What are birds?
Birds have feathers and a beak and lay hard-shelled eggs.
Many birds are able to fly using their wings, but others such as ostriches are flightless and unable to fly.
Some birds like penguins instead use their wings for swimming in water.
Vertebrates
Birds are one of the main five groups of vertebrates – animals that have a backbone inside their body.
Watch: What are birds?
Discover more about the many different types of birds found around the world with Cam and Sophie the barn owl from One Zoo Three in the film below.
Hey I’m Cam and this is Sophie. She is a barn owl and like all birds she has feathers, two feet and two wings.
Birds also have beaks instead of teeth.
Around the world, birds come in many different colours, shapes and sizes from shoebills to the tiny humming bird.
Here in the UK, the Robin is a bird you may see a lot. It has a deep reddish chest and uses its beak to pick up worms.
Large eagles can also be found here in the UK using their long sharp claws to catch food.
Look carefully in a garden or a park and you would probably see blue tits, sparrows and blackbirds.
Some birds like starlings come together in large groups called flocks. Other birds like swallows leave the UK in winter and fly all the way to Africa where it is warmer.
Birds lay eggs in nests to keep them safe and warm until a chick hatches out.
Most birds use their wings to fly but some birds can’t fly such as penguins. They use their wings to swim underwater instead.
There are lots of different types of birds and they all have feathers, a beak, two legs and two wings just like Sophie the barn owl.
Brilliant bird facts
- All birds are vertebrates.
- Birds lay hard-shelled eggs.
- Birds have feathers instead of scales or hair.
- Birds have tough pointed beaks and wings.
- Birds have a strong but lightweight skeleton.
- Many birds have the ability to fly.
A chicken with its chick
Different types of bird
Image caption, Chicken
The chicken is a short-winged bird that has been raised on farms for meat and eggs for many thousands of years.
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Did you know?
Not all birds can fly.
Ostriches run very fast and penguins are excellent swimmers.
Can you think of any more birds that can't fly?
An ostrich
Important words
Beak – The hard bony part of a bird's mouth which it uses for eating. Birds have many different shaped beaks depending on their diet.
Carnivores – Animals which eat meat. Birds of prey like owls and hawks are carnivores and eat animals including birds. Many other birds eat insects.
Cold-blooded or warm-blooded – Animals which become colder or hotter depending on the temperature around them. All birds are warm-blooded.
Feather – Feathers grow all over a bird's body and can be all sorts of colours. Birds use feathers to keep warm.
Flight – Birds fly by flapping their wings and using their tails to steer. Birds such as penguins, emus, ostriches and kiwis are unable to fly.
Herbivores – Animals which only eat plants. Many birds, such as geese or pigeons, eat plants and seeds.
Migrate – To move from one place to another. Swallows migrate many thousands of miles from the UK to South Africa every year.
Omnivores – Animals which eat plants and meat. Crows are an example of an omnivorous bird.
Vertebrates – Animals which have a backbone. All birds are vertebrates.
An eagle
Activities
Activity 1 – Identifying birds
Activity 2 – Quiz
Activity 3 – Sort the birds
Play Galaxy Pugs. game
Help the pugs observe Earth’s animals, learn how to grow plants, study the human body, experiment with materials and much more!
More on Animals including humans
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