A feather is an epidermal growth forming an outer covering on an animal. Epidermal means outer cells covering an organism or creature, such as skin. So, a feather grows from an animal’s skin.
Feathers are also called plumage. One feather is a plume.
Continue reading “Which animals have feathers?”
What is anatidaephobia?
Anatidaephobia is the fear of ducks, geese, and swans.
People with anatidaephobia have different levels of fear.
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What is a group of wildfowl called?
Wildfowl is the term for birds in the Anatidae family of ducks, geese, and swans that live in the wild.
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A swan is a large heavy bird, so how does it fly?
The Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) is a large water bird in the Anatidae family.
It grows to 125-170 centimetres (49-67 inches) tall. It is the second largest waterfowl in the world (the Trumpeter Swan is the largest), and it is one of the heaviest flying birds.
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What is a lingual nail?
A lingual nail is not a finger nail, nor a toe nail.
Lingual means tongue. A lingual nail is the toughened tip of the tongue of some birds.
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What is a group of swans called?
A group of swans is called a ballet of swans, a bevy of swans, or a lamentation of swans.
When they are flying, a group of swans is called a wedge of swans.
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The Swan Goose (Anser cygnoides) is a large bird with a long neck.
The Swan Goose has greyish-brown upperparts, a maroon cap, and maroon at the back of its neck. Its underwing is black. It has a thin, white stripe surrounding the base of its beak. Its belly and sides are pale with darker streaks. Its beak is black, and its legs and feet are orange. It has maroon-brown eyes. The male and the female look similar, but the male has a longer beak and neck.
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The Bewick’s Tundra Swan is smaller than the Mute Swan.
The Bewick’s Tundra Swan has a more rounded head shape than the Mute Swan.
The Bewick’t Tundra Swan has a yellow eye-ring and the yellow of its beak extends to the forehead.
The Mute Swan has black towards it eyes and the black of its beak extends to the forehead.
Continue reading “What’s the difference between Swans: Bewick’s Tundra Swan and the Mute Swan?”
The Bewick’s Tundra Swan (Cygnus bewickii) is a bird in the Anatidae family of swans. It is a smaller Eurasian waterfowl than the Mute Swan.
It is white with a yellow and black beak, a yellow eye-ring, and a rounded head. It has dark-grey legs.
The Bewick’s Tundra Swan can grow to 115-140 centimetres (45-55 inches) tall.
It lives in Europe and into southern Russia and China. It is a migratory bird, flying to warmer climates in winter in a V-formation flock.
The Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) is a Eurasian waterfowl that lives across Europe into southern Russia and China. It is called mute because it is not as vocal as other species of swans.
The Mute Swan is white with an orange or orange-yellow beak that is bordered with black. It has black legs.
Birds do not have teeth, but the swan has serrated edges that look like teeth. They are plates called lamellae. The lamellae are useful for sifting water for plants and algae, and also frogs, worms, snails and small fish.
It grows to 125-170 centimetres (49-67 inches) tall. It is the second largest waterfowl (the Trumpeter Swan is the largest), and it is one of the heaviest flying birds.
Photographer: Martina Nicolls
The Black Swan (Cygnus atratus) is native to Australia.
It is the only entirely black-coloured swan in the world. Only the tips of its flight feathers are white, which can only be seen when flying. Its bill (beak) is deep orange-red with white bands at the front.