subject: Some Fascinating Facts About Birds [print this page] People who study birds, fast realize that they are easily among the most captivating animals on the planet. In fact, man's interest and fascination in them goes back centuries. Our primary fascination with them is that, aside from insects, they are one of the few creatures that have mastery of the air and can take off and travel to wherever they please. But, various species of birds have other fascinating traits as well.
A perfect example is the albatross. If you watch the majority of birds, in order to stay afloat in the air, they have to constantly flap their wings. This, as you might expect, burns a great deal of energy.
One of the few exceptions is the albatross. The albatross is an ocean bird. It spends the majority of its time above the open ocean, constantly searching for food. The air above the oceans is a unique environment. It is an environment consisting of air currents and one in which the wind is constantly in motion. The albatross has somehow evolved and learned how to take advantage of these wind currents and ride them expertly. It can effortlessly control its direction by changing from one wind current to another. And it can do all this for hours, without a single beat of its wings - thus expending no energy. It is the ultimate wind surfer.
A second example of a fascinating bird is the hummingbird. For instance, if you were to ask someone to name an animal that hibernates, the first animal that comes to the mind of most people is bears. Hardly anyone will mention the hummingbird.
The hummingbird is, by far, one of the most active birds around. All through the day, it uses up a tremendous amount of energy in its ceaseless search for nectar. Even while resting, its heartbeat has been measured at anywhere from 250 to 480 beats a minute. In fact, it uses so much energy during the day, that at night, in order to let its body recover and prepare for the next day, it shuts down its body almost totally. In effect, it is hibernating.
For decades, researchers and birdwatchers have been fascinated in wondering how birds manage to fly thousands of miles away and magically migrate back and forth from the same areas year after year. Based on research, it appears to be that they can sense the magnetic field of the earth. Researchers have proven this by taking a group of birds and equipping half of them with magnetic rods that interfere with the earth's magnetism.
The birds in the second group had non-magnetic rods attached to them to test the placebo effect. The ones with the magnetic rods got lost. The birds equipped with the non-magnetic rods found their destination as usual. In a sense, it seems that many birds that their own built-in, internal GPS system that is dependent on the earths magnetic poles.
As these facts only begin to scratch the surface of all the interesting bird traits, it is no wonder that some bird watchers spend decades studying their favorite creatures.
