Birds

Birds are warm-blooded, vertebrate animals with four limbs, the front two of which are adapted into wings. They are the only animals that have feathers. Birds have light, hollow...

Adélie penguin

The Adélie penguin is the commonest Antarctic penguin. It is medium-sized with a distinctive white ring around each eye. Every spring, Adélie penguins undertake a long migration...

Albatrosses

The albatrosses are a family of large sea birds. Both "great albatrosses", the wandering albatross and royal albatross, have wingspans of up to 3.4 metres (11 feet)—the largest...

Birds of prey

Birds of prey include eagles, falcons, kites, buzzards, harriers, hawks, vultures and the osprey. Often called raptors from the Latin word rapere, to seize, they are all...

Bustards

Bustards are ground-nesting birds that live on the plains of Africa, Europe and Asia. They have heavy, brown bodies and long legs. They feed mostly on leaves, seeds and...

Cuckoos

The cuckoo family includes roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis. Some cuckoos (but not all species) lay eggs in the nests of other species of bird. Animals that...

Ducks, geese and swans

Ducks, geese and swans are all birds that live in fresh- or saltwater habitats, feeding in the water and nesting on land, on reed platforms or even holes in trees. They feed on...

Eagles

Eagles are large birds of prey. There are 33 species of eagle, living in mountains, tundra, woodlands, forests or on coasts. They build their nests, called eyries, in trees or up...

Emperor penguin

The emperor penguin is the largest and heaviest species of penguin, growing up to 1.2 metres (4 feet) tall. It is the only species of penguin to breed during the Antarctic winter...

Game birds

Chickens, turkeys, pheasants, guineafowl, peafowl, grouse, quail and partridges are among the birds known as game birds. The scientific name for the order, which includes around...

Grebes and divers

Grebes and divers (known as loons in North America) are duck-like diving birds. Both use their feet as paddles as they pursue their quarry below the water's surface. They are...

Hoatzin

The hoatzin (pronounced "hwat-zin") is a tropical bird native to the rivers of South America. About the same size as chickens, hoatzins have blue faces, red eyes, golden throats...

Hummingbirds and swifts

Hummingbirds are small, colourful birds that hover in front of flowers while they drink nectar from them. Their tiny wings beat up to 80 times per second, enabling them to hover...

King penguin

At 90 centimetres (3 feet) tall, the king penguin is the second largest species of penguin in the world after the emperor penguin. It lives in large colonies, called rookeries, on...

Kingfishers

Kingfishers are mostly small, brightly coloured birds. There are 86 species. They have large heads with long, dagger-like bills. They consume a wide range of prey as well as fish...

Nightjars

Nightjars are nocturnal birds, related to frogmouths, oilbirds and potoos. They are sometimes known as goatsuckers as they were once thought, mistakenly, to suck milk from goats...

Ostriches and other ratites

The ostrich, the world's largest bird, belongs to the ratite group of birds, which also includes rheas, emus, cassowaries and kiwis. They are all flightless birds: their tail and...

Owls

Though they are also hunting birds with strong beaks and talons, owls are a completely separate group to the birds of prey. Owls have flat faces with forward-facing eyes. There are...

Parrots

Parrots are brightly coloured, tropical birds with short, strong bills. The parrot family includes parrots, macaws, lories, lorikeets, parakeets, cockatoos and budgerigars. Parrots...

Penguins

Penguins are flightless birds from the southern hemisphere—there are no penguins in the Arctic. There are 17 species of penguin. Some species live on cold, southern coastlines...

Perching birds

With about 6000 species, the perching birds, or passerines, are the largest family of birds. They range in size from the tiny wren, just 10 centimetres (4 inches) long and only 9...

Pigeons

Pigeons are a family of round-bodied birds with short necks and legs. Some species are known as doves. There are more than 300 species in the family (scientific name Columbidae)...

Sea birds

About 300 species of birds live on or near the ocean, feeding on fish and other marine life. They include penguins, skuas, gulls, guillemots, terns, puffins, auks, skimmers...

Shorebirds

Most shorebirds, also known as waders, live in wetland or in coastal habitats, including beaches, rocky shores, mudflats and lagoons. Jacanas, sandpipers, thick-knees, snipes...

Wading birds

Storks and herons are long-legged wading birds. They stand motionless in shallow water waiting to snap up passing fish, though some large storks are also carrion-eaters. Storks and...

Woodpeckers and toucans

Woodpeckers, piculets, wrynecks and sapsuckers make up a group of 218 species. They are related to jacamars, puffbirds, barbets, toucans and honeyguides. Woodpeckers cling to tree...

Bird anatomy A-Z

Bird families A-Z

Why do birds sing?

Birds sing both to defend their territories and attract mates. For this reason, it is males that usually do most of the singing—but not always. In most species, a male bird needs...