Facts

Birds are amongst the most easily seen of wild animals, they are probably also the most easily
identifiable. Superficially similar, they vary greatly in what they eat, where they go and how
they live their lives. Some brave the weather all year round in the same region, others fly
thousands of miles to follow the sun, and/or abundant food supplies.

There are about 10,000 species of birds.

They are considered to be the modern descendants of the dinosaurs, being the only direct
evolutionary line that survived the extinction event that wiped out all the other dinosaurs about
65 million years ago.

Birds have the highest body temperatures of any animal with the highest metabolic rate in terms
of energy needed per gram of body mass. This means that they can't afford to waste time eating
bulky low energy foods as they wouldn't be able to be so active. It also means that they need
highly concentrated energy foods in order to still be light enough to fly. Birds can't keep food in
their digestive systems for long as the weight would soon build up and make flight very difficult.
There are no bird equivalents of cows or sheep for instance.

Interesting facts about starlings

Both males and females can mimic human speech. (Some people keep starlings as pets). Some
starlings also imitate the song of many other birds like the Eastern Wood-Pewee, Meadowlark,
Northern Bobwhite and House Sparrow, along with Blue Jays, Red-Tailed Hawks and Cedar
Waxwings. Vocalizations inside the nestbox during nest building can be lengthy and quite
varied.

The smallest bird is the bee hummingbird at 5.7cm (2.25in) long and 1.6g (1/18th of an ounce).

The largest bird is the ostrich at over 2.7m (9 feet) high, weighing 156kg (345lb), this is 97,500
times heavier than the smallest bird.
Pigeons (Columba livia)
Also known as city doves or street pigeons, they are descended from wild rock doves. They
thrive in an urban environment and only require the smallest amount of shelter on buildings.

Lifecycle: 2–3 broods per year, with 2 eggs in each clutch, 17–19 day incubation period.Young
birds spend 35–37 days in the nest.

Habits: Feeds on seeds, green feed, domestic scraps in and around cities, near roosting sites.
Nests on ledges
Collared Dove (Streptopelia Decaocto)
Collared dove nests just consist of a platform of sticks and branches. They usually nest in trees or
shrubs but will also use buildings, favoring ledges, guttering, and the brackets of security lights
or satellite dishes.

Appearance: Fawn-grey colour with a narrow black band at the back of the neck.

Lifecycle: 2–4 broods per year, with 2 eggs in each clutch. A 14–15 day incubation period, with
young birds spending 15–19 days in the nest.

Habits: Eats seeds and grains near roosting sites. Nests in trees and canopies.