Birds of the World

24 Birds of the World Birds are really interesting. They come in all shapes and sizes, and they're found everywhere. There are nearly two billion adult birds on the planet. That's more than any other kind of animal. Can you guess what the most common bird on the planet is? It's not hard if you really think about it. Here's a hint: humans everywhere love to eat this bird. That's right: chickens. There are more chickens than any other kind of bird! When it comes to deciding on the biggest bird on Earth, things get a little more complicated. Is the question which is the heaviest, which is the tallest, or which has the largest wingspan? Things get even more complicated when you realize that not all birds fly. But all birds have wings. The world's largest bird is the ostrich. It has wings, but it can't fly. It's about 3 metres tall and weighs about 160 kilograms. Of the birds that can fly, the largest species lives in Africa. Its name is the Kori Bustard. It can weigh up to 20 kilograms.

The smallest bird is the hummingbird. Most hummingbirds are 2 to 3 grams in weight. One species, the ruby-throated hummingbird, spends the winter near the equator, but flies all the way to Canada for the summer months. This is truly an amazing thing. How does such a small bird do that? Well, it flies at speeds of about 50 km an hour. It eats every ten minutes, consuming two times its own body weight each day to maintain its energy. The bee hummingbird lives in Cuba. It weighs only 1. 5 grams. Its eggs are smaller than a pea. Another interesting fact about hummingbirds is that they are the only birds that can fly backwards. When you dig deep, you can find a lot of amazing things about birds. For example, a bird's heart beats 400 times a minute while resting and 1, 000 beats per minute while flying. Compare that with a human's heart, which beats about 75 times a minute. Take a minute and watch a bird soar in the sky. How do they fly? Well, that's another story for another time.