✹ Tomáš Tůma Tomáš ✹ ✹ We all know that there are many birds in the sky, but did you know that there is a similar Encyclopaedia vast number on our planet’s surface? The bird kingdom is weird, wonderful, vivid ✹ of Birds and fascinating. This encyclopaedia will introduce you to over a hundred of the for Young Readers world’s best-known birds, as well as giving you a clear idea of the orders in which birds ✹ ✹ are classified. You will find an attractive selection of birds of prey, parrots, penguins, songbirds and aquatic birds from practically every corner of Planet Earth. The magnificent full-colour illustrations and easy-to-read text make this book a handy guide that every pre- schooler and young schoolchild will enjoy. Tomáš Tůma www.b4upublishing.com Readers Young Encyclopaedia of Birds for © Designed by B4U Publishing, member of Albatros Media Group, 2020. ean + isbn Two pairs of toes, one turned forward, ✹ Toco toucan ✹ Chestnut-eared aracari ✹ Emerald toucanet the other back, are a clear indication that Piciformes spend most of their time in the trees. The beaks of toucans and aracaris The diet of the chestnut-eared The emerald toucanet lives in grow to a remarkable size. Yet aracari consists mainly of the fruit of the mountain forests of South We climb Woodpeckers hold themselves against tree-trunks these beaks are so light, they are no tropical trees. It is found in the forest America, making its nest in the using their firm tail feathers. Also characteristic impediment to the birds’ deft flight lowlands of Amazonia and in the hollow of a tree. In addition to of birds of this order is a strong, striking beak. from treetop to treetop. Andes Mountains. fruit, its diet includes eggs and trees small animals. I can’t get over Chestnut-eared aracari that beak! Toco toucan Emerald toucanet Great spotted woodpecker Black woodpecker Eurasian wryneck Bearded barbet European green woodpecker Red-and-yellow barbet 10 11 ✹ Black woodpecker ✹ Great spotted woodpecker ✹ European green woodpecker ✹ Eurasian wryneck ✹ Red-and-yellow barbet ✹ Bearded barbet In its search for insects in the wood We hear the drumming of the great The European green woodpecker, too, The wryneck enjoys eating ants. This highly visible inhabitant of the The striking beak of the bearded and under the bark of trees, the spotted woodpecker in the forests of is in the team of deft climbers. It often Like its larger woodpecker open forest plantations of Africa likes barbet has tooth-like protrusions woodpecker uses its strong beak as Europe and Asia. When climbing tree forages for food on the ground, and we relatives, it gathers its prey with its to nest in burrows in riverbanks or that help it gather fruit. It is a chisel. It is such a skilled carpenter trunks, they use their firm tail feathers see it in gardens and parks. long, sticky tongue. termite mounds. found in Africa where there is an that it digs out a cavity in the trunk to for support. abundance of fig trees. make its nest in. Striking, noble and mysterious, owls have a curiously rotating ✹ Barn owl ✹ Eurasian eagle-owl ✹ Great grey owl head, a bewitching gaze and an upright posture. Most of them are very well equipped for hunting at night. Owls have keen A widely distributed owl with The arrangement of feathers on the Thanks to its extraordinarily sensitive a characteristic heart-shaped veil head of this large owl looks like a pair hearing, the great grey owl can track Owls distance vision, as well as the ability to locate the source of around its eyes, it hunts small of ears. The body length of the largest movements of creatures deep under a sound with superb accuracy. An owl is so quiet in flight that its animals, especially rodents. It is active members of the species is around 75 the snow. prey hears it, by the flapping of its wings as it sails through the at dusk and night-time. centimetres, their wingspan around I can hear you! air, only when there is no escape. 180 centimetres. Snowy owl Eurasian eagle-owl Great grey owl Barn owl Burrowing owl Long-eared owl Pel’s fishing owl Northern hawk-owl Elf owl 16 17 ✹ Snowy owl ✹ Burrowing owl ✹ Long-eared owl ✹ Elf owl ✹ Pel’s fishing owl ✹ Northern hawk-owl The snowy owl is adapted for life The burrowing owl spends its life When it is sitting in a tree, a long- The world’s smallest owl lives in This African owl doesn’t need to From the air or a branch, this quick, in the harsh wintry conditions of on the ground, building its nest eared owl isn’t easy to spot: its warm, arid areas of North America. master the art of silent flight, as agile hunter follows the movements the tundra. Thanks to its white in a burrow. It prefers to hunt in feathers and markings look like Its favourite abode is a hollow in the other owls must: its speciality is of rodents on the ground, waiting for coat, it blends in with the snow. It daylight. It lures its prey with fragrant bark. Its head is adorned with saguaro cactus. fishing, and fish cannot hear it the right moment to swoop and attack hunts in daylight. baits comprising droppings and food. longer ear-shaped feathers. under the water. with its sharp claws. If you like wading, it is good to have ✹ Great white pelican ✹ Great frigatebird ✹ Blue-footed booby long toes. For agile movement on a lake or on the sea, it is good to Despite its size, the pelican is an An extraordinarily good flyer, it Rightly proud of its blue feet, this We live at have webbed feet, with toes pointing excellent swimmer and a good flyer. It catches fish from the air, sometimes booby shows them off when courting. catches fish underwater, by puffing out stealing them from other birds. In It often catches fish by diving for them forward – as feet like this operate its large pouch. the mating season, the male puffs headfirst from a great height. like oars. For the skilled fish-hunter, out his red throat pouch. the waterside II. a throat pouch is a useful addition. Northern gannet Blue-footed booby Shoebill Great frigatebird Great white pelican Hamerkop Flightless cormorant Anhinga Great cormorant 30 31 ✹Northern gannet ✹ Great cormorant ✹ Flightless cormorant ✹ Shoebill ✹ Hamerkop ✹ Anhinga It plunges into the water from a great Thanks to its abilities as an On the Galapagos islands it has no Because of its comically large beak, It lives in Africa, where it inhabits The long, slender anhinga is an height at speeds of up to 100 kilometres underwater swimmer, the great natural enemies. As it finds all its food at first sight we may imagine the wetlands, ponds and other bodies of excellent underwater swimmer. It per hour, softening the impact by use cormorant is a very successful in the sea, it has no need of wings. shoebill to be clumsy. But this beak is water, feeding mainly on amphibians catches fish by piercing them with its of its air sacs and by folding its wings fisherman. It nests in a large colony sharp, too, and this bird can attack at and fish. It builds its nest – the largest pointed beak. It tosses its prey into the against its body. near water. lightning speed. in the bird kingdom – in the trees, air before swallowing it. from twigs and mud. ✹ Hyancinth macaw ✹ Red-winged parrot ✹ Timneh parrot One metre long, this is one of This bird comes from Australia. Its This popular species is at home the world’s largest parrots. Its diet includes fruit, seeds, flowers and in Africa. It is such an excellent Parrots I. population in the wild is under insects. Like most parrots, it builds its imitator of human speech that threat from illegal trappers and the nest in a hollow in a tree. some individuals can learn Pretty boy! deforestation of Amazonia. hundreds of words. Timneh parrot We can crack anything. We’re intelligent. Red-winged parrot Hyancinth macaw Budgerigar Eastern rosella We can imitate We are such sounds. good-lookers! Red-capped parrot 32 33 Bright-coloured parrots live in the tropics and southern hemisphere in great abundance. ✹ Red-capped parrot ✹ Budgerigar ✹ Eastern rosella They are often bred in captivity, not only for their beauty but because they are highly intelligent and sociable. Some of them even learn to imitate human speech. Many species This multi-coloured Australian parrot The most bred parrot comes from It gathers its food on the ground of parrot live to a great age. In its curved beak and very mobile tongue, the parrot has lives as part of the same pair its whole Australia. It gathers grass seeds in and in the trees. When a larger flock life long, although it is often found in dry regions. It can last for one whole alights on a garden or orchard with a universal tool – for the shelling of seeds, for instance. Its nimble toes (two facing a larger flock. week without water. ripening crops, this visit will cause the forward, two back) are a great help with climbing and ‘handling’. farmer a real headache. ✹ Bald eagle ✹ Griffon vulture ✹ Northern goshawk The North American eagle lives by the The circling of vultures in the When hunting among the trees of the coast or an expanse of fresh water. sky is a sign that there is carrion forest, the northern goshawk relies Although it specializes in catching fish, in the vicinity.