10) The largest bird
The largest bird is the ostrich, which lives in Africa. It is the heaviest, weighing upto 345 lb, and the tallest, reaching to 9 feet high. Its neck and its legs are the longest among birds. At a top speed of 40mph, it is the fastest two-legged land animal. The ostrich egg, which weighs three pounds, is also the world’s largest.
9) The smallest bird
At only 2.24 inches long, and weighing just 0.056 ounces, the tiny bee hummingbird of Cuba is the smallest bird. Its wingspan is 2.5 inches. The nest is about the size of a thimble, and contains pea-sized eggs.
8) The Syrinx
Whereas humans have a larynx containing vocal cords in their trachea to make sounds, birds have a syrinx. It is divided across both broncheal tubes. As a result, birds can make two sounds at once.
7) Sexual Dimorphism
In birds, the male and the female of a given species often look very different. Whereas the female is camouflaged to fit in with her environment, the male is usually brightly colored. It often has feathers that fan or flare to make a show. The female chooses a male based on its plumage and territory.
6) Birds do need to eat rocks
Humans and other mammals have a mouth with teeth to grind up food. Birds, on the other hand, have a gizzard. It is a muscular organ that contracts to grind up food. Birds eat sand and other grit to help the gizzard grind up food.
5) Hollow bones
Birds that fly have hollow bones to minimize their weight. There are struts across crucial places, and some bones are fused for added stability. Penguins and ostriches, which do not fly, have solid bones.
4) Birds breathe in a four step process.
Humans breathe in a two step process. When a person breathes in, oxygen enters the lungs. When a person breathes out, carbon dioxide is expelled from the lungs. This is an in-out system. With birds, airflow is continuous. It takes two breaths and four steps to breathe. It includes not only the lungs, but the air sacs contained inside the birds abdomen.
3) Raptors use their feet to kill.
There are numerous birds who are predators, and most use their bills as a deadly weapon. Blue heron and egrets spear fish with their bills. Raptors, on the other hand, have feet with sharp talons. They use these to strike and kill prey, and then to carry the prey away.
2) Birds have built-in food storage
Birds don’t have time to process food as they consume it. So they store it in their crop, and digest it later, when they are hidden and it is quiet. Wild turkeys have been found carrying up to one pound of food in their crops.
1) Birds are monogamous
Over 90% of birds are monogamous – either for the season or for life. Two percent of birds practice polygyny, where one male mates with several females; and less than one percent of birds practice polyandry, where one female mates with many males.
