Childrens Illustrated Encyclopedia

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BIRDS

75

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Macaw bill

The huge, heavy

macaw’s bill breaks

up nuts and seeds.

Many macaws and

other parrots are

becoming rare

because the tropical

rain forests in

which they live

are being destroyed.

Wing feather

of a macaw

beakS and billS

The beak is also called the bill. it is the

bird’s tool for all kinds of jobs. bills are

made of a hard substance called keratin

and are used for feeding, preening

(cleaning and tidying feathers),

making a nest, and fighting off

predators. The shape of the bill

shows what sort of food the bird

eats. Hooked bills are good

for tearing flesh.

FeaTHerS

Tiny hummingbirds

have fewer than 1,000

feathers; swans have

more than 25,000.

Feathers are made

mainly of keratin,

which is also found in

human hair and nails.

Feathers have a central shaft, or rachis.

On each side of the shaft, hooks called

barbs lock together like a zipper to make

a flat part called the vane. Flight feathers

make a smooth wing surface; down feathers

keep the bird warm.

Peacock feathers

neSTlingS

Most newly hatched birds are helpless,

for they have no feathers and

cannot see. They stay in the nest

to be fed and protected by one

or both parents until their

feathers grow. a parent bird

may make dozens of trips

back to the nest each day,

bringing food for the chicks.

Hard,

chalky

eggshell

cUrlew bill

a long, thin bill for probing into seashore

mud to find worms and shellfish.

ParrOT bill

The hooked tip is for

grasping and tearing

up soft fruit. The

strong base cracks

open seeds and pips.

neSTS and eggS

birds do not give birth to babies the way that

mammals do. instead they lay eggs with hard

shells and then sit on them to keep them

warm. The baby bird develops inside the shell,

nourished by the yolk. after a few weeks the

bird pecks its way out of the shell. Some birds,

such as flamingos, build big nests for their

eggs. Others, such as guillemots, do not make

nests but lay eggs on a cliff edge. Some

cuckoos lay eggs in another bird’s nest and

abandon them, leaving the owner of the nest

to raise the young.

Barbs

Colorful patches on feathers,

known as “eyes,” are used for

the breeding display.

Soft,

downy

parrot

feather

Quill or

base of

a feather,

embedded

in skin.

gUll bill

an all-around shape for probing, cutting

and tearing food, and holding slippery fish.

Curlew

feeding

Flat part of

feather, called

the vane

Baby bird

Food store

of yolk

Eyelids still

joined together

Day-old blue tit nestlings

animals

animal senses

ecology and food webs

Farm animals

Flight, animal

lake and river wildlife

Seashore wildlife

Zoos

Bird Behavior

during the day, birds are busy looking after

their young, communicating with other birds,

eating, and preening. bird behavior, such as

migrating in the winter or pecking at food, is

instinctive, so it does not have to be learned.

Some birds, such as the tawny frogmouth of

australia, feed at night, but during the

day the frogmouth sits very still,

looking like a tree stump.

Blue bird

of paradise

Rachis

(stiff shaft)

breeding diSPlay

during the breeding

season, the male

blue bird of paradise

hangs upside down in

a tree, showing off his

feathers to attract a female.

The males of some kinds of

birds, such as the grouse, fight over a

patch of ground called a lek. without a

territory, no females will come to mate.

Blue tit egg

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