Some birds are famous for their colour and are named for it, such as the Bluebird, the Azure Kingfisher, the Golden Pheasant, the Scarlet Macaw, the Violet Wren and the Robin Redbreast.
Many other birds are very brightly coloured, in countless combinations. Some of the most colourful birds are quite common like pheasants, peacocks, domestic fowl and parrots. Colourful sall birds include blue tits, the gold finches, humming birds, fairy wrens and bee eaters (which are also called rainbow birds). Some birds, like those of the Bird of Paradise in Papua New Guinea have such beautiful feathers that they have been hunted for them.
With some birds, such as flamingos, the male and the female are both brightly coloured. With other species, only the male is brightly coloured, and uses his colourful feathers to attract females. The peacock is the best example of this, but also in the domestic fowl, the male has long shiny feathers above his tail and also long neck feathers that may be a different colour to his wings and body. There are only a very few types of birds (like the Eclectus Parrot) where the female is more colourful than the male.
[change] How do birds fly?
Most birds can fly. They do this by pushing through the air with their wings. The curved surfaces of the wings cause air currents (wind) which lift the bird. Flapping keeps the air current moving to create lift and also moves the bird forward.
Some birds can glide on air currents without flapping. Many birds use this method when they are about to land. Some birds can also hover and remain in one place. This method is used by birds of prey such as falcons that are looking for something to eat. Seagulls are also good at hovering, particularly if there is a strong breeze. The most expert hovering birds are tiny hummingbirds which can beat their wings both backwards and forwards and can stay quite still in the air while they dip their long beaks into flowers to feed on the sweet nectar.
A Flock of Tundra Swans fly in V-formation.
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Types of flight
Different types of birds have different needs. Their wings are adapted to suit the way they fly.
Large birds of prey, such as eagles, that spend a lot of time soaring on the wind have wings that are large and broad. The main flight feathers are long and wide. They help the eagle to stay on rising air currents without using much energy, while the eagle looks at the ground below, to find the next meal. When the eagle sees some small creature move, it can close its wings and fall from the sky like a missile, opening its great wings again to slow down as it comes to land. The world's largest eagle, the Philippine Eagle has a wingspan of about 2 metres (6.7 ft) wide.
Birds that live in grassland areas or open forests and feed on fruit, insects and reptiles often spend a lot of time flying short journeys looking for food and water. They have wings that are shaped in a similar way to eagles, but rounder and not as good for soaring. These include many Australian birds like Cockatoos.
Birds, such as geese, that migrate from one country to another fly very long distances. Their wings are big and strong, because the birds are large and they stock up on food for the long flight. Migrating water birds usually form family groups of 12-30 birds. They fly very high, making use of long streams of air that blow from north to south in different seasons. They are very well organised, often flying in a V pattern. The geese at the back don't have to flap so hard; they are pulled on by the wind of the ones at the front. Every so often, they change the leader so that the front bird, who does most work and sets the pace, can have a rest. Geese and swans are the highest-flying birds, reaching 8,000 metres or more when on migration. Geese often honk loudly while they are flying. It is thought that they do this to support the leader and help the young ones.
Birds that fly very quickly, such as swifts and swallows, have long narrow pointed wings. These birds need great speed because they eat insects, catching most of them while they are flying. These birds also migrate. They often collect in huge flocks of thousands of birds that move together like a whirling cloud.
Birds that live in bushes and branches have triangular wings that help the bird change direction. Many forest birds are expert at getting up speed by flapping and then gliding steadily among the trees, tilting to avoid things as they go. Members of the kingfisher family are expert at this type of flying.
Birds such as owls that hunt at night have wings with soft rounded feathers so that they don't flap loudly. Birds that are awake at night are called nocturnal birds. Birds that are awake during the day are diurnal.
A Wandering Albatross and Arctic Tern might spend several years without coming to land. They can sleep while gliding and have wings which, when they are stretched right out, look like the wings of a jet plane.
Bird like chickens that feed mainly on the ground and only use their wings to fly to safety have small wings.
Flightless birdsSome birds do not fly. These include running birds like ostriches and emus and ocean-living birds, the large penguin family.
Ostriches and emus do not need to fly because although they feed and nest on the ground, their great size and their speed is their protection. Some other ground-feeding birds have not been so lucky. Some birds such as the Dodo and the Kiwi were ground-feeding birds that lived in safety on islands where there was nothing dangerous to eat them. They lost the power of flight. Kiwis are endangered because European settlement to New Zealand brought animals like cats, dogs and rats which kill kiwis and eat their eggs. However, Kiwis and also the rare New Zealand Ground Parrot have survived. In the case of Dodos, they were fat and delicious. They were killed and eaten by sailors until there was none left. Other flightless birds which have disappeared are the Auk and the Moa.
Penguins spend a great deal of time at sea, where they are in danger from seals. On land, they usually live in areas where there were few dangers, until the arrival of European settlers with dogs and cats. Their wings have adapted to life in the sea and have become flippers which help them in swimming very fast.
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