Category Birds

You Are What You Eat: Why the Flamingo is Pink

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People often say “You are what you eat.” What does this phrase mean? It means that the food you eat makes a difference to your health. The phrase began in 1826 when French lawyer Anthelme Brillat-Savarin wrote it, but it became more popular in America from 1923 when it appeared in the Bridgeport Telegraph newspaper.

The phrase is generally not used for animals. However, for the Flamingo it is true, and that is why the Flamingo is pink.

The Flamingo has orange-pink feathers. The orange-pink colour comes from the food it eats. 

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How do Woodpeckers identify each other?

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How do Woodpeckers identify each other?

In addition to sight, bird species identify each other through their songs and calls. Birds of the same species can recognize who is calling and what the call means.

The Woodpecker is an arboreal (tree-living) bird in the Picidae family of piculets, wrynecks, woodpeckers, and sapsuckers.

The Woodpecker does not have as wide a range of songs as songbirds, called passerines. However, it does have a range of calls and noises to communicate with other Woodpeckers. It makes simpler noises, such as brief trills, twitters, and whistles. Therefore, it uses another method to identify each other.

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Anna’s Hummingbird

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The Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte anna) is a medium-sized bird in the Trochilidae family of hummingbirds.

The Anna’s Hummingbird has iridescent bronze-green feathers on its back, with a pale-grey chest and belly, and green sides. The adult male has an iridescent crimson-red to reddish-pink crown. Its tail is dark and slightly forked. It has a long, thin, straight beak. The female is also iridescent, but not as brilliant as the male. She has a dull-green crown. 

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Which bird can eat a baby Nile Crocodile whole?

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Which bird can eat a baby Nile Crocodile whole? 

The Nile Crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) is a large freshwater reptile native to Africa. On average, it grows to 300-440 centimetres (10-14 feet) long. The female lays eggs and baby crocodiles hatch after about 90 days. A baby Nile Crocodile measures about 30 centimetres (12 inches) long. 

There is a bird that can eat a baby Nile Crocodile whole, head first.

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Fieldfares poop on their enemies

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The Fieldfare bird has a defence system using its faeces – its excrement, its poop – which can be fatal to its enemies and predators.

The Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris) is a small bird in the Turdidae family of thrushes. It is related to the Song Thrush and the Mistle Thrush. It is native to countries in northern Europe and Asia.

It lives in small colonies. The female makes a cup-shaped nest, in a tree, bush, or among rocks, where she lays 5-6 eggs and sits on them until they hatch after 13-14 days.

To guard the nest and to protect itself from predators, such as a Raven, the colony of Fieldfares uses a flying faecal defence system by pooping on its enemies. 

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Fallacy: bird bones are hollow

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Is it true that bird bones are hollow? This might be a fallacy – a fallacy means that it is not true.

Bird bones are pneumatic. So are dentists’ drills and jackhammers. Vehicle air brakes and tyres are pneumatic. And vacuum pumps are pneumatic.

‘Pneuma’ is a Greek word for ‘wind’ or ‘breath.’ Pneumatic means that it contains, or is operated by, air or gas under pressure. It is compressed air or compressed gas. Air is a gas. Actually, air is a mixture of gases because it is 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen, with the remaining 1% containing traces of water vapour, carbon dioxide, and argon. 

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What is the average lifespan of a bird?

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What is the average lifespan of a bird?

It is difficult to get an accurate figure on the lifespan of wild birds, says the American Bird Conservancy.

However, usually, the larger the bird species, the longer it lives. Therefore, the Ostrich in the Struthionidae family, lives longer than the House Sparrow in the Passeridae family. 

For example, the large Wandering Albatross (Diomedea exulans) in the Diomedeidae family, with the longest wingspan of any bird on Earth – up to 350 centimetres (11.5 feet) across – can live up to 80 years.

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What are the similarities and differences between the bat, bird, and insect?

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What are the similarities and differences between the bat, bird, and insect?  

The bat is a mammal, whereas the bird and insect are not mammals. 

The bat and bird have two legs, whereas the insect has six legs.

The bat, and many species of birds and insects can fly. The bat is the only mammal that can fly. 

The bat, bird, and insect fly in different ways.

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How loud does a rooster crow?

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How loud does a rooster crow?

A rooster is a male fowl.

A rooster makes a crowing sound for about two seconds each time. A rooster crows in the morning, but it can crow throughout the day and sometimes at night. 

It crows as a dominant call to the hen yard to show that he is the leader. It crows to keep the hens in the hen yard safe from danger. It crows as part of a mating ritual, and some farmers say that it crows after a hen has laid an egg.

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Three-month-old White-Naped Crane

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The photographed juvenile White-Naped Crane is three months old. It was born between 8-10 May 2022.

The White-Naped Crane (Antigone vipio) is a large wetlands bird. It is native to Asia, in Mongolia, China and Russia. The adult measures about 130 centimetres (51 inches) tall, with a large wingspan of 2 metres (6.5 feet). The young (juvenile) White-Naped Crane looks very different from its parents.

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Which bird has a reputation for being the most dangerous bird in the world?

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Which bird has a reputation for being the most dangerous bird in the world?

The Cassowary has a reputation for being the most dangerous bird in the world.

The Southern Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius) is a large flightless bird in the Casuariidae family. It is native to north-eastern Australia, New Guinea, and Indonesia.

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How long do bird eggs take to hatch?

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How long do bird eggs take to hatch?

Different bird species lay different sized eggs. Large birds lay larger eggs than smaller birds.

The chicks of larger bird species usually take longer to hatch than the chicks of smaller bird species.

Some examples include the following:

The Ostrich is the the largest bird in the world and its egg is the largest bird egg in the world. It measures about 15 centimetres (6 inches) long. The egg takes about 35-45 days to hatch.

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