10) The biggest bird
The largest bird is the ostrich, which lives in Africa. It is the heaviest, weighing up to 345 pounds, and the tallest, reaching 9 feet tall. Its neck and legs are the longest among birds. At a top speed of 40 mph, it is the fastest two-legged land animal. The ostrich egg, which weighs three pounds, is also the largest in the world.
9) The smallest bird
At just 2.24 inches long and weighing just 0.056 ounces, Cuba’s tiny bee hummingbird is the smallest bird. Its wingspan is 2.5 inches. The nest is the size of a thimble and contains pea-sized eggs.
8) The Syrinx
While humans have a larynx that contains vocal cords in the windpipe to make sounds, birds have a syrinx. It divides through both bronchi. As a result, birds can make two sounds at once.
7) Sexual dimorphism
In birds, the male and female of a given species often look very different. While the female is camouflaged to suit her surroundings, the male is usually brightly colored. He often has feathers that are fanned out or lit up for a show. The female chooses a male based on her plumage and territory.
6) Birds need to eat rocks
Humans and other mammals have a mouth with teeth to grind up food. Birds, on the other hand, have a gizzard. It is a muscular organ that contracts to break down food. Birds eat sand and other grains to help the gizzard break down food.
5) hollow bones
Flying birds have hollow bones to minimize their weight. There are struts in crucial places and some bones are fused together for stability. Flightless penguins and ostriches have solid bones.
4) Birds breathe in a four-step process.
Human beings breathe in a two-step process. When a person inhales, oxygen enters the lungs. When a person exhales, carbon dioxide is expelled from the lungs. This is an entry and exit system. With birds, the airflow is continuous. It takes two breaths and four steps to breathe. It includes not only the lungs, but also the air sacs contained within the bird’s abdomen.
3) Raptors use their feet to kill.
There are numerous birds that are predators, and most of them use their beaks as a deadly weapon. The blue heron and the egret launch fish with their beaks. Birds of prey, on the other hand, have feet with sharp heels. They use them to attack and kill their prey, and then carry it away.
2) Birds have built-in food storage
Birds do not have time to process food as it is consumed. So they store it in their crop, and digest it later, when they are hidden and it is calm. Wild turkeys have been found carrying up to a pound of food in their maws.
1) Birds are monogamous
More than 90% of birds are monogamous, either seasonally or for life. Two percent of birds practice polygyny, where one male mates with multiple females; and less than one percent of birds practice polyandry, where one female mates with many males.
