Enter content here
Enter content here
Enter content here
The facts!
Birds fact #1
The world's smallest flying bird is the Bee Hummingbird, native to Cuba. At just 5.7 centimetres in length, it weighs in at a miniscule 1.6 grams.
Birds fact #2
The fictional secret agent James Bond was named after a famous ornithologist, an expert in Caribbean birds. Ian Fleming said of the name: "I wanted the simplest, dullest, plainest-sounding name I could find; James Bond was much better than something interesting, like Peregrine Maltravers".
Birds fact #3
Flamingos are pink because of their staple meal - carotene-rich brine shrimp. Chicks are born with grey plumage, which turns from light pink to dark red, dependent on their food supply. Flamingos with pale feathers are usually unhealthy or malnourished. However, every flamingo has 12 black flight feathers in each wing.
Birds fact #4
The Peregrine Falcon is the fastest moving bird on the planet thanks to its spectacular hunting dive, or 'stoop'. After soaring to a great height, the Peregrine Falcon will turn and dive towards its prey at speeds of up to 320 kilometres per hour.
Birds fact #5
The most sophisticated nests are built by Swifts, whose homes form the basis of the expensive Chinese dish birds' nest soup. The nests are formed from birds' salivary cement and contain high quantities of minerals, like potassium and magnesium.
Birds fact #6
The Guinness Book of Records cites a bird called Methuselah as the oldest caged dove in the world. Born in April 1975, Methuselah has lived with his owner, Manfred Meller, in Harxheim, Germany, for nearly 32 years.
Birds fact #7
Robert Franklin Stroud (1890-1963) was known as the Birdman of Alcatraz, although he never kept birds while incarcerated in the infamous prison. The bird-association stems from his earlier imprisonment in Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary, Kansas where he nursed a sick bird and went on to breed over 300 canaries.
Birds fact #8
The bird with the foulest smelling nest is the Eurasian Hoopoe. Their interior decoration includes a vast amount of faeces - the foul stench is used to put off predators. The Hoopoe is included in the Old Testament's list of unclean birds.
Birds fact #9
The most expensive bird books in the world are a set by Franco-American ornithologist John James Audubon (The Birds of America). In 1989 they were bought for an astonishing $3.96 million.
Birds fact #10
Superstitions surrounding birds are plentiful; A blackbird nesting on your roof means good luck, a noisey duck is a sign of rain, if you look into an owl's nest you'll be left with sadness in your soul. Last but by no means least: If you hear a Welsh owl hoot in a densely populated urban area, a female somewhere has lost her virginity!