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Falcon's Speed
Falcons, Eagles, Vultures are birds of prey. They are high fliers, fast divers and have sharp eyesight. The Peregrine Falcon is known to fly at a speed of 40 miles per hour when chasing a prey While diving the Falcon folds its wings close to body to avoid wind resistance and reaches a speed of 250 miles per hour.
Weaver Birds
Weaverbirds build large colonies of nests. In Africa, the Social Weaverbirds select terminal branches of tall trees and build a colonial nest of twigs, fiber and dry grass. The nest is used by several generations, reinforced and cleaned every time. Colonial nests provide protection against predators that are chased away by the weaverbirds emerging from the nest colony in large numbers.
Edible Bird Nest
Man’s taste is not confined to bird meat and eggs alone. In the forests of South East Asia, small birds called Swiftlets construct a nest entirely with saliva. The salivary secretion of the bird hardens on contact with air. Threads of saliva are interwoven and glued by their chemical composition, and shaped into a nest. The nest is rich in protein and is a delicacy.
Rubber Eating Parrots
In New Zealand, live Kea Parrots. They are rubber eaters. They were originally feeding on the sap from the rubber trees. They have eventually developed a taste for the industrial rubber. They enjoy chewing rubber seals of truck and car windshields.
Ocean Clown
Ocean clown is Puffin, a sea bird. Its large colorful beak resembles that of a parrot. Puffin is also called sea parrot. Large flocks of puffins spend winter on ocean. They dig burrows in the shores and use them as nests during breeding season. Because of clownish looks, Puffin is famous for being the most preferred subject of souvenir plates, cards, tea- cups, T-Shirts etc.
Vertical Climbers
To climb vertically on a tree, the Woodpecker has strong toes, two in front and two behind arranged like the letter,” X “. The woodpecker’s tail has stiff feathers that are spread like a fan and applied to tree trunk surface. With the clawed toes and stiff tail providing firm grip, the woodpecker begins to peck and drill a hole in the bark. Its strong neck muscles and sharp beak make drilling easy.
Song Birds
Several species of birds are singers. Some 200 or more species of birds sing duets, Male and female sing together. They utter sounds so fast; the songs get synchronized and appear to come from a single source. Songbirds practice for months to make their duets smooth and pleasant.
Pole to Pole Migration
Arctic Terns are seabirds. They live in Arctic region for about three months and begin to migrate southwards. They fly a distance of 11000 miles across the Atlantic to the coast of Europe and from there to Africa down to Antarctica. It takes four months. After spending summer the birds begin their return journey to the Arctic. The Arctic Terns fly a distance of 22000 miles each year.
Feather Food
Grebes are water birds, they are known for their exclusive taste for their own body feathers. They pluck feathers from the breast and abdomen region and eat them. They also feed the young ones with the feather food.
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