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Bird Trivia 3
 
Impress your friends with these facts and trivia about birds.
 
Female mallard
American Robin
The bright patch on the wings of dabbling ducks like the Mallard is called a speculum.
About 60 percent of the world’s bird species belong to a group called the passerines or perching birds. Most passerines are also songbirds.
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Black-necked Stilt
Anna's Hummingbird
The stilt is the bird with the longest legs in proportion to its body. This allows it to feed in deeper waters than other waders.
Hummingbirds don’t fly by flapping their wings like other birds. Instead they twist their wings back and forth in a figure-eight pattern. This allows them to hover in one position.
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Snowy Egret
Bald Eagle
There are about 9,700 species of birds in the world. 630 species have been seen in Canada and almost 900 in the United States.
The Bald Eagle is a powerful flyer and has a huge wing span – longer than the height of a man.
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Yellow-headed Blackbird
Mourning Dove
Songbirds have an organ called a syrinx which allows them to produce complicated songs. The songs are usually sung by males to attract a mate or claim territory.
Pigeons and doves are able to feed their young in a unique way. They produce a milk-like protein rich substance called crop milk.
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Mute Swan
Osprey
Swans are heavy birds and need an extra push to take off, so they must sprint across the water using it as a runway until they are airborne.
The Osprey hunts fish by plunging into the water and grasping a fish with its talons. Its feet are covered with sharp scales for extra grip.
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Turkey Vulture
Pileated Woodpecker
Vultures have bald heads and necks. This allows them to push deep into a carcass without getting their plumage dirty.
Some woodpeckers can hammer away at wood at an amazing rate of 25 mph/40 km/h – 20 times a second!
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Barred Owl
Black-chinned Hummingbird
The bills of owls point down to allow for unobstructed vision.
The eggs of a hummingbird are about the size of a pea. The nest is thimble sized.
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Canada Goose
Northern Cardinal
Swans, ducks and geese smear themselves with a waterproof oil from a gland on their rear. This oil makes water slide off their feathers.
Songbirds have long, slender, flexible toes. There are three forward-facing toes and one backward-facing toe which allow the bird to grip various sized twigs.
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Merlin
Northern Flicker
There are about 60 species in the family of falcons (Falconidae) including this Merlin. They have pointed wings and a sort of tooth on the upper bill.
Shock-absorbing muscles and a very thick skull protect the brains of woodpeckers. Furthermore, to stop the bill from crumbling it locks shut.
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Common Roadrunner
Pacific Golden Plover
Although it can also fly, the Common Roadrunner is best known for the fact that it can sprint after prey at a rate of 15 mph/24km/h.
Some birds such as plovers will fake an injury such as having broken to lure predators away from their nest.
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Red-breasted Merganser
Swainson's Hawk
The Red-breasted Merganser is one of the fastest flyers. It has been recorded flying at 100 mph/160 km/h in level flight.
Members of the bird family Accipitridae include over 200 species of eagles, hawks, kites, harriers and Old World vultures.
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Common Raven
Caspian tern
In some cultures the Common Raven is considered to be a trickster because of its clever and cheeky ways. Adults couples form bonds which last a lifetime.
The Caspian Tern is the world’s largest tern. They hunt fish by hovering above the water and plummeting down for their prey.
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