What are Birds?

Birds are a diverse group of animals with many distinct traits.

• Vertebrates (have back bones)
• Endothermic (warm blooded)
• Feathers
• Beak (instead of teeth)
• Laying of eggs

While all modern-day birds have feathers and wings, there are many birds that do not fly.

• Ostrich (The world’s largest bird that lives on the savannah in Africa)
• Penguins (these birds have adapted to an aquatic life and use their wings as flippers for swimming)
• Kiwis (this small bird is found on the island of New Zealand)

Birds’s diets are complex and cover a whole spectrum of foods from meat, to seeds to nectar.

• Hawks (these birds are carnivores and can hunt anything from mice to rabbits)
• Parrots (these birds primarily live on fruits and seeds)
• Wren, Robins and Warblers (these birds are insectivores and will eat bugs and other small invertebrates)
• Vultures (these birds are scavengers and feed on the bodies of already dead animals)

Many birds build nests to incubate their eggs and to raise their babies in. These nests can be made out of many different things. However, not all birds build nests.

• Cavities in the trunks of trees or cacti
• Burrows dig under the earth
• Nests made from twigs, mud, feathers and hair