How do birds manage to stand on cold ground, especially ice, and still keep themselves warm?
Birds in the coldest regions, with ice and snow, still manage to stand for long periods of time on the cold ground.
Birds in arctic and polar regions are adapted physically to extreme temperatures.
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What is special about a Woodpecker’s tongue?
The Woodpecker grabs its prey out of holes and crevices in tree trunks. It has a sticky or barbed tongue. When it sticks its tongue in a hole, the tongue acts like glue and insects stick to it. A Woodpecker can eat 1,000 to 2,000 ants a day. It also eats beetle larvae (grubs).
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What is a group of wrens called?
A group of wrens is called a herd of wrens, or a chime of wrens.
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The Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) is a large North American migratory bird of Canada and the northern United States. It can grow to 75-110 centimetres (30-43 inches) tall, with a wingspan of 127-185 centimetres (50-73 inches). So, it can be a fierce-looking bird when it chases humans.
Continue reading “Goose harassment – what to do if a Canada Goose harasses you”
Not all birds sing songs. Some birds make no sound at all.
The birds that sing songs are called songbirds, perching birds, or passerines. They belong to the diverse Passeriformes order of birds.
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The Flamingo is a large wading wetlands bird in the Phoenicopteridae family.
The four Flamingo species are found in countries in North America, South America, Africa, southern Europe and south-west Asia.
It is a social bird, living in colonies. A group is called a stand of Flamingos or a flamboyance of Flamingos.
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Duck eyes are generally small, round, and dark.
Duck eyes are positioned at each side of a duck’s head – not in front of the face like human eyes. Why?
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Ratites are flightless birds. They have wings but do not fly. Is it due to their size?
Ratites include emus and cassowaries in the Casuariidae family, kiwis in the Apterygidae family, ostriches in the Struthionidae family, and rheas in the Rheidae family.
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Why do parrots live so long?
Scientists knew that large birds and parrots live long lives, but now a new study reveals the mystery of parrot longevity.
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behaviour and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany studied 217 parrot species (half of the known species of parrots), such as the Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao) in South America and the Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita galerita) in Australia. They published their results in March 2022 in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
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There are some disadvantages of long distance travel for migrating birds says a scientific study.
The New Scientist’s LIFE magazine (November 2022) reports on the high rate of break-ups – ‘divorce’ – in bird species with longer migration routes. But why would there be a high rate of bird divorce?
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The Eurasian Wren is a tiny bird, but it has a loud song.
The Eurasian Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) is a small passerine song bird in the Troglodytidae family. It is native to Europe, Asia, and Africa.
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What is a group of hawks called?
A group of hawks is called a cast of hawks.
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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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Which bird is the most talkative?
Some birds can imitate human speech, and they often know quite a lot of words. Of all of the bird species, parrots and parakeets can mimic human speech more than other bird species. But which parrot or parakeet is the most talkative?
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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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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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Do sleeping birds fall off their perch?
Birds often fall asleep while standing on a tree branch or perch. Unlike monkeys, birds do not have a prehensile tail to hold onto the branch. So, why don’t they fall off?
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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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The Red-Whiskered Bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus) is a bird in the Pycnonotidae family. It is also known as the Crested Bulbul.
The Red-Whiskered Bulbul has brown feathers with white underparts. It has a black crest, red cheeks, and thin black moustache. Its tail is long and brown with white tips. The vent area is red.
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Which bird is the second heaviest flying bird and the heaviest bird of prey?
The heaviest flying bird is the Somali Kori Bustard (Ardeotis kori struthiunculus), native to Africa, weighing about 14-18 kilograms (31-40 pounds). What is the second heaviest bird?
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