Birds Facts for Kids
Feathered facts about birds from around the world
Oystercatchers have strong, chisel-shaped bills they use to prise open mussels and oysters — a skill young birds must learn from their parents.
When European starlings fly in massive, swirling flocks called murmurations, each bird responds to its seven nearest neighbours, creating fluid shapes with no leader.
The hoopoe bird produces a foul-smelling secretion from its preen gland that it smears on its nest — the bacteria in it produce antibiotics that protect the eggs.
The oilbird of South America is one of the very few birds that uses echolocation to navigate inside dark caves where it nests.
Goslings imprint on the first moving object they see after hatching — usually their mother — and will follow it everywhere. This process is called filial imprinting.
The great bustard of Europe and Asia is the heaviest living bird capable of flight, with males sometimes weighing over 40 pounds.
Vultures have incredibly strong stomach acid that can destroy anthrax, botulism, and other deadly bacteria — allowing them to safely eat rotting carcasses.
Pigeons and doves produce a special 'crop milk' — a protein-rich fluid from their crop lining — to feed newborn chicks, similar to mammal milk.
During its courtship display, the Wilson's snipe dives through the air while specialized stiff tail feathers vibrate to produce a haunting drumming sound.
Bald eagles build the largest nests of any North American bird — adding to the same nest year after year, the largest recorded weighed nearly 3 tons.