Nesting & Young
Due to the frigid temperatures of Antarctica, Emperor Penguins cannot risk their egg freezing. This means it never touches the ground, instead being stored and transported via this method.
Feet
While birds nearly always produce the color that is seen in their feathers, this color is purely structural, meaning it is a product of reflection and refraction of the light rather than true pigment.
Blue
Hitting top speed of 240 miles per hours, this raptorial species is the fastest animal on earth and found on every continent except Antarctica
Peregrine Falcon
This aerial species, closely related to gulls, makes the longest journey of any known bird, migrating up to 59,000 miles in a single year between its wintering grounds in Antarctica and its breeding grounds in the Arctic
Conservation initiatives in this country have transformed it into a hub for birders across the world, who come in hopes to see Neotropical migrants from the Monteverde Cloud Forest to the Osa Peninsula. It is famous for its wide range of habitats in a small area, and is where most people score their first Resplendent Quetzal.
Costa Rica
This family of birds, which include Roadrunners, are known for their nest parasitism behavior, meaning they lay their eggs in the nest of other species
Cuckoos/Cuculidae
The Pileated Woodpecker is the largest extant woodpecker in North America. The name “pileated” refers to the latin word, pileatus, for this feature, which is prominent on this species.
Crest
While this smelly product derived from birds may not initially seem to be a highly sought item, it was harvested so much for use as an industrial-scale fertilizer that it led to a large decline in Peruvian cormorant populations during the 19th century.
Guano
Often when strong migration nights collide with inclement weather, such as a rainy frontal system, this incredible event occurs, in which hundreds of thousands of birds are forced down in one spot. This term is often connected to nuclear weaponry too.
Fallout
Often referred to the global capital of bird extinction, this famous island chain has lost the vast majority of its native species, with 50 extinct honeycreepers representing a loss of some earth’s most unique birds
Hawaii
Some mother birds REALLY love their babies! This type of New Zealand bird has the largest known egg-to-body ratio, with the egg being 30% the mass of the mother. That’s like a human mother birthing a 40lb child!
Kiwi
The darkest substance in the world is Vanta Black, absorbing 99.96% of light. A novel superblack, the darkest natural material known to 99.95% of light, is found in this particularly fanciful family of birds.
Birds of Paradise/Paradisaeidae
Most songbirds live between 2-5 years, yet some birds have marathon lives. The oldest wild bird known is now a pop culture sensation, having been banded in 1956 and still rearing young today. (Points received for either her name or her species; double points for both!)
Wisdom (Laysan Albatross)
Sometimes when birds they vagrant, or go places outside of their expected range. One type of vagration is this type of migration, which is aptly named for when birds follow their exact line of migration – except in the exact opposite direction.
Reverse Migration
With a wingspan reaching nearly 10 feet in length, this species, the largest flying bird in North America, survives in small numbers in California and Arizona. Conservation efforts beginning in the 1980s brought this species back from 22 in 1987 to 561 today
California Condor
Birds nest soup is true to its name: it comes from the boiled nest of this bird, which is found nesting in caves across southeast Asia
(White-nest) Swift
When identifying a bird, the distinctive “eyebrow stripe,” which is better known by this more scientific name, can often be a great identification feature.
Supercillium
In 1932, Australia declared a war on 20,000 of these birds, invoking military action to kill them off. Don’t worry, however: after a month-long campaign, these birds bested even the Aussie’s finest soldiers.
Emu
This famous term, at least in the ornithological world, means migratory restlessness, which is the innate urge for birds to migrate, even when deprived of celestial clues
Zugunruhe
Referred to as the Lord God Bird, this species was found in the southeastern swamplands of the United States until its likely extinction in the 1950s. While many contend it still exists, no confirmed sightings since 1944 mean there is little chance this iconic species survives
Ivory-billed Woodpecker
The largest bird today is that of the Ostrich, but only 1000 years ago, these much larger birds had eggs which were equivalent to 150 chickens eggs – the largest egg of any modern bird
Elephant Bird (half point for Moa)
During the breeding season, plumage changes are evident as many species molt into their much more decorative and elaborate feathers. Some species, like Little Blue Heron, attain an additional level of breeding plumage, denoted by a term that is often connoted with weddings
Nuptial plumage
Some birds, like the Pitohui, have poisonous feathers, which are laced with Batrachotoxin, a paralyzing nerve agent that can kill a human in high doses. Batrachotoxin in pitohuis comes from this unexpected source.
(Choresine) Beetles (half points for "Insects")
These small brown, speckled passerine (perching) birds have been documented predicting the timing of hurricanes to coordinate their migration. They are also known for incredible vocal repertoires.
(Catharus) Thrushes
The world’s only flightless parrot, this critically endangered species is known for its large size, green palette, charming demeanor, and promiscuity. In the wild, they can live over 90 years, one of the longest life spans of any species of bird.
Kakapo