There are several species of birds on earth which cannot fly because they stopped using their wings for flying many thousands of years ago. Perhaps neither the environment around them nor their living conditions required them to fly. Generally birds fly either to protect themselves from enemies or in search of food. These flightless birds either lived in places where there were no enemies to prey on them, or were so big that they could rely on their legs to carry them out of trouble. As a result, their wings almost fell into disuse and gradually they became flightless. Do you know which are the birds that cannot fly?
First of all we have the Penguins. They turned their wings into paddles or flippers. As a result they cannot fly but they are excellent swimmers. These birds mainly live in the southern hemisphere – mostly at the edge of Antarctica.
The Kiwis of New Zealand took to living by night, finding its food by smell and almost ceased flying. Gradually the bird became flightless. Also it almost stopped using its eyes and today it has very poor eyesight. Now these birds have small wings which are hidden by hair-like feathers that cover the body.
The most ferocious flightless bird is the Cassowary that lives in Indonesian jungles and also found in Northern Australia and New Guinea. It is not scared of either man or beast, and is quick to attack with the talons on its long legs.
The biggest flightless bird in the world is the African Ostrich, mostly found in Savannah. Growing to 2.5 metres tall, it can run at a speed of 40 miles per hour, covering 4.5 metres in one stride.
Rhea is another flightless bird that lives in the grasslands of South America. Australian Emu is also a flightless bird which is next only to Ostrich in size.
It is observed that most flightless birds live in places where there are few natural enemies.