All About Birds

There are about 10,000 different kinds of birds and they come in every color you can imagine. Birds are warm-blooded which means their body temperature stays the same no matter how warm or cold it is outside. Birds are the ONLY animals that have feathers. All birds have two wings, two legs and a beak. Most birds can fly, but not all birds can fly.

These Birds Can’t Fly Ostriches and penguins ~ they have large bodies and small wings Rheas ~ which are related to ostriches Emus Cassowaries Kiwis

Every bird begins as an egg. Most birds lay 1 to 10 eggs in a nest. The nest is the perfect place to lay eggs and raise chicks. The mother and father bird take care of the babies for about the first 5 weeks of its life until it is able to fly and care for itself. Adult birds have excellent eyesight.

They use their eyes to spot food. Birds eat plants, fruit, bugs, mice and snakes. Birds make special sounds to communicate with other birds. Many birds migrate, which means they fly to cool places for the summer and warm places for the winter.

Beak - hard, projecting mouth part of a bird or turtle Functions: Eating Opening seeds Spearing fish Drilling in trees Scooping Catching and tearing prey Sipping nectar

Which bird’s beak is used for: Opening seeds? Spearing fish? Drilling in trees? Scooping? Catching and tearing prey? Sipping nectar?

Feather- light, soft, flat growths that cover a bird’s skin Functions: Keeps the bird warm (down feathers) Protects the bird’s skin from injury Outer feathers (contour) help to keep the bird’s skin dry Helps it to fly Camouflage