Avians

Learning makes a man fit company for himself. - Thomas Fuller

Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information on it. - Samuel Johnson

A peek into the world of our feathered friends.

Some interesting fun facts about birds – courtesy of Facebook pages ‘Colours of Nature’, ‘Ancestral Stories’, ‘Weird Facts’, ‘Unbelievable Facts’, ‘Today I Learned’, ‘Science and Facts’, ‘Crazy Creatures’, ‘The Knowledge Factory’, ‘The Study Secrets’ etc… However, I do not know if they are true. Some of them sound really incredible.

What if I told you that the birds you've been ignoring on your daily commute are actually among the top ten most intelligent beings on Earth? These incredible feathered souls are not only devoted partners — they are highly intelligent and complex beings that possess abilities most humans don't even know exist.

Many people don't know that pigeons have tiny magnetic crystals in their beaks that act like biological compasses. This allows them to sense Earth's magnetic field and navigate thousands of miles with pinpoint accuracy. But here's where it gets even more fascinating. They can also detect sounds too low for humans to hear and read polarized light patterns in the sky that remain completely invisible to our limited perception.

Scientists have found that pigeons can count, recognize themselves in mirrors, learn abstract concepts, and even understand probability. In fact, they rank among the top ten most intelligent beings on the planet — and some studies show they outperform young children on certain cognitive tests. Think about that for a moment. The bird you shooed away from your sandwich yesterday might be smarter than a five-year-old human.

While humans see only three primary colors, pigeons see four, including ultraviolet light. This means they're living in a world of color we can't even imagine. This allows them to see patterns on each other's feathers that are completely invisible to us. They also produce a protein-rich "crop milk" in their throats to feed their babies — just like doves, flamingos, and emperor penguins, revealing a deeply nurturing side to their nature.

These amazing birds can fly over 60 mph in sustained flight, covering distances that would exhaust most creatures. They form lifelong partnerships, although their "divorce rate" increases under environmental stress — just like in other species, showing us they experience relationship challenges similar to our own. But their communication abilities are what truly set them apart. Pigeons use different types of calls for specific purposes, and they can recognize individual voices over long distances. They even have specific "words" for danger, territory, and courtship, operating with a language system more sophisticated than most people realize.

Pigeons have helped humans in times of war, serving as heroes when technology failed us. One famous bird, Cher Ami, lost one of her legs while delivering a message tied to her remaining leg — saving 194 soldiers in the process. This single act of courage earned her a place in history that most humans will never achieve.

They need our help now more than ever. Once domesticated, pigeons were abandoned and left to survive in the wild without the skills their ancestors possessed. They've stayed close to humans in cities because they are used to us, because we created their dependence and then walked away. We owe them better. Please feed them oats or bird seed, and leave water out for them, especially during hot summer months when hydration becomes critical. - A Facebook post

The kagu is one of those animals that feels invented, a ghostly, almost prehistoric bird found only in the forests of New Caledonia, and nowhere else on Earth. Pale gray, soft-looking, and oddly elegant, it barely flies at all, choosing instead to walk slowly across the forest floor as if time itself moves differently around it. In a world of fast wings and loud calls, the kagu survives by being calm, careful, and quietly strange.

When danger approaches, the kagu transforms. Its long crest rises, wings spread downward, and suddenly this gentle walker becomes a dramatic silhouette meant to look larger and more threatening than it truly is. This display isn’t theatrical flair, it’s survival, an ancient bluff perfected over thousands of years. Its powdery feathers help repel moisture, a crucial adaptation for life in humid, rain-soaked forests.

Because the kagu lives only in one small place and stays close to the ground, spotting one in the wild is incredibly rare. Seeing a kagu is like briefly stepping into a hidden chapter of Earth’s story, one that still quietly survives. - A Facebook post by Patrick Barnes

Meet the Bearded Vulture. The only animal on earth that looks like a dragon, eats skeletons for breakfast, and applies its own war paint.

Most predators want the meat. This guy waits until the carcass is picked clean, then swoops in for the bones. Its stomach acid is so strong (pH 1) that it can dissolve a cow’s femur in 24 hours. If a bone is too big to swallow? It flies up to 500 feet and drops it on a rock to shatter it. It uses gravity as a utensil.

But the wildest part isn’t the diet. It’s the fashion. See that terrifying rusty-red color? That’s not natural.

Bearded Vultures are born with white feathers. They deliberately find iron-rich mud and bathe in it to dye their feathers blood-red.

Scientists think this is a status symbol. The redder the bird, the more dominant it is. It spends hours applying cosmetic dirt just to look more intimidating to its rivals.

It eats death. It bathes in red mud. It looks like a villain from a fantasy novel that came to life. If this bird had a playlist, it would just be heavy metal screaming. - A Facebook post by ‘Cronus’

Parrots are intensely social, using near constant vocalization to maintain trust and emotional stability within lifelong bonds.

When that network is suddenly removed, distress can surface as screaming or feather loss. For them, separation is not a change. It is a rupture. - A Facebook post by ‘Strangest Facts’

Lyrebirds are amazing birds with a special talent. They can listen to sounds around them and then make the same sounds back. People have heard lyrebirds copy things like chainsaws, car alarms, and even camera clicks. Their copies can sound so real that it is hard to tell the bird from the machine.

When a lyrebird sings these sounds, people can be fooled. Walkers in the woods might think a machine is nearby, or a worker might look for a noise that is really just a bird. Recordings of lyrebirds have surprised many listeners because the sounds are clear and perfect. This mimicry shows how clever and observant the birds are.

This skill reminds us that nature can imitate our world in strange ways. Lyrebirds learn by listening, so the noises we make can become part of their songs. That fact makes them both fascinating and a little mysterious. Hearing a lyrebird move you to smile, to stop and listen, and to remember that animals can surprise us with how much they notice and how well they can copy what they hear. – A Facebook post by ‘Colours of Nature’

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