Birds ---The Amazing Flyers

Fun Bird Facts Birds have feathers, wings, lay eggs and are warm blooded. There are around different species of birds worldwide. The Ostrich is the largest bird in the world. It also lays the largest eggs and has the fastest maximum running speed (97 kph). Scientists believe that birds evolved from a species of dinosaurs. Some bird species are intelligent enough to create and use tools. The chicken is the most common species of bird found in the world. Kiwis are endangered, flightless birds that live in New Zealand. They lay the largest eggs relative to their body size of any bird in the world.

Hummingbirds can fly backwards. The Bee Hummingbird is the smallest living bird in the world, with a length of just 5 cm. Around 20% of bird species migrate long distances every year. Homing pigeons are bred to find their way home from long distances away and have been used for thousands of years to carry messages. Birds like cranes, swallows and geese fly long distances. Birds like hens and peacocks fly short distances. Birds like eagles and vultures fly high in the sky. Birds like sparrows and bulbuls fly at lower heights.

The study of birds is called ornithology. Birds are the only type of animals with feathers and most of them can fly. Feathers are non-living. As the old feathers fall off, they are replaced by new feathers. This process is called moulting. All birds have two wings, even the species that cannot fly, such as ostriches, kiwis, and penguins. These birds have heavy bodies and small wings and thus, cannot fly. They are known as flightless birds. Birds have a very sharp sense of seeing, hearing and smelling.

Many people mistakenly think bats are birds. They are not! Bats are mammals. Do birds fly simply because they have wings? No! Unique body structure, feathers, and wings are what make birds fly. Birds have hollow, lightweight bones. They have strong chest muscles to pull their wings up and down. Boat shaped or ‘streamlined’ body helps them to cut through the air. Feathers are important in flight. There are three types of feathers: down feathers, body feathers, and flight feathers.

Feathers of BirdsFlight Feathers They are long and cover the bird’s body. They help the bird to fly and change its direction while flying. Down Feathers They are short and soft. They keep the bird warm. Body Feathers They cover the bird’s body and give it a shape.

The short sound produced by a bird is known as bird’s call while the long sound produced by the bird is known as it’s song.

Birds have a large diversity of colours.

Birds lay eggs. Most birds build nests for their eggs, and they sit on their eggs during incubation. They choose safe places to build nests. They use, grass, cloth, stones, twigs, etc. to build their nests. TYPES OF NESTS Eagles and vultures make crude nests using twigs, on tree tops. Bulbuls make cup-shaped nests in hedges and bushes. A tailor bird sews leaves together with its beak and makes a nest. A weaver bird makes a nest from grass. The nest has a bend inside. This prevents eggs from falling out. A woodpecker makes a hole in the tree trunk and uses it as its nest. Cuckoo is a lazy bird and does not build its nest. It lays eggs in the nest of crows.

Migration  The word migration comes from the Latin word, migratus which means "to change" and refers to how birds change their geographic locations seasonally.  Some birds fly large distances from colder to warmer places every year in the winters. This seasonal movement of birds is known as migration.  Birds seek out places that have warmth, food and are safe to breed.  Arctic Tern and Siberian Cranes are examples of migratory birds.