Facts about Birds

• A humming bird weighs less than a penny.
• A robin's egg is blue, but if you put it in vinegar for thirty days it turns yellow.
• African Black-footed penguins, although they cannot fly, can swim up to 25 miles per hour which is faster than the Atlantic Bottlenosed dolphin, which can attain speeds of 18-23 mph.
• An eagle can kill a young deer and fly away with it.
• An eagles nest can weigh as much as two tons.
• Baby robins eat 14 feet of earthworms per day.
• Birds do not sleep in their nests. They may occasionally nap in them, but they actually sleep in other places.
• Despite being a nine-inch-tall bird (unlike in cartoons), the roadrunner can run as fast as a human sprinter.
• Humming birds are the only birds to fly backwards.
• If birds are sent into space they would die soon as they need gravity to swallow.
• If you feed a seagull Alka-Seltzer, its stomach will explode.
• New Zealand is the only place Kiwi birds are found in the wild.
• One of the most beautiful birds in the world is the white blackbird.
• Over 1000 birds die a year from smashing into windows.
• Owls are the only birds who can see the colour blue.
• Percentage of bird species that are monogamous: 90%.
• The eyes of some birds weigh more than their brains.
• The penguin is the only bird who can swim, but not fly.

The Queen of England owns all the Black Swans in England (the royal bird) and they are bred in Alabama about 20 miles east of Montgomery. Incidently outside of England only the Shakespeare Festival has permission to have Black Swans on their property.