Amazing Bird Facts

Anyone that has a bird knows that birds are amazing creatures. But how amazing are they? Here are some amazing bird facts according to Animal Atlas - Amazing Animal Facts: The Birds.

1. What makes birds unique? It's not wings (wasps and bees have wings), it's not beaks (turtles and even octopus have beaks) and it's not their bright colors (butterflies and some fish have bright colors). What makes birds unique is that they are the only animals with feathers.
2. What are feathers for? When most people think of birds, they think of feathers and flying. But the primary reason for feathers isn't necessarily for flight. After all, some birds with feathers don't fly at all! For example, Ostriches and penguins don't fly but both have feathers. The primary use for feathers is to keep them warm. While feathers may be unique to birds, the material they're made of is not unique to birds. Feathers are made of Carotene which is the same material that makes up human hair and finger nails.
3. What is a birds heart rate? Watching a sleeping bird looks very peaceful on the outside. However, just under those feathers is a LOT of activity. Birds hearts beat around 400 beats per minute when resting! Compare that to humans which have a resting heart rate of just about 70 beats per minute. And that's nothing compared to their heart rate when flying. Their heart rate can be over 1000 beats per minute in flight! Compare that to a humans jogging heart rate which is just over 200 beats per minute.
4. You think your bird has a fever? Not so fast. A birds body temperature is about 7 to 8 decrees hotter than humans so they often feel hotter.
5. So how do birds keep cool? Do they sweat? No, birds do not sweat. They keep cool mostly by breathing (most of the oxygen they take in is used to keep them cool) and by panting (similar to a dog).
6. Birds seem to be EVERYWHERE but how many of them are there? First of all, there are close to 9000 species of birds! Compare that to about 5000 species of mammals and about 8000 species of reptiles. But how many of them are there you may ask. Due to the constant fluctuations in world's bird population, it's difficult to determine exactly how many there are in the world but the estimates are between 100 and 200 billion adult birds on the planet at any time. Compare that to about 6.5 billion humans. What's the most populous bird? The chicken - estimated to be around 16 billion at any time.
7. What's the biggest bird? It's the Ostrich which is around 9' tall and around 200 lbs. That's not the only thing that's big about the Ostrich. It's also the bird with the biggest eyes and the biggest egg!
8. What's the bird with the greatest wingspan? It's not the Ostrich, it's the Marabou Stork which has a wingspan of between 8 and 13 ft!
9. What is the fastest bird? That all depends on whether they're flying or running. The Ostrich is the fastest animal in the world on two legs. It can reach speeds up to 40 mph for short distances. But that's nothing compared to the fastest animal on the planet! The fastest animal on the planet is the Peregrine Falcon which can reach speeds over 270 miles an hour in a dive!
10. Finally, why is the owl considered to be the Wise Owl? Maybe it's because it's the bird with the best eyesight and the best hearing! While those are facts, they're not really why it's considered wise. The real reason is probably because their eyes are extremely wide open (very studious looking) and focused. Their association with wisdom dates back at least to Athena, the Greek Goddess of Wisdom and Craftsmanship who is often depicted with an owl. But is it just a coincidence that the word 'knOWLedge' has the word owl in it?

Hopefully you found these facts as fascinating as I did. Do you have a fascinating fact to add to the list? Send me an email.

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This article was originally published on www.InfoSuperFlyway.com. The InfoSuperFlyway website is dedicated to Kibibi the talking African Grey Parrot (Congo African Grey) with sights, sounds, audio, videos, articles, top ten lists, parrot jokes, parrot humor, and Clicker training info! Original Article Source: Amazing Bird Facts

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