Which is the Birds prey?

            The birds, which feed on other animals, are called the birds of prey. They catch and feed on animals that are usually smaller than them. They may catch their prey anywhere on the ground, in air or in water. But not all birds bother to the flesh of dead animals. Do you know which the birds of prey are?

Eagle, a bird of prey

            The common birds of prey are- buzzards, eagles, falcons, harriers, hawks, kestrels, vultures and woodpeckers. Owls also catch smaller animals and feed on the out they are put in a different category. Most of the birds of prey are brown-colored. They are found in all the continents except Antarctica. They kill they prey with their strong sharp talons, and pluck and tear the flesh with their narrow, hooked beaks. These birds normally swallow huge chunks of food and regurgitate the pellets of indigestible matter.

            The birds of prey attack in two ways. Kestrel hunts by hovering over open ground and then plunging down on its prey before it can escape. Falcon stoops or dives its head first at its prey and catches it in its talons. Eagles are powerful and soaring birds of prey.

            Some eagles hide in a tree and wait for their prey to wander into a clearing. Carrion eaters soar on outstretched wings at considerable heights for hour’s together ad peering down for animals already dead or the ones about to die. In contrast to it the small birds of prey like the sparrow hawk dash at high speed through trees to sprig surprise on a small creature. The birds of prey also kill with their feet. Although some use the beak for the purpose, yet the sharp, curved talons of the feet are the main killing weapons. The rear and inner talons are usually larger than the middle or outer one. These help the birds to exert a strong pincer grip on the prey.

            The birds of prey hunt a variety of animals such as rabbits, hares, grouses, fishes and other smaller birds.

What is Flying Fish?

             We must have heard of flying fishes. Have we ever wondered how it is possible for a fish to fly? There is a kind of fish, which can soar like a glider. This fish is known as a flying fish. It does not fly like birds because it has no wings. To fly, it first swims very fast on the surface of water up to a speed of about 65 kilometers per hour and then spreads its front fins and starts flying in the air. The fins remain spread firmly during the flight with help of its muscles. But as soon as it lands on water. The fins return to their original position.

Flying Fish

            The most common flying fish is the two winged type, which is found in all tropical seas. It is about 25 centimeters long. The largest flying fish is bout 45 centimeters long and had four wings. It lives off the coast of California. The length of flying fishes varies from 5 centimeters to 45 centimeters. Sometimes while flying it dashes against the water waves. This sight is one of the most breathtaking sights that tone can experience. The collision with waves gives it extra energy and it can further fly up to greater distances. It usually flies quite high in the air. A flying fish can glide for over half-a-minute.

How do Parrots and Mynahs Speak Like us?

            For centuries, man has loved birds and kept them in cages, as pets. What is interesting is that some of these birds like the parrot and mynah can be taught in imitate the human voice. There are many species of parrots and mynahs, which if properly taught, can clearly speck many words and smaller sentences like human beings. How they can do it?

A Parrot can be trained to imitate human voice

            The parrot has a long and thick tongue. Earlier some people believed that this enables these birds to speak like human beings. But this is not true. We know that hawks and eagles also have long and thick tongues but they cannot imitate human voice. On the contrary, mynah, without having such tongue, is able to imitate our speech.

            Parrot ad mynah is more intelligent than other birds and thus can copy the human voice. Their speech and hearing mechanism are slow. As a result, the sounds coming out of their mouth resemble that of human beings. It is interesting to note that parrot and mynah themselves do not understand what they speak. They are able to imitate human voice by noticing our lip movements. A female parrot named ‘prudle’ now in the care of Iris Frost of East Sussex, won the best talking parrot like bird title of the national cage and advisory bird show in London for 12 consecutive years 1965-1976. This bird from Uganda was captured in 1958 from a nest. It knows a vocabulary of nearly 800 words.

            There are about 320 species of the parrots known to man. Most of these re green in color. Their beaks are sharply pointed and are red in color. Their length varies from 15 centimeters to 90 centimeters. Macaw, a long tailed parrot found I South America, is 90 centimeters long. They can live up to the age of 50 years if they are properly cared for. The females of all species of parrots lay white eggs.

How is Bats Different from Birds?

            For many years there has been a controversy over the fact that whether a bat is a bird or a mammal. According to the available fossil records, bats have existed on the earth form ore than 60 million years. They are found everywhere in the world except the poles. There are different varieties of bats. Scientists have so far studied more than 2,000 kinds of bats. Bat is a creature, which flies but yet is not regarded as a bird. But why is it so?

Being the only flying mammal, bat is a peculiar creature

            After a lot of arguments, bats have been categorized as mammals. Mammals are those animals whose females give birth to the young and suckle them. They cannot be called birds because unlike birds they do not have feathers on their bodies but have hair. Bat is the only mammal, which has wings for flying. It has wingspan of about 15 centimeters to 2 meters.

            Most of the bats live on insects and worms. In tropical areas, they feed only on fruits and flowers. There is some other kind of bats, which feed on the blood of other animals and birds- they are called the vampire bats. Due to this characteristic of some bats. People fear bats in general. The teeth of vampire bats are as sharp as needles and they even attack human beings and suck their blood.

            This unusual mammal has yet another peculiar quality- while resting it hangs itself upside down with its head facing downward and its legs holding tightly to the branch of the tree. The formation of its limb is such that it cannot stand erect.

            Another feature of bats is that they can fly at night as they produce high pitched sounds called ultrasonic waves which bounce off nearby objects and this echo is picked up by their large ears that convey the presence of obstacles.

           

            Did you know that the largest bat is the flying fox with a body length of over 40 centimeters? Bats usually have a lifespan of 20 years.