Alice White
Birds surround us. There is not a single country in the world where they would not exist. We do not often think about them, because they are so familiar that the eye simply does not notice them … But in vain, because they are truly amazing creatures. Below you will find a selection of interesting facts about birds.
- Birds live all over the planet, on all continents. They are found even in the most inaccessible areas of Antarctica.
- Currently, more than ten and a half thousand different species of birds live on our planet.
- The smallest birds in the world are hummingbirds; some of their species weigh about 3 grams. The smallest bird in the world is the hummingbird-bee, its average body length is about five and a half centimeters.
- African ostriches sometimes reach a weight of 150 kg, and some extinct species of flightless birds weighed up to 400 kg. Currently, the largest of all birds on earth is the African ostrich. The growth of these birds reaches 2.7 meters.
- The smallest bird living on earth weighs about 66,000 times less than the largest.
- The wandering albatross has the largest wingspan – it can reach three and a quarter meters.
- And in the extinct birds Pelagornis Sandersi, the wingspan reached seven meters, as scientists have established from the fossil remains of these creatures. There is every reason to believe that these creatures were the largest flying birds in the entire history of our planet.
- It is still not known exactly what kind of living creatures the birds originated from. One of the most popular theories is that of dinosaurs.
- All sparrows in North America are descendants of a pair of these birds, released in Central Park in New York in the 19th century.
- Some birds consume a quarter of their own body weight daily.
- Only birds have feathers; none of the other modern animals have them.
- Birds have not one larynx, but two.
- The New Caledonian crow is one of the smartest birds. He knows how to make tools from improvised plant materials to help him get food – for example, hooked tools with which he removes insects from under the bark.
- Seabirds can drink salty seawater.
- Owls fly absolutely silently thanks to their feathers.
- Some birds sleep standing up, while flamingos, for example, can generally sleep standing on one leg.
- Peregrine falcon, diving for prey, develops a speed of over 300 kilometers per hour.
- Migratory birds fly in a wedge for a reason – this arrangement allows to reduce air resistance.
- The African ostrich can run at speeds up to 70 km / h.
- Hawks have incredibly sharp eyesight – these birds are able to see a field mouse at a distance of up to a kilometer.
- Ducks and geese would be able to withstand cold up to hundreds of degrees below zero if there were such frosts on Earth at all.
- The lyrebird living in Australia has an extremely complex vocal apparatus. These creatures are able to imitate any sounds, up to the howling of a chainsaw, human crying, or the sound of a car engine.
- The only bird capable of flying “backward” is the hummingbird.
- Many species of birds can dive, but the only bird that can swim, but cannot fly, is the penguin. More precisely, numerous subspecies of penguins.
- The first bird, once domesticated by man, is the goose.
