Birds are characterized by their feathers, lightweight skeletons, toothless beaks, and the hard-shelled eggs that they lay. All living birds have wings which evolved from forelimbs. While most birds are able to use their wings in order to fly, some have evolved in a way which led to them losing their ability to fly. Many birds are highly social. They communicate through various sounds and signals and are even able to form cultures within their flocks by passing down information through different generations.
Adelie Penguins
Adelie penguins are very feisty and have been known to attack potential predators, larger birds, and human researchers by slapping them with their flippers. Male adelie penguins attract females by building the biggest nest possible out of rocks, sometimes even...
American Crow
Crows are highly intelligent and well adapted to the changes in their environment that were caused by humans. Crows began flocking to cities after noticing that owls, one of their natural enemies, generally avoid them. Crows have made the most of their city habitat...
Antarctic tern
Antarctic terns prefer to live on rocky cliffs and ice edges. They live in small loose colonies, usually with no more than 40 nests distributed widely over one clif. Antarctic terns fish by flying just above the water and diving just below the surface to catch fish...
Atlantic Puffin
Puffins are very speedy flyers and strong swimmers. In the air they can flap their wings up to 400 times in a minute to reach speeds up to 55 miles (88.5km) per hour. They can also dive 200 feet deep and stay underwater for up to a...
Bald Eagle
Bald eagles have excellent eyesight and can see fish up to a mile (1.6km) away. This is very useful for their hunting style. This is very important for their style of hunting. They start out flying up to 10,000 ft (3,048 m) high and then dive down at speeds up to...
Black Swan
While most waterfowl only live in freshwater, black swans can live in fresh, salt, and brackish water. Black swans are monogamous, meaning they have one partner that they stay with throughout their entire life. These couples are very territorial and will...
Blue-Footed Booby
Blue footed boobies are best known for their bright blue feet which develop in color as they mature. This color comes from pigments in the foods that they eat which means you can tell how healthy a booby is based on how bright blue its feet are. Females choose...
California Quail
California quails are very social birds. They typically travel in groups of 25 to 40 but coveys of over 1000 quails have been reported. They spend most of their time on land and only fly for very short distances but when they do they can reach speeds of 38-58 miles...
Canada Goose
Canada geese migrate south every winter in order to be in warmer locations with more food. They fly in a V-formation which helps them conserve energy for this long trip. This formation is so efficient that a flock of Canada geese can fly up to 1,500 miles (2,414...
Animal Types
Amphibians
Birds
Fish
Invertebrates
Mammals
