14 Quirky Bird Facts From The Avant-Garden Shop
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Spring is in the air, and we're all loving it—including the birds! Here are some fun facts about birds...
1. Birds can lock their legs in position. A small set of flexor tendons automatically tighten and cause the birds toes to grasp firmly around the perch; thus the crouched bird can relax without fear of falling to the ground while it is asleep. This answers the age old question of why they don’t fall off branches and telephone wires!
2. Cardinals can live up to 13 years.
3. Mockingbirds are the Jimmy Fallon of birds. In 1924, a single mockingbird was recorded mimicking the calls of 55 other birds in one hour.
4. The heaviest bird on record is the African Ostrich, with a weight of 345 lbs. That's the weight of offensive/defensive linemen in the NFL!
5. Woodpeckers have a hard tipped tongue that is bordered with bristles. When coated with saliva, a woodpecker can use its sticky tongue for catching ants, or it can use it as a brush for licking the sap of trees. Some woodpeckers have a tongue that measures around 171mm (6.73 inches)—which is about 2.8 times the length of their beaks and typically even longer than their total body length!
6. Apparently safflower seeds are to birds as Brussel sprouts are to kids. Outside of the Cardinal, not many other birds like them so they get left behind as a special treat for the scavenging Cardinal.
7. Many seabirds can drink seawater. They excrete excess salt through special glands in their nostrils allowing them in ingest it.
8. Don’t drink the pool water kids! Grackles and other songbirds clean their nests by removing sacs of waste generated by their babies and drop them in local water locations including swimming pools.
9. Simpsons relation: Most birds have four toes.
10. Many birds have been documented playing. Like check this video out...
11. You think you eat a lot? Hummingbirds have an incredibly high metabolic rate and consume 1-½ times their weight in food each day!
12. Hummingbirds can hover as well as fly sideways, backwards and even upside down. Some hummingbirds travel more than 2,000 miles when migrating from Mexico to Alaska. Imagine what their odometer looks like!
13. Orioles love jelly. This means they’d be the easiest kid to pack a lunch for! They are particularly fond of fresh oranges, and grape and apple jelly.
Doh!
14. Squirrel!!!!! ->>> Squirrels are regularly the victim of bad press—quit stealing from bird feeders!—but they are actually beneficial to the ecosystem! When squirrels stockpile seeds and nuts for the winter, they always bury more than they need. This results in new plant growth in the spring from the seeds that were not consumed over the winter.
**If you want to see more birds in your backyard and around your house this spring, you need to visit the Avant-Garden Shop (165 Sherbrooke St.). It is downtown Peterborough’s authority on bird products, including an incredible selection of seeds to lure in even the most finicky of birds!
**Sources for bird facts: The Audubon Society Encyclopedia of North American Birds, by John K. Terres, 1987
For more info on The Avant-Garden Shop, go here:
Phone: 705.743.0068
Website: Avantgardenshop.com
Twitter: @AvantGardenPtbo
Facebook: Facebook.com/AvantGardenShop
**If your business/organization is interested in a PTBOCanada Featured Post Advertorial, email our Sales Director Aaron Elliott at aaron@ptbocanada.com for info!
