Birds are among the most beautiful and bizarre creatures on earth, from the brilliantly colored hummingbird to the fart thrush. With over 9000 species, our fine feathered friends can be found on almost every continent, from the frozen expanses of Antarctica to the humid rainforests of South America and every climate in between. Here are 15 surprising facts about 15 amazing bird species you might not have known.
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1. Ravens are excellent imitators of human speech and sounds.
While wild crows are unlikely to learn human languages, they can be quite talkative in captivity. Few crows can imitate human speech better than parrots, not to mention the sounds of the human world such as a car engine spinning or a toilet flushing. Meanwhile, in the wild, crows sometimes imitate other animals, such as wolves or foxes, to attract them to tasty carcasses they cannot open on their own.
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2. The largest eyes of any terrestrial animal are found in the ostrich.
Ostrich eyes are the largest of any land animal (although they cannot compete with some of the larger creatures that live in the depths of the ocean). Their eyes, which are roughly the size of a billiard ball, are actually larger than their brains.
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3. Cardinals enjoy immersing themselves in ants.
Cardinals (and many other bird species) sometimes carry crushed or live ants over their wings or allow live ants to crawl over them. While scientists aren't sure why birds are "ants," some believe that the formic acid secreted during their ant baths helps them get rid of lice and other parasites.
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4. Owls eat their prey completely.
When owls catch large animals (such as raccoons and rabbits), they tear them into bite-sized pieces. They have also been observed swallowing whole small animals ranging from insects to rats. Owls then regurgitate pellets containing the indigestible parts of their food, such as animal bones and fur.
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5. Some ducks sleep with one of their eyes open.
On the periphery, when ducks nap in groups, they sleep with one eye open. While other ducks sleep soundly, those outside the circle keep a part of their brain awake even while they are asleep, so predators can't sneak up on them.
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6. The kiwi is sometimes referred to as an "honorary mammal".
The kiwi is a strange, land-bound bird native to New Zealand. Scientists sometimes refer to kiwis as "honorary mammals" because of their strange characteristics, which include feathers that feel like hair, heavy bones filled with marrow, and nostrils at the tip of their nose (rather than their Like most birds at the base of the beak).
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7. The majority of hummingbirds weigh less than a nickel.
Hummingbirds are very light. The average hummingbird weighs about 4 grams (less than a gram from a nickel), while the smallest, the hummingbird, weighs about 1.6 grams (less than a penny). Meanwhile, the largest member of the hummingbird family is the aptly named giant hummingbird, which can weigh up to 24 grams—heavy for a hummingbird but only about a somewhat loose change.
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8. Pigeons gave the results of the Olympic Games in ancient Greece.
The dove, believed to be the first domesticated bird, has been used for millennia to convey important military information and messages such as the results of the early Olympic Games. Although non-avian mail delivery grew in popularity, pigeons were still used for messaging during World War II.
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9. Parrots have the ability to learn hundreds of words.
While most parrots learn about 50 words, some African gray parrots can learn hundreds. Einstein, a magnificent African gray parrot at the Knoxville Zoo in Tennessee, has a vocabulary of nearly 200 words.
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10. Swiftlet's nests are delicious.
Some swiftlets, aptly known as edible-nest swiftlets, use their hard saliva almost entirely to build their nests. Saliva nests are one of the most expensive food in the world, despite having little taste and no real nutritional value. In some countries, they are regarded as a delicacy; In China, they are commonly used to make bird's nest soup.
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