Creatures of the Waters

Creatures of the Waters — page 1

Creatures of the Waters — page 2 — Creatures of the Waters TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 3 WATERBIRDS Albatrosses Forever Gliding 6 Ducks Dabblers Divers and Perchers 8 Geese Fine-Feathered Travelers 10 Gulls The Ocean’s Cleanup Crew 12 Penguins Well-Dressed Swimmers 14 Swans Birds of Beauty Grace and Speed 16 WATER-WISE AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES Amphibians The Land-and-Water Dwellers 18 Frogs Amazing Changing Amphibians 20 Alligators and Crocodiles Modern Dinosaurs 22 Anacondas A Tight Squeeze 24 Turtles Taking Their Time 26 FRESH FISH Fish Citizens of the Waters 28 Carp The Fishy Survivor 30 Piranhas Frightening Little Fish 32 Salmon Leaping Up the Waterfall 34 Sharks Predators of the Sea 36 MOSTLY MARINE MARVELS Coral Builders in the Sea 38 Deep-Sea Life Flashing Lights 40 Jellyfish Boneless Blobs of the Sea 42 Mollusks Shell-Dwelling Animals 44 Octopuses Eight-Armed Wonders 46 Sponges Plant or Animal 48 AQUATIC MAMMALS Buffalo Water-Loving Beasts 50 Hippopotamuses Kings of the River 52 Manatees Mermaids of Yore 54 Muskrats The Town Builders 56 Walruses The Whale Horses 58 Whales The Biggest Animals of All 60 GLOSSARY 62 INDEX 63 Brit a nnic a LEARNING LIBRARY

Creatures of the Waters — page 3 — S EA R C H LIG H T Which of the following can be said about an albatross a It spends most of its time on land b It eats other birds c It goes to land only to lay eggs Albatrosses use their long wings to soar and glide on air currents They can stay in the air for hours without flapping their wings The black-browed albatross shown here in flight has a dark marking around the eye that makes it look as though it is frowning

Creatures of the Waters — page 4 — ALBATROSSES F oreverGliding The albatross is an amazing seabird It spends most of its life soaring above the water The only time albatrosses ever go ashore is when they lay eggs and raise their chicks Groups called colonies of the birds build nests on isolated Antarctic islands A single large white egg is laid in a bowl-shaped nest built from plants and soil Sometimes the nest is just a patch of bare ground A young albatross grows slowly It Scientists measuring an albatross wingspread Wolfgang Kaehler Corbis takes at least four months for it to develop all the feathers it will need to fly Once it’s able to fly the albatross will spend the next five to ten years out at sea The albatross can glide for hours at a time without flapping its long narrow wings To stay in the air like this it needs windy weather In calm weather the albatross has trouble keeping its heavy body in the air so it rests on the water and floats like a cork It feeds on small squid and fish But it will also follow fishing boats and eat scraps that are thrown overboard Some kinds of albatrosses are brown but most of them are white with some brown or black markings on their bodies or wings Albatrosses are the largest of all flying birds In fact the wandering albatross has the largest wingspread among living birds The wings of a wandering albatross can measure 11 feet from tip to tip Albatrosses live very long lives and are one of the few species of birds that die of old age LEARN MORE READ THESE ARTICLES DUCKS GULLS PENGUINS DID YOU KNOW In the past sailors believed albatrosses had special powers They believed that killing the bird would bring bad luck P e t e r J o h n s o n C o r b s i Answer c It goes to land only to lay eggs 7

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