The strike of the eagle talon is so powerful that it's force is twice that of a rifle bullet.
Whenever a Bald Eagle migrates south it always goes to the same spot and when it returns north it always goes back to the same spot.
Sub adult eagles that have not yet made a breeding territory are believed to wander more.
Adult eagles usually stay near their nesting territory as the supply of food and weather conditions will allow.
Bald Eagles are the national symbol of the United States
Eagles have great eyesight that helps them see for one to one and a half miles away. (Thus the term eagles eye) They can dive at 100 miles per hour. Their eyesight and diving ability help them catch food.
Bald Eagles help man by catching rodents and rabbits that destroy grain fields.
Bald Eagles can fly with 8 pounds of food.
Bald Eagles normally eat fish. Sometimes they will eat snakes and smaller birds.
There are approximately 7,000 feathers on an eagle.
Pound for pound, an eagle's wing is stronger than the wing of an airplane.
An eagle can kill a young deer and fly away with it.
An eagle's nest located in Maryland, USA reportedly weighed about 3,000 pounds.
On average, a hen lays 300 eggs per year.
Nine egg yolks have been found in one chicken egg.
A mother hen turns her egg approximately 50 times in a day. This is so the yolk does not stick to the shell.
To produce a dozen eggs, a hen has to eat about four pounds of feed.
The largest chicken egg ever laid weighed a pound and had a double yolk and shell.
A chicken with red earlobes will produce brown eggs, and a chicken with white earlobes will produce white eggs.
A chicken is 75% water.
In the U.S., approximately 46% of the chicken that is eaten by people comes from restaurants or other food outlets.
Hens will produce larger eggs as they grow older.
A chicken loses its feathers when it becomes stressed.
A chicken once had its head cut off and survived for over eighteen months, headless.
A female ostrich shows remarkable ability to recognize her own eggs even when mixed in with those of other females in their communal nest.
Ostriches are so powerful that a single kick at a predator, such as a lion, could be fatal.
Ostriches stretch out their neck and lay their head on the ground to keep from being seen, hence the myth that ostriches hide in the sand.
Ostrich is the largest and heaviest living bird. It is unable to fly and does not posses a keeled sternum (breastbone) common to most birds.
Ostriches can run up to 70km/hr(40 mph) and can outpace most pursuers, such as lions, leopards, and hyenas.
Ostriches do not bury their head in the sand.
When fully grown an ostrich has one of the most advanced immune systems known to mankind.
Ostriches have the best feed to weight ratio gain of any land animal in the world. They are successfully farmed in at least 50 countries; from the coldest climates of Alaska to the equatorial areas of central Africa.
Ostriches are not an endangered species; there are at least 2 million worldwide.
Ostrich meat resembles beef in its appearance and is cooked almost the same way.
Ostrich meat is a red meat and is very low in cholesterol, calories and is almost fat free.
Ostriches produce the strongest commercially available leather in the world and some of the most beautiful feathers.
Ostriches skeletons and fossils have been found which date back over 120 million years; ostriches are a true dinosaur.
There are 3 main species of ostriches of which only one, the Struthio Camelus Domesticus (the African Black), is found in captivity.
Ostriches cannot fly.
The ostrich is a member of the ratite family of birds.
One ostrich egg equals up to 24 chicken eggs. And it takes approximately 2 hours to boil!
The ostrich has two toes on each feet which gives it greater speed.
The fastest running bird is the Ostrich, which has been clocked at 97.5 kilometers per hour.
Ostriches stick their heads in the sand to look for water.
An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
Ostriches stick their heads in the sand to look for water.
On ostrich's egg weighs 3 1/2 pounds.
The largest egg laid by a living bird is that of the North African Ostrich. It is 6 to 8 inches in length and 4 to 6 inches in diameter. The smallest is that of the hummingbird. It is less than 0.39 inches in diameter.
Ducks were once wild until they were domesticated by the Chinese many hundreds of years ago.
Ducks keep clean by preening themselves with their beaks, which they do often. They also line their nests with feathers plucked from their chest.
Ducks' feathers are waterproof. There is a special gland that produces oil near the tail that spreads and covers the outer coat of feathers. Beneath this waterproof layer are fluffy and soft feathers to keep the duck warm.
Ducks provide us with eggs, meat and feathers.
Ducks' feet have no nerves or blood vessels. This means ducks never feel the cold, even if they swim in icy cold water.
A duck waddles instead of walking because of its webbed feet.
Ducks have webbed feet, which act like paddles.
Ducks can live from 2-12 years, depending on the species.
The duck is the smallest of them all and have shorter necks and wings and a stout body.
Ducks are related to geese and swans.
A male duck is called a drake, a female is called a duck. Babies are called ducklings.
All of the Peking ducks in the United States are descendents from three ducks and one drake imported to Long Island, New York in 1873.
A duck has three eyelids.
A duck's quack has no echo.
Some ducks and geese can fly as much as 332 miles a day!
Hummingbirds cannot become addicted to the nectar you put out in your feeder. They will leave the feeders when they need to.
Hummingbirds eat both nectar and the small insects found near the nectar.
Although male hummers are more colorful than female hummers, female hummingbirds are relatively colorful.
Hummingbirds have split tongues, which they fold into a tube when feeding.
Normal flight speed for a hummingbird is 25 to 30 mph, but hummers can dive at speeds of up to 60 mph.
It takes hummingbird eggs two to 2 1/2 weeks to hatch.
Hummingbird eggs are so small that a penny would completely cover three of them. The usual brood, however, is two eggs.
Hummingbird nests average about 1-1/2 inches in outside diameter. A penny will almost fill the inside diameter.
Only ten species of hummers have significant ranges north of Mexico. Only the ruby-throated hummingbird ranges east of the Mississippi.
In the eighteenth century, when Swedish naturalist Carolus Linnaeus devised the scientific classification system still in use today (kingdom, phylum, class, order and family) hummingbirds were assigned their own family: Trochilidae, from the Greek trochilos, meaning small bird.
When early Spanish explorers encountered hummingbirds they called them Joyas voladoras, flying jewels.
Hummingbirds are native to South America.
Adult female Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are 15-20% larger than adult males.
The only bird that can fly backwards is the Hummingbird.
A hummingbird's heart beats 615 beats in a minute.
Hummingbirds flap their wings between 50 and 70 times a second
Some species of the parrot have become endangered. Thousands are brought to Europe and North America as pets. Many of these die making this journey.
Parrots have a wide range of articulations. Wild parrots do not imitate. Only pets will mimic people and noises they hear. The African gray parrots are the best mimics.
Parrots are hole nesters. They build their nests in holes in trees, termite mounts, rock cavities, or ground tunnels. A few exceptions will build stick nests.
More than 90 percent of the parrots imported into the United States are probably wild caught.
It is thought that two million parrots alone are legally or illegally traded each year.
More than 1.8 million parrots legally entered the international trade from 1982-1988 of which 80 percent were imported into the United States.
Recent figures suggest that 40 percent of these species are threatened primarily by habitat destruction, 17 percent primarily by trade, 36 percent by a combination of the two causes and 7 percent by other factors.
At least 30 percent of the 140 parrot species found in the Western Hemisphere are now threatened with extinction.
An additional 25,000 parrots die of suffocation, starvation, inhumane treatment while being transported to the Texas border.
An estimated 25,000 wild parrots, caught or plucked from their nests in Mexico, are smuggled across the Texas border each year.
Every year, approximately 250,000 parrots are imported to the United States to satisfy a demand for exotic birds as pets.
It is estimated in the year 2000 there were 60 million birds in 6.13 million homes.
In 1990 there were 11 million pet birds living in 5.1 million households in the US
By 1996 the number of pet birds had grown to 40 million while the number of homes remained fairly consistent at 5.9 million.
In the wild, Macaws and Cockatoos can fly 500 miles per day in search of food!
Some parrot vocalizations can be heard for up to 1 mile!
Wild parrots live in the forest of tropical zones including South America, Australia, and New Guinea. A few live in Africa and mainland Asia.
Larger parrots such as the macaws and cockatoos live more than 75 years.
Smaller parrots live 10 to 15 years.
Parrots have large heads and short necks.
Some American parrots are mostly blue or yellow.
Most parrots are predominantly green, especially the ones from South America.
Parrots weigh from just a few ounces to 3½ pounds.
Parrots range in size from the pygmy of the South Pacific which is only 3½ inches long to the hyacinth macaw which is about 10 inches long. Much of its length is in its long tail.
Parrots are divided into groups such as cockatoos, lories, lovebirds, macaws, and parakeets.
Three hundred and twenty-eight different species of parrots live on the Earth.
There are 315 species of parrot in the world.
Parrots cannot eat chocolate because it is poisonous to their body.
The Barn Owls hearing is so highly developed that they can hunt for their prey in total darkness.
The world's smallest owl is the elf owl which weighs 1.5 ounces and is the size of a sparrow.
Owls swallow their prey hole because they have no teeth. After approximately 12 hours they cough up the feathers, bones, and fur in a shape of a football pellet.
Owls have no teeth.
Male owls weigh less and are smaller than female owls.
Wild turkeys can run at speeds of up to 25 miles per hour.
Benjamin Franklin wanted the national bird to be a turkey.
A spooked turkey can run at speeds up to 20 miles per hour. They can also burst into flight approaching speeds between 50-55 mph in a matter of seconds.
So close, yet so far
A wild turkey has excellent vision and hearing. Their field of vision is about 270 degrees. This is the main reason they continue to elude some hunters.
Gobbling starts before sunrise and can continue through most of the morning.
Turkeys fly to the ground at first light and feed until mid-morning. Feeding resumes in mid-afternoon.
Turkeys spend the night in trees. They fly to their roosts around sunset.
Minnesota led the United States in turkey production in 2001. Forty-three million turkeys were produced.
Turkey eggs hatch in 28 days.
The fleshy growth under a turkey’s throat is called a wattle.
Turkeys have a long, red, fleshy area called a snood that grows from the forehead over the bill.
The caruncle is a red-pink fleshy growth on the head and upper neck of the turkey.
Israelis eat the most turkeys.....28 pounds per person.
The costume that "Big Bird" wears on Sesame Street is rumored to be made of turkey feathers.
Turkey skins are tanned and used to make cowboy boots and belts.
Most turkey feathers are composted.
Turkeys have been bred to have white feathers. White feathers have no spots under the skin when plucked.
Turkeys will have 3,500 feathers at maturity.
For their first meal on the moon, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin ate roast turkey in foil packets.
White meat has fewer calories and less fat than dark meat.
Turkey is low in fat and high in protein.
According to the 2002 census, there were 8,436 turkey farms in the United States.
50 percent of U.S. consumers eat turkey at least once per week.
Eating turkey does not cause you to feel sleepy after your Thanksgiving dinner. Carbohydrates in your Thanksgiving dinner are the likely cause of your sleepiness.
The five most popular ways to serve leftover turkey is as a sandwich, in stew, chili or soup, casseroles and as a burger.
Since 1947, the National Turkey Federation has presented a live turkey and two dressed turkeys to the President. The President does not eat the live turkey. He "pardons" it and allows it to live out its days on a historical farm.
June is National Turkey Lover’s Month.
Turkey breeding has caused turkey breasts to grow so large that the turkeys fall over.
In England, 200 years ago, turkeys were walked to market in herds. They wore booties to protect their feet. Turkeys were also walked to market in the United States.
Wild turkeys were almost wiped out in the early 1900's. Today there are wild turkeys in every state except Alaska.
Wild turkeys spend the night in trees. They especially like oak trees.
Turkeys have heart attacks. The United States Air Force was doing test runs and breaking the sound barrier. Nearby turkeys dropped dead with heart attacks.
Commercially raised turkeys cannot fly.
Turkeys are related to pheasants.
A domesticated male turkey can reach a weight of 30 pounds within 18 weeks after hatching.
2.74 billion pounds of turkey were processed in the United States in 1994.
Turkeys do not see well at night.
A large group of turkeys is called a flock.
Turkeys can see in color.
Turkeys don’t really have ears like ours, but they have very good hearing.
The ballroom dance the "turkey trot" was named for the short, jerky steps that turkeys take.
A 16 week old turkey is called a fryer. A five to seven month old turkey is called a young roaster and a yearling is a year old. Any turkey 15 months or older is called mature.
Illinois produced 2.9 million turkeys in 2003 and ranked 15th in turkey production in the United States.
Minnesota, North Carolina, Arkansas, Virginia, Missouri and Virginia are the leading producers of turkey in 2003. These states produced 75% of all the turkeys raised in 2003.
Gobbling turkeys can be heard a mile away on a quiet day.
Male turkeys gobble. Hens do not. They make a clicking noise.
Nineteen million turkeys are eaten each Easter.
Twenty-two million turkeys are eaten each Christmas.
Forty-five million turkeys are eaten each Thanksgiving.
United States turkey growers raised 270 million turkeys in 2003.
It takes 75-80 pounds of feed to raise a 30 pound tom turkey.
Turkey eggs are tan with brown specks and are larger than chicken eggs.
Most of the turkeys raised for commercial production are White Hollands.
Baby turkeys are called poults and are tan and brown.
Turkey feathers were used by Native Americans to stabilize arrows.
Turkeys lived almost ten million years ago.
Turkeys can see movement almost a hundred yards away.
Six hundred seventy-five million pounds of turkey are eaten each Thanksgiving in the United States.
Turkeys’ heads change colors when they become excited.
Tom turkeys have beards. This is black, hairlike feathers on their breast. Hens sometimes have beards, too.
Wild turkeys can run 20 miles per hour.
Wild turkeys can fly for short distances up to 55 miles per hour.
The turkey was domesticated in Mexico and brought to Europe in the 16th century.
The female turkey is called a hen.
The male turkey is called a tom.
The wild turkey is native to Northern Mexico and the Eastern United States.
A 15 pound turkey usually has about 70 percent white meat and 30 percent dark meat.
The heaviest turkey ever raised was 86 pounds, about the size of a large dog.
In 2003, the average American ate 17.4 pounds of turkey.
Turkeys can drown if they look up when it is raining.
Turkeys have heart attacks. When the Air Force was conducting test runs and breaking the sound barrier, fields of turkeys would drop dead.
The best time to see a turkey is on a warm clear day or in a light rain.
The bright skin that hangs from a turkey's neck is called a "wattle."
Turkeys are able to adapt to a wide variety of habitats. However, most turkeys are found in hardwood forests with grassy areas.
Turkeys have a wingspan of approximately 4.5 feet
The turkey was once nominated to be the official bird of the United States.
The thing that hangs from the top of the beak of a turkey is called the snood.
Over 100 million birds die annually by crashing into glass windows in the United States.
Kiwis are the only known bird to have nostrils located at the tip of their beak.
In the United States birds and planes collided more than 22,000 times between the years of 1990 and 1998.
In the Middle Ages, peacocks and swans were sometimes served at Christmas dinners.
In order to scare away predators, Giant petrels, a type of seabird, throw up all over the intruder.
The Arctic Tern, which is a small bird, can fly a round trip from the Arctic to the Antarctic and back. This can be as long as twenty thousand miles per year. This is the longest migration for a bird.
The American Kestrel hawk weighs only four ounces.
Storks were a symbol of fertility in Europe and were considered to bring good luck.
Some birds have been know to put ants into their feathers because the ants squirt formic acid, which kills parasites.
Pigeons can see ultraviolet lights.
In 1681, the last dodo bird died.
Flamingos are able to fly at a speed of approximately 55 kilometers an hour. In one night they can travel about 600 km.
Blue Jays can imitate the calls of hawks.
Birds do not sweat, as they do not have sweat glands.
A seagull can drink salt water because it has special glands that filter out the salt.
A peregrine falcon can reach speeds up to 200 miles per hour.
Baby robins eat 14 feet of earthworms every day!
The scarlet tanager, a songbird native to Illinois, can eat as many as 2,100 gypsy-moth caterpillars in one hour.
The oldest bird on record was Cocky, a cockatoo, who died in the London Zoo at the age of 82.
The highest flight by a bird was by a Ruppell's vulture at 37,000 feet. The bird hit a plane at this height.
The fastest bird in the world is the Peregrine Falcon, which can reach speeds in excess of two hundred miles per hour.
There are an estimated 2,500 collisions between birds and planes each year in the US.
The flying fox of Africa has a wingspan of fifty inches!
Birds save energy by flying in a "V" formation.
The largest bird egg ever laid was laid millions of years ago by the Madagascar, or the elephant bird.
Wild Flamingos are pink because they consume vast quantities of algae and brine shrimp.
Whooping cranes are born with blue eyes that change to bright gold by the time they six months old.
Blue jays often forget where they hide winter supplies of food.
Sometimes birds show anger towards humans by taking out its feelings on other birds nearby, because they are too afraid to attack humans.
The Egyptian vulture uses stones to smash ostrich eggs.
Vultures can soar for hours without one beat of their wings.
The dipper bird builds nests behind waterfalls for protection.
When two lovebirds appear to be kissing, they are actually grooming each other with their bills to keep clean and neat.
The fastest bird is the peregrine falcon. It can fly at a speed of 168-217 miles per hour.
A woodpecker can peck twenty times a second.
There are about 100 billion birds in the world, and about 6 billion of them make their homes in the United States.
