 classified species of hummingbirds, most of which live in the southern regions of North America, Central and South America. Scientific classification for living organisms is broken down into seven divisions: kingdom, phylum class, order, family, genus and species. This system of animal classification was developed by the Swedish scientist, Carl von Linne (or Linnaeus), in 1758. His system of scientific classification is still used today.

  1. Kingdom

    • All known living organisms are classified to belong to one of five taxomomic kingdoms. Hummingbirds and all other animals belong to the kingdom Animalia.

    Phylum

    • Hummingbirds are chordates, animals in the Chordata phylum. Chordates have, in at least one stage of development, a dorsal nerve tube or notochord, and pharyngeal gill slits. Fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals are all members of the Chordata phylum.

    Class

    • All birds belong to the class Aves, which are evolved from reptiles. Common features of Aves include having feathers, a beak and reproducing through large yolked, hard-shelled eggs. Most known Aves have the ability to fly.

    Order

    • Hummingbirds and swifts belong to the order Apodiformes. Apodiformes have thin legs and rarely perch. They posses thick shoulder bones and long, powerful breastbones, useful for fast wing motion and the ability to hover in the air.

    Family

    • The family Trochilidiae includes two subfamilies, Phaethornithinae--hermit hummingbirds--and Trochilinae--common hummingbirds.

    Genus

    • There are over 100 genera (plural of genus) of hummingbirds. Some genera have only one species. Others include more than 10.

    Species

    • The most commonly seen species of hummingbirds in the United States are the ruby-throated hummingbird "Archilochus colubris," black-chinned hummingbird "Archilochus alexandri," Rufous hummingbird "Selasphorus rufus," and Anna's hummingbird, "Calypte anna."