Approximately Ten Percent Of Semipalmated Plover Chicks Are Hatched With A Congenital Wing Deformity.

Approximately ten percent of Semipalmated Plover chicks are hatched with a congenital wing deformity. This mutation can occur in one or both wings, and can present as mildly as an inability to fully retract or as severe as permanent extension. While it greatly slows their ability to migrate, these plucky birds are still able to catch up to the flock in time for breeding season.

Greater Prairie Chickens have evolved incredibly complex auditory organs through millenia of predation. Featuring swiveling auricles, inflatable amplification chambers, and removable micro-SD storage, these birds are capable of hearing a human footfall from a distance of three Canadian football fields. Despite their amazing perception, these birds are listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN due to human encroachment on their traditional territory.

Persnickety florists, Rainbow Lorikeets can take upwards of an hour to select the perfect flowers for their seasonal arrangements. Using their sensitive tongues they can accurately determine which flowers will endure display the longest before withering, and their scissorlike beaks can swiftly nip through even the toughest of stems.

Medium-billed Dowitchers are incredibly shy birds, and will hide their faces whenever they notice anybody watching them. The Academy of Bird Sciences requests that novice birdwatchers only attempt identification of dowitchers when they are safely on land so as to avoid accidental drownings. Thank you for your cooperation, and happy birding!

During mating season, the male Anna’s Hummingbird will craft an exquisite mask out of feathers plucked from the necks of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. These fine artefacts can be so elaborate as to require the feathers from no fewer than four donors! Unfortunately this beauty comes at an exceptionally heavy price, as donor birds have only a one in five chance of surviving the arduous plucking process.

Palm Warblers use their incredibly sensitive feet to check fallen logs for burrowing grubs or caterpillars. Able to locate a likely meal through as much as six inches of wood, a Palm Warbler’s foot is perhaps the most perceptive in the bird world. Unfortunately this astounding sensitivity comes at the cost of normal use, leading to the characteristic ‘palm walking’ which gives these tiny warblers their name.