Page 73 - World of Animals - Issue #41

BIRDS ON

THE BRINK

T he s e b e a u t i f u l n a t i v e s
These beautiful natives
of Indonesia inhabit lush

forests, but, along with over

1,200 other bird species,
Javan green magpies are
now seriously threatened

with extinction

Words Laura Mears

Birds have colonised every continent, and come in all
shapes and sizes; from the fast, flightless ostriches of

Africa, to the long-necked cormorants of the Antarctic
and the tiny hummingbirds of North America. These
remarkable animals have all evolved similar body plans,
with two legs, two wings, feathers and a beak; but across
the world they have adapted to different environments in
surprising ways.
Sparrows have short beaks, perfect for getting into
seeds. Owls have hooked beaks for tearing at meat, and
woodpeckers have tough, pointed beaks and specially
adapted skulls for drilling into wood. Hummingbirds have

butterfly-like beaks for getting to nectar, and ducks have
flat beaks that allow them to sift through water.

Then there are the wings. Aside from bugs and bats,
birds are the only animals alive today that have managed
to take to the air, and some use this talent to cover
phenomenal distances in epic annual migrations. Others,
like penguins, have adapted this skill to move seamlessly
underwater, and some, like the now extinct dodo, neglect
to use their wings for flight at all.

Nearly half of all species are known as ‘songbirds’, with
highly developed vocal organs, and many have developed
intricate ways to communicate using sound. A few species,
most notably members of the corvidae family (of which
crows, rooks and magpies are members), have even
developed intelligence that rivals some of the smartest
creatures in the animal kingdom.
These incredible animals are the living legacy of the
dinosaurs, but almost 200 species are now critically
endangered, and 12 per cent of all species are at serious
risk of extinction. One of them is the Javan green magpie.

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