Many birds have beautiful colours or feather displays. In many species, it is the males that are brightly coloured, to attract females. Females are duller in colour, for camouflage while nesting. Camouflage is also used by both sexes of some birds to avoid predators, or to hunt more effectively.
Bee-eaters and kingfishers are small birds, often with jewel-like colours. As their name suggests, bee-eaters feed on bees, wasps and other insects. Before swallowing their prey, they crush the sting by smashing it on a branch. Kingfishers sit on branches over stretches of water, diving in to catch small fish in their beaks.
The long-legged storks and herons also feed on fish, though some large storks are carrion-eaters. Most storks and herons are wading birds, standing in the shallows and snapping up fish in their long beaks. Their relatives, the flamingos, get their pink colour from the tiny plant and animal material in the water on which they feed.
Hummingbirds and swifts are excellent flyers. They are small birds with long, pointed wings. Swifts can mate, feed on flying insects, and even sleep on the wing.
Many members of the cuckoo family lay their eggs in the nest of a different species. After hatching, young cuckoos often kill their “true” nest mates. The hoatzin is probably related to the cuckoos. It nests over Rainforest Rivers. If attacked, the young drop into the water, then climb back up to the nest using sharp claws on their wings.
With over 5000 species, the perching birds are the largest group of birds. They range in size from the tiny blue tit or wren to the large raven. They are land-living birds, with four unwebbed toes, three pointing forward and one backward. Most feed on seeds or insects, but some eat fruit or nectar. Many small perching birds fly in a bounding motion to save energy, flapping and closing their wings alternately.
Most perching birds also belong to a sub-group called the songbirds. Though other birds can make short, simple calls, songbirds have extra muscles in their voice-boxes, allowing them to produce complex patterns of notes. Songs are used by males to establish territories and warn off intruders, as well as to attract females. Each species may have a large number of song variations, with birds from different areas having their own “accents”. Young songbirds learn songs from their parents and other adults.
Most perching birds construct nests in trees or hedges, where their young will be safe from predators. The young are born naked, blind and helpless. They need to be kept warm and fed by their parents until they are old enough to fledge (leave the nest). Other birds such as ducks, gulls or game-birds, that lay their eggs in more exposed places, hatch out as fully-feathered young that can feed themselves almost straight away.
Many songbirds, like other groups of birds, migrate to warmer places in the winter when food becomes scarce. They feed heavily before migration, laying down stores of fat for fuel on their long journeys. They return in the spring to breed, when there is a plentiful supply of food for themselves and their young.
Picture Credit : Google