The kiwi is not only different from other birds in that it has no tail and very little wing, but it has something other birds do not have. It has a good sense of smell. (Many other birds are better off without that, especially those that nest in large colonies.) The kiwi's nostrils are near the tip of its bill, rather than up near its head. Around the base of the bill are long thread-like feathers something like a cat's whiskers. These probably help it find its way around in the dark, as it goes sniffing about hunting for earthworm.
4.What bird can pinpoint the direction from which a sound is coming?
Owls' ears are special. They are simply holes in the side of the head, protected by a flap of skin and hidden by the feathers. When we hear a sound we do not know exactly where it comes from. But an owl knows! One of the owls' ear openings points upward and the other downward. In at least one kind of owl the skull bones are different on the two sides of the head. This enables the owl to pinpoint the direction of a sound. The owl's face has a ring of stiff curved feathers around it from which the sound waves bounce into the ear drums.
5.What bird can fly upside down?
Again the beautiful little Hummingbird!
6. What bird sometimes swims with it's body underwater?
Among birds, the anhinga is the best fresh-water diver. It goes down quietly and hardly makes a ripple. It finds its food in the water. It eats insects, frog eggs, fish and even small alligators. If an object is too large to be swallowed at once the bird spears it on his beak. Then he comes to the surface and flips it off, catches it and lines it up for swallowing.
7.What bird sometimes takes steps twenty-five feet long?
An ostrich can run faster than most horses. A large ostrich will sometimes take steps twenty-five feet long!
8.What bird flies non-stop over thousands of miles of open ocean?
Golden Plover (rhymes with clover). These birds, no larger than a pigeon, nest near the Arctic Circle. In the fall some of them fly along the west coasts of North and South America, staying over or near land all the way, until they reach their winter home in Argentina. Others fly east to Labrador and Newfoundland. From there they fly over the Atlantic Ocean to South America. These birds take a different route when they go back in the spring. They fly over land all the way
But the Pacific golden plovers hold the record for the longest non-stop flight. They fly from their home in the north to Hawaii or the Polynesian islands. They must fly without food or rest over thousands of miles of open water and land on islands that seem like little dots in the vast ocean.
9. What bird has very long toes?
This bird has several nicknames. It is called "lily trotter," "lotus bird," and "water walker." We might want to add another, "wire toes."
Why would a bird have such funny looking feet? If he walked on land those long toes would get in the way. But the jacana walks on water lily pads and other plants that grow in the water. The long toes hold him up, like snowshoes hold up a person who is walking on soft snow. These birds can fly but do not do so very often.
10. What father bird may carry an egg around on it's feet until it hatches?
Emperor penguins are the giants of the penguin family. A large one may be 4 feet tall and weigh 90 pounds. Their nesting grounds are on the Antarctic continent. Only one egg is laid, in May, at the beginning of the long, dark, Antarctic winter. The male bird takes the egg on his feet, where he protects it from the cold with a flap of skin. The female bird goes out to sea to feed and build up a layer of blubber while the male shuffles about for two months with the egg. Of course he cannot get anything to eat, so he lives on the blubber he has stored up. When it is very cold the males huddle together, with the ones on the outside working their way in to the middle when they get too cold.
At the end of two months the eggs hatch and the mothers come back to take care of their chicks. How do they know when it is time to come back? Are they programmed by God? What other explanation is there?
If you know any Fun Bird Facts that you would like to see included here please contact us by e-mail & we'll be happy to include them.
