you're watching freeschool! hi, everyone! today we're going to learn aboutbirds. birds are a large group of animals. they arevertebrates, which means they have backbones, and, like mammals, they are warm-blooded.all birds have two legs, wings and feathers, a beak or bill, and they lay eggs. birds canbe found everywhere in the world, from the frigid antarctic, to hot desert climates,to oceans. they range in size from the tiny bee hummingbird - only 5 cm or 2 inches inlength - to the ostrich - 2.75 meters or 9 feet tall. there are more than 10,000 speciesof birds in the world. birds are everywhere! birds eat many different types of food. someeat insects, some eat fish. some eat meat,
and some eat seeds, fruit, or nectar. mostbirds fly, but not all of them. some birds, like penguins, use their wings to help themswim instead. other birds, like the ostrich, don't need to fly because they can run sofast. still others, like the kiwi, were able to do without flight because the islands onwhich they live had few native predators. birds are some of the most colorful animalson the planet. while many birds have feathers that are brown, gray, black, or white, colorsthat help camouflage them and hide them from sight, other birds put on beautiful displays.in many cases, when we see a brightly colored bird, it is the male. females are often morequiet colors that make them harder to spot. the male birds wear their bright bold feathersto show the females how strong and healthy
they are, so the females know they would makea good father. once eggs have been laid, someone has to takecare of them. in some bird species, both parents take turns keeping the eggs warm, or incubatingthem. in others, only one parent does. once the eggs have been laid, they may take aslittle as 10 days to hatch, or as many as 80. when the eggs hatch, the baby birds need helpto survive - some more than others. some baby birds hatch blind and featherless, and needto be fed and kept warm by their parents. other chicks are ready to run around and eatthe same day they hatch out. there are even a few kinds of birds that can fly and takecare of themselves as soon as they hatch! other birds, however, will take care of theirchicks for a very long time. the greater frigatebird
will help feed and take care of its chickfor almost two years after it hatches. many types of birds are important to humans.some birds are kept for their eggs or meat. some birds are kept for their beautiful feathers.still other birds are kept as pets. most birds, however, are wild animals, and while we mayenjoy watching them, they should be left alone. i hope you enjoyed learning about birds today.goodbye till next time!