Fun Trivia Items about Birds and Their Habits

Six Unusual Facts From the Reader's Digest AA Book of British Birds

May 25, 2009

Here are 6 trivia items about Nidicolous birds, pirate birds, strange bird's eggs, the woodpecker's tongue, birds that fly underwater and birds that carry their chicks.

The Reader’s Digest AA Book of British Birds, first published in 1969, is a 471 page authoritative tome that is very readable and full of fascinating information. The following bird trivia are taken from its pages.

These specialist terms have very simple meanings: nidicolous (nest-attached) birds are those birds who keep their helpless, often featherless, chicks in the nest for several weeks and bring them food. Nidifugous birds are those whose chicks are born fully-feathered and alert. The chicks leave the nest as soon as they are dry after emerging from the egg.

Some Birds Carry their Young

Some nidifugous birds will lead their young away from the nest to better feeding grounds. This can mean dealing with obstacles such as walls and hedges. In such cases, Woodcocks and Redshanks are known to fly over the obstacle, carrying one chick at a time, clutched tightly between their legs. Another water bird, the Great Crested Grebe, on the other hand, becomes a floating nest, by carrying its chicks on its back for up to 3 weeks.

Bird That Fly Underwater

The Auk family of birds, which includes guillemots, murres and puffins, are flying seabirds that have short wings which must be moved rapidly for flight. However, when chasing prey in the water, this group of birds actually flap their wings to propel them through the water, whereas most sea-feeding birds either plunge from a height or use their webbed feet to dive.

The Woodpecker’s Long Tongue

The Woodpecker has a tongue that is five times the length of its beak, which means it can probe into holes for food as far as five inches. Where does it keep its tongue? The tongue is a portion of a flexible system of bones and tissues known as the hyoid. It starts at the top of the beak, and is anchored near its right nostril. From there it curls across the top of the woodpecker’s skull and down the back of the head, exiting as the tongue through the beak.

The Shape of Birds’ Eggs

It sounds odd to say that some eggs aren’t egg-shaped – that is, blunt at one end and slightly pointier at the other. In fact, eggs come in all shapes and sizes. The eggs of Swifts and Swallows are long with blunt ends while the eggs of owls and many other birds of prey are quite round. Some eggs are pear-shaped and, here, there seems to be a reason. The eggs of the Guillemot are laid on narrow rocky ledges with no nesting material to contain them. If set in motion, their pear-shaped eggs rotate around the narrow end, rather than roll straight over the edge.

Some Birds are Pirates

Traditionally, pirates plunder what others are carrying home. There are certain birds that do just that. Great Skuas lurk in the sky till they see an unfortunate gannet carrying a fish home, and several of them mob and hustle it until it regurgitates its fine treasure. Black-headed Gulls steal earthworms from Lapwings and Blackbirds steal worms from Song Thrushes. It is estimated that, in some seasons, the Thrushes lose 10% of their hard-earned food.

Birds and their habits are a fascinating study. The Reader’s Digest AA Book of British Birds is highly recommended.

Source: Drive Publications Ltd, Reader’s Digest AA Book of British Birds, London, 1969.

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