The Daring Book for Girls - Andrea J. Buchanan [90]
In the winter, the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird flies nonstop across the Gulf of Mexico to Central America. To fuel themselves for the journey, they eat so much that they double their body mass in the days before they leave. The Ruby-Throated Hummingbird has an iridescent green back; the males have a bright red throat and the females have a white throat. The female is also larger than the male.
Cool facts:
The Ruby-Throated Hummingbird beats its wings 53 times per second. Also, its legs are so short that is cannot walk or hop, only shuffle. But it manages to scratch its head by lifting its foot up and over its wing.
Red-Tailed Hawk
The Red-tailed Hawk is roughly the size of a small cat (22 inches long and 2 to 4 pounds). Categorized as raptors—birds of prey—they are meat eaters, or carnivores. They have hooked beaks; their feet have three toes pointed forward and one turned back; and their claws,
BIRDING TIPS FROM PETER CASHWELL
(author of The Verb ‘To Bird’)
1. Get up early. It’s good to get outside before sunrise if you want to see and hear birds with the fewest possible distractions (traffic, factory noise, etc.). You can keep birding all day, of course, but the early morning is the best time.
2. Learn a few common birds’ appearances well. They give you something to compare to the bird you saw. If you know the Robin cold, you can tell whether this bird was smaller than a Robin, or had a whiter belly, or had a thicker bill.
3. Set up a feeder or a birdbath. This brings birds into your yard where you can watch them up close and over a long time. You’ll probably also attract several different kinds of birds, which will help you with #2.
4. Bird with others. More experienced birders can show you all kinds of things you’d probably miss on your own, and most birders like to show less experienced birders the ropes. Even if it’s just you and a friend who doesn’t know much about birds, two sets of eyes will see more than one (and two sets of field marks will help you figure out what you saw).
5. Bird everywhere. You don’t have to be in a National Park to see unusual or interesting birds. Some will be at the beach, others in the city park, still others in your yard, and some in that empty lot across the road. Keep looking and you’ll see things everywhere.
or talons, are long, curved and very sharp. They can live as long as twenty-one years, though the more typical lifespan is about ten years. This variety of hawk is found throughout North America, from central Alaska and northern Canada to the mountains of Panama. It has a rasping scream that is most commonly voiced while soaring.
Cool facts:
A Red-Tailed Hawk’s eyesight is eight times as powerful as a human’s. A hawk kills its prey using its long talons; if the prey is too large to swallow whole, the hawk rips it into smaller pieces with its beak.
Mallard
The Mallard duck is found throughout North America and all across Eurasia, most noticeably in urban park ponds. It is the ancestor of almost all domestic duck breeds. Male Mallards have iridescent green heads, reddish chests, and gray bodies; the female is a mottled brown.
Cool facts:
Mallards are monogamous and pair up long before the spring breeding season. The males are loyal, but only the female incubates the eggs and takes care of the ducklings.
Red-Breasted Sapsucker
The Red-Breasted Sapsucker is common in the forests of the west coast, but rarely seen in the east. They are recognizable by their markings: red heads and breasts, and a prominent white stripe across black wings. Male and female Red-Breasted Sapsuckers look alike; younger birds are mottled brown but have white wing-stripes, just like the adults. These birds get their name from the way they eat: foraging for food by drilling horizontal rows of holes in tree trunks and later feeding on the sap and the insects drawn to it.
Cool facts: