Why do birds sing?



An increase in bird-song is one of the sure signs that spring is on the way. Some birds, like the little wren, sing all through the year. For more birds, though, it is the arrival of spring that puts them in good voice.



In most cases the singing is done by male birds. Not all of it is tuneful. The woodpecker drums against a piece of wood in a form of ‘song’. The snipe makes a drumming noise with its tail while it is in flight. Others just croak. But in the bird world they all count as songs. And birds sing them for similar reasons.



Attracting a mate is important. So male birds compete with each other, singing so well as they can to call the female birds. Bird-songs can also be warnings. ‘Clear off. This is my patch’ might well be the stern message in the delightful song we hear on a spring morning. Male birds need to protect their territory and its food, if they want to get a mate. So singing can be both a greeting to female birds and a singing version of a punch on the nose to any male bird that tries to muscle in on the singer’s bit of the garden.



 



Picture Credit : Google


Where birds help to keep the streets clean?



Marabous belong to the stork family and are often seen in the equatorial regions of Asia. They are also known as ‘adjutant birds’ because of the way they stand to attention like soldiers.



These birds are not very fussy about what they eat and enjoy almost any kind of refuse. For this reason they crowd together in villages and do the useful job of clearing the streets of any rubbish that is lying around. Marabous will also eat the rotting bodies of dead animals, often quarrelling with other carrion birds such as vultures and fighting over pieces of stinking, rotten meat.



With such eating habits the marabou cannot be described as an attractive bird. It has an enormous beak about 40 centimetres long; a tiny head with no feathers on it; and a long, curved neck, also bare and covered with a very, rough skin, which is usually kept tucked between its shoulders. The front of the neck contains a loose pouch which the bird keeps stuffed with food. Marabous are up to one and a half metres tall when they stand up straight on their long legs.



 



Picture Credit : Google


Where the crowned crane lives?



Cranes are elegant birds that strut about on their stilt- like legs, stretching out their long necks and holding their heads slightly to one side. Whenever they stop to rest in a field or by the side of the river, they tuck one leg underneath their bodies and stand on the other, sometimes remaining like this for many hours.



The crowned crane has a beautiful crest of yellow feathers on its head and its dark plumage is broken here and there by a few patches of colour. It lives in most tropical regions of Africa in large flocks near lakes or rivers, feeding on seeds and insects which it finds on the ground. The crane flies up to the trees after dark to spend the night safely perched on a branch.



 



Picture Credit : Google


Where the wild peacocks are found?



Wild peacocks live together in large flocks in the forests of central Africa, India, Sri Lanka and southern Asia, They search for seeds to eat during the day, and at nightfall they fly up the trees where they perch and sleep.



Every peacock has several wives known as peahens. The female birds build their nests on the ground and lay from four to six whitish, sometimes spotted eggs. During the mating season the male utters a harsh raucous cry.



Peacocks were first brought to Europe in the days of Alexander the Great. At one time they used to be kept on many farms, but today they are usually found in zoos or public parks.



Peacocks are extremely beautiful birds with their brightly coloured plumage. The male bird makes a magnificent display when it opens up it opens up its huge fan-like tail to preen itself. The female is more dully coloured and does not have the large ornamental feathers.



 



Picture Credit : Google


How edible birds’ nests are gathered?



The birds’ nests which the Chinese use as an ingredient to make their famous birds’ nest soup are built by a swift belonging to the group of birds known as Collocalia. This bird closely resembles the swallows of Europe.



These swifts are great flies. They make their home on steep cliffs that rise out of the sea in the islands of eastern Asia. The birds build their nests among these rocks and two or three times a year the nests are gathered to be sold in Chinese markets.



The work of gathering these nests is quite dangerous because very steep cliffs have to be scaled to reach them. Once a colony of nests has been reached they can be removed quite easily. The shelf-like nests are made of the saliva of the birds, which goes hard rapidly. It is this saliva, softened by soaking and then cooking that is used in making the delicious soups.



 



Picture Credit : Google


How a weaver bird builds its nest?



The sociable weaver of south western Africa gets its name from buildings giant communal nests together with other birds of its species.



These nests are like small cities sometimes inhabited by hundreds of birds. Each bird has its own private apartment in the nest city.



The sociable weaver’s nests are built round the trunk of a tree, usually a big acacia tree, several metres above the ground. The nest is shaped like a sharply pointed roof, has a very wide base and the surface is sloped to allow rainwater to drain away.



Underneath the edge of this roof which is thatched with dry grasses, there are the holes which are entrances to the various private nests where the young weavers are hatched.



Sometimes an extremely large number of birds work together to build a nest that is so large it looks like a hut for humans from a distance.



 



Picture Credit : Google