Mental Floss

BIRDS





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With their poofy crests and feathery feet, these glamorous chicken breeds are a little fancier than your average barnyard birds.

Virginia Claire McGuire


Johann Seligmann, Wikimedia Commons // Public Domain

Just over a century ago, the world’s last passenger pigeon died at Ohio’s Cincinnati Zoo on September 1. The extinction set off a worldwide bird conservation movement.

Erin McCarthy


A lammergeier or bearded vulture.

The bearded vulture, or lammergeier, is one intense bird. It lives on a steady diet of bones and dyes its feathers blood red, giving it the reputation of one of the most metal birds in the animal kingdom.

Rebecca OConnell
Sarah Knutie, University of Utah

In the 1990s, the fly Philornis downsi was accidentally introduced to the Galapagos Islands, probably in a shipment of fruit. The adult flies are harmless enough as invaders go, but their kids are a real problem for the islands’ native birds, some of whic

Matt Soniak


ThinkStock

Bees do it, and birds definitely do it—in all kinds of crazy ways. Here are nine birds and their mating rituals.

Joy Lanzendorfer


Wikimedia Commons

It’s spring, and baby birds will soon be chirping in trees and rain gutters. But not all bird nests are created equal. Whether from mud, leaves, or saliva, here are 10 birds that make some of the most astounding structures in nature.

Joy Lanzendorfer


ThinkStock

Next time someone tries to put you down by calling you "bird brain," make them think again by introducing them to these 11 wickedly smart avians.

Editorial Staff


Thinkstock

There’s only one thing in this world shaped like an egg. Not exactly spherical, not exactly an oval, it’s kind of hard to describe what an egg looks like. “Asymmetric tapered oval”? Sure, why not.

DeAnna Kerley
Poultry, a Practical Guide. Hugh Piper, 1877.

Gobble gobble gobble! Whether you’re from the U.S. or abroad, you’re probably going to hear a lot about turkeys in the next few days.

Arallyn Primm


Discovery Channel

Intrepid camerawoman Frederique Olivier has traveled the world capturing stunning images of wildlife in its natural habitat. For the Discovery Channel's new two-hour special, Penguins: Waddle All the Way, premering tonight at 9 p.m., Olivier faced a very

Erin McCarthy




ThinkStock

If you live in any U.S. city, you probably think those pesky, puke-eating pigeons and their feathered friends are pretty brain dead. Don’t be fooled. Birds are capable of some pretty amazing feats, and we’ve provided a sampling below.

Will McGough


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Careful study of surviving documents and specimens, as well as a little science, have revealed a bit about the dodo.

Erin McCarthy

The United States Marines have their bulldogs and the Army has their mules, but the Norwegian Royal Guard has a mascot a little more accustomed to colder temperatures: Nils Olav, a King Penguin who is also a Colonel-in-Chief and a knight.

Roma Panganiban
ThinkStock

From classical and country to dub step and smooth jazz, humans have some drastically different opinions on music. But when it comes to animals, it seems that birds of a feather tend to rock together—or at least they tend to agree on what they hate.

Jill Harness