Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Are these birds big or what? - facts about large birds

So, you say you're too old for TV's Big Bird? Then take a look at these wild big birds from around the world. (And some smaller birds that are big in other ways!)

The biggest bird in the world is the ostrich (photo at left). It can't fly, but you should see it run--up to 40 miles (65 km) per hour across the African plains. An ostrich can grow to be nine feet (2.7 m) tall. So it would bump its head on the ceilings of most houses. But don't let one into your house--it can kick as hard as a horse!

What's the heaviest bird that can fly? It's the Kori bustard (above) from Africa. But this 40-pound (18-kg) bird doesn't fly unless it has to. All that weight makes it hard for the bustard to lift off. It would rather hide from danger than fly away. In fact, the word bustard comes from two Latin words that mean "slow bird."

You've heard of eagles and you've heard of owls--now meet an eagle owl (above). It's the biggest kind of owl in the world. Eagle owls live in Europe and Asia. Their beaks and feet are as sharp and strong as an eagle's. And the owls are really good at sneaking up on their prey.

Most birds have stiff wing feathers that make noise when they fly. But owls' wing feathers are soft along the edges, and that helps the owls fly silently.

Eagle owls are so big and strong that they can kill small wild cats, foxes, and young deer. Their prey may weigh three times as much as the birds do!

The Andean condor (right) from South America is the heaviest bird of prey. It may look scary when it soars on wings that stretch 10 feet (3 m). But no one needs to worry--it doesn't attack people. In fact, it doesn't attack anything. Condors are called birds of prey, but they don't kill to get their fill. They eat dead--even rotten--meat.

You might think a condor's naked head makes it one ugly bird! But a head without feathers is just great for a hungry condor. It can easily slide that skin-covered head around inside an animal's dead body. And when it's finished eating, it doesn't have a lot of yukky feathers to clean off!

This long-tailed widowbird from Africa (left) is a little bigger than a house sparrow. But at mating time, the male grows a 20-inch (50-cm) tail. Compared to his body size, he has one of the longest tails of any bird. He flies back and forth past the females with his tail drooping behind. It's as if he were trailing a sign that said, "Hey, just look at ME!" So even a little bird can be big in its own special way.


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