GOLDEN EAGLES LIKE TO MAKE THEIR EYRIES HIGH UP ON STEEP CLIFF
CONTENTS SMART BIRDS CLEVER GETTING THE MESSAGE DETECTOR POWER I HEAR YOU SUPER SENSES VANISHING ACTS BRILLIANT BUILDERS TOOL USERS MARVELOUS MIMICS JOURNEY BIRDS THE BEST OF THE BEST SPECIAL SKILLS INDEX
SMART BIRDS If you ever get called bird brain you should take it as a compliment Despite their small size some birds are very very clever indeed And they have special skills and characteristics that help them to survive First here s a taste of just how amazing birds are before we even get on to the really clever stuff SAVANNA SPEEDSTERS Although the fastest creature on land is the cheetah which can reach 75 miles per hour 120 kilometers per hour the supercharged ostrich left is not so far behind It can't fly but its giant legs whirl it along to nearly 60 miles per hour 100 km h a FM BIG BIRDS The ostrich is also the largest living bird It grows up to 9 feet 2 7 meters tall and can weigh more than 344 pounds 156 kilograms But the ostrich is too heavy to fly The largest flying bird is the wandering albatross below Its wings stretch out 1 6 feet 3 5 m The heaviest flying birds are bustards
THAT S FLYING The fastest fier is the peregrine falcon right which can reach astonishing speeds when stooping diving on its prey with its wings tucked in Some falcons have been recorded flying 242 miles per hour 389 km h But Swifts are the fastest in level flight with the white throated needletail flashing along at 105 miles per hour 169 km h WINGING IT Terms are astonishing for their long flights In fact some almost never land After leaving its nesting grounds as a youngster the sooty tern left remains aloft for up to ten years only landing on water from time to time Scientists once recorded a common tem flying more than 16 000 miles 26 000 km from Finland to Australia covering 125 miles 200 km every day OLD BIRDS In 2014 a flamingo called Greater had to be put to sleep because it was suffering from rheumatism Greater was eighty three years old Flamingoes right are not the only birds that can live into their eighties Parrots and albatrosses can too Cookie a Major Mitchell's cockatoo in Chicago's Brookfield Zoo was nearly eighty three in
