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References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
Images & Videos
lesser flamingo basic body feather tracts on a generalized songbird feather types downy woodpecker pigeon skeleton North American bird migration red jungle fowl California quail canary European, or common, starling
For Students
bird summary
Quizzes
turkey vulture. vulture. Close-up of a head and beak of a Turkey vulture (Cathartes aura).
A Little Bird Told Me
vulture. An adult bearded vulture at a raptor recovery center. The Gypaetus barbatus also known as the Lammergeier or Lammergeyer, is a bird of prey and considered an Old World vulture.
Animal Factoids
Great Grey Owl or Great Gray Owl (Strix nebulosa), Alaska. Wood owls, birds.
All About Birds Quiz
Nine-Banded Armadillo.
A Is for Animal Quiz
Macaw. bird. Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao) in Quantana Roo, Mexico. A large colorful parrot native to tropical North and South America.
Know Your Birds Quiz: Part One
Read Next
Shoebill. A Shoebill Stork (Balaeniceps rex), aka 'Whalehead' standing in shallow marsh. Resides in tropical East Africa. A very large bird related to the storks. It derives its name from its massive shoe-shaped bill.
Funky Feathers: 10 Bizarre Birds
sea turtle (reptile). Green turtle (Chelonia mydas) (C. mydas) off the Hawaii Islands, Pacific Islands. Green sea turtle, chelonian. Homepage blog 2011, science and technology, animal
5 Vertebrate Groups
Magpie (Pica pica), perched on a log, bird
Eurasian Magpie: A True Bird Brain
Common, or southern, cassowary (Casuarius casuarius).
8 Birds That Can’t Fly
animal. Amphibian. Frog. Anura. Ranidae. Frog in grass.
Abundant Animals: The Most Numerous Organisms in the World
Discover
Queen Elizabeth II addresses at opening of Parliament. (Date unknown on photo, but may be 1958, the first time the opening of Parliament was filmed.)
All 119 References in “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” Explained
Solar eclipse of the sun.
The Sun Was Eaten: 6 Ways Cultures Have Explained Eclipses
earthquake. Heavily damaged school in the town of Yingxiu after a major earthquake struck China's Sichuan Province on May 12, 2008.
The 6 Deadliest Earthquakes Since 1950
Still from the film Deliverance, 1919. The story of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan. View shows Keller in the cockpit/front seat of an airplane.
How Did Helen Keller Fly a Plane?
Pluto. The Changing Faces of Pluto. Most detailed view to date of the entire surface of the dwarf planet Pluto, as constructed from multiple NASA Hubble Space Telescope photographs taken from 2002 to 2003.
10 Important Dates in Pluto History
Vietnam War. U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson awards the Distinguished Service Cross to First Lieutenant Marty A. Hammer, during a visit to military personnel, Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam, October 26, 1966. President Johnson
Vietnam War Timeline
Mona Lisa, oil on wood panel by Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1503-06; in the Louvre, Paris, France. 77 x 53 cm.
Why Is the Mona Lisa So Famous?

bird: Facts & Related Content

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Facts

Also Known As Aves • fowl

Photos and Videos

lesser flamingo
basic body feather tracts on a generalized songbird
feather types
downy woodpecker
pigeon skeleton
North American bird migration
red jungle fowl
California quail
canary
European, or common, starling
View a flock of red-billed queleas at the Etosha National Park
Track how Galapagos finches underwent adaptive radiation from a single ancestral lineage and their contribution to Darwin's theory of evolution
Learn how a hummingbird can fly in any direction and about its iridescent plumage
Observe flightless cormorants in their natural habitat on coasts of Fernandina and Isabela islands
See the black skimmer water bird skim the calm surface with its longer lower mandible in search of prey
See All Videos and Images →

Related Topics and References

Topics
Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic

Key People

Jean Theodore Delacour
French aviculturist
Newton, Alfred
Alfred Newton
British zoologist
John James Audubon
John James Audubon
American artist
Hudson, W.H.
W.H. Hudson
British author, naturalist, and ornithologist
Mayr, Ernst
Ernst Mayr
American biologist
Magellanic penguin, left (Spheniscus magellanicus), and king shag (Phalacrocorax albiventer), watercolour and pencil by Roger Tory Peterson, from his book Penguins (1979); Houghton Mifflin
Roger Tory Peterson
American ornithologist
Maria Martin
American artist
Baird, Spencer Fullerton
Spencer Fullerton Baird
American naturalist
Alexander Wilson, detail of an engraving by W.H. Lizars
Alexander Wilson
Scottish ornithologist
John Gould
British ornithologist
Belon, detail from an engraving
Pierre Belon
French naturalist
Frank M. Chapman
Frank M. Chapman
American ornithologist
David Lambert Lack
British author and ornithologist
Alexander Wetmore
American ornithologist
Jack Miner
Canadian naturalist
Elliott Coues
American ornithologist
Charles-Lucien Bonaparte, prince di Canino e di Musignano
French scientist
John Bachman
American naturalist and minister

Related Quizzes and Features

Quiz
Dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius). Animals, mammals.
Ultimate Animals Quiz
Great Grey Owl or Great Gray Owl (Strix nebulosa), Alaska. Wood owls, birds.
All About Birds Quiz
turkey vulture. vulture. Close-up of a head and beak of a Turkey vulture (Cathartes aura).
A Little Bird Told Me
turkey vulture. vulture. Close-up of a head and beak of a Turkey vulture (Cathartes aura).
A Little Bird Told Me
Mute swan with cygnet. (birds)
Match the Baby Animal to Its Mama Quiz
pigeon. pigeon and dove. member of the order Columbiformes, family Columbidae
Ultimate Bird Trivia Quiz
Macaw. bird. Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao) in Quantana Roo, Mexico. A large colorful parrot native to tropical North and South America.
Know Your Birds Quiz: Part One
Chicken. Gallus gallus. Poultry. Fowl. Animal. Bird. Rooster. Cocks. Hens. Beak. Wattle. Comb. Farm animal. Livestock. Close-up profile of a hen's head.
Birds, Birds, Birds Quiz
Nine-Banded Armadillo.
A Is for Animal Quiz
Prairie falcon (Falco mexicanus) in mid-flight.
Know Your Birds Quiz: Part Two
Sea otter (Enhydra lutris), also called great sea otter, rare, completely marine otter of the northern Pacific, usually found in kelp beds. Floats on back. Looks like sea otter laughing. saltwater otters
Animal Group Names
vulture. An adult bearded vulture at a raptor recovery center. The Gypaetus barbatus also known as the Lammergeier or Lammergeyer, is a bird of prey and considered an Old World vulture.
Animal Factoids
Young chimpanzee dressed in a shirt and sweater vest, scratching his head thinking. (primates)
Wild Words from the Animal Kingdom Vocabulary Quiz
A male cardinal perched in a tree (birds, redbirds).
U.S. State Bird Quiz
Dromedary camels (Camelus dromedarius). Animals, mammals.
Ultimate Animals Quiz
Lion (panthera leo)
Deadliest Animals Quiz
List
White-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) at Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. (birds)
15 of the Best Birdsongs (According to Britannica)
Collage of different cats. Made for the cat quiz on Mendel
16 Questions About Pets Answered
Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) standing on rock, side view, Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya
The Fastest Animals on Earth
Common, or southern, cassowary (Casuarius casuarius).
8 Birds That Can’t Fly
Close-up of ostriches (Struthio camelus) necks and heads; location unknown.
6 of the World's Most Dangerous Birds
Prairie falcon (Falco mexicanus) in mid-flight.
11 Questions About Birds Answered
sea turtle (reptile). Green turtle (Chelonia mydas) (C. mydas) off the Hawaii Islands, Pacific Islands. Green sea turtle, chelonian. Homepage blog 2011, science and technology, animal
5 Vertebrate Groups
animal. Amphibian. Frog. Anura. Ranidae. Frog in grass.
Abundant Animals: The Most Numerous Organisms in the World
Shoebill. A Shoebill Stork (Balaeniceps rex), aka 'Whalehead' standing in shallow marsh. Resides in tropical East Africa. A very large bird related to the storks. It derives its name from its massive shoe-shaped bill.
Funky Feathers: 10 Bizarre Birds
Demystified
High Angle View Of Bird Dropping On Footpath
Why Is Bird Poop White?
The fierce snake (also known as the inland taipan, western taipan and Oxyuranus microlepidotus) is the most venomous snake in the world.
How Deadly Are Australia’s Animals?
Black-headed gulls perching on a roof with bird droppings, often seen in flocks around London, England, in winter time. The "black head" develops during the breeding season. (black headed, birds, guano, bird poop)
Do Birds Pee?