Birds Facts for Kids – 5 Brilliant Facts about Birds

Birds are amazing living creatures! Let’s learn 5 brilliant birds facts for kids.

Birds Facts for Kids Fact Number 1: Birds Have Hollow Bones

Having hollow bones allows birds to fly because it makes them much lighter. Their hollow bones also form part of the respiratory system which helps them breathe efficiently. This also helps them fly. Despite being hollow the bones of birds are very strong as they are dense and can support the movement of birds in flight.

Some birds such as penguins don’t have hollow bones as they need their bones to be dense to help them dive deep in water. Penguins can’t fly so they don’t need hollow bones to help with flight.

Birds Facts for Kids Fact Number 2: Bee Hummingbirds Are The Smallest in The World

The bee hummingbird isn’t quite as small as a bee but they are sometimes mistaken for insects as they are very small. A fully grown bee hummingbird is around 2 inches long, that’s around the same size as a paperclip. These tiny birds still move very quickly, they hover by flowers by moving their wings super fast. When they are flying around their wings beat around 80 times every second.

Birds Facts for Kids Fact Number 3: Bearded Vultures Dye Their Feathers

Some birds use their bright colours to attract a mate or to show other birds that they are the dominant bird. Male birds usually have brighter colours on the feathers and use them to attract a partner. Some birds even dance around to show their bright colours off to other birds.

Bearded Vultures go even further to use their appearance as they are the only type of bird that dye their feathers to show dominance and attract a mate. Bearded vultures cover their feathers in red soil which dyes it an orange colour. What an interesting look.

Birds Facts for Kids Fact Number 4: Birds Helped Carry Messages During World War One

Communication is very important during war time and before radios were used messages were sent in a few different ways. Carrier pigeons were used by British soldiers during world war one to send important messages that saved many lives. Tiny scrolls were placed in a capsule which was attached to the pigeon’s leg, the pigeon would then fly back to its base where the message was delivered. What a clever bird.

Birds Facts for Kids Fact Number 5: Birds Flock Together at Night to Stay Warm

Birds huddle together at night to stay warm. This technique allows penguins to live in very cold conditions in Antarctica. Birds that live in cities use this technique as well such as Starlings. At sunset starlings fly around in a large flock attracting other starlings to their group before gathering somewhere safe for the night. This is called murmuration and it is a beautiful sight, there are so many birds all flying together that they look like a cloud of birds. What an interesting bedtime routine.

We hope you enjoyed learning more things about birds as much as we loved teaching you about them. Now that you know how majestic these animals are, you can move on to learn about other animals like: Invertebrates and Reptiles.

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