Scarlet Macaw
Scarlet macaws gather in noisy flocks at riverbank clay licks, where eating clay may provide sodium and help neutralise toxins in seeds.
Bird
Secretary Bird
The secretary bird kills snakes by stamping on them with a kick that delivers about five times its own body weight in a fraction of a second.
Shoebill
A shoebill can stand motionless for hours, then collapse forward onto its prey in a lunge called a ‘collapse’.
Snowy Owl
A single snowy owl can eat more than 1,600 lemmings in a year, and the number of eggs it lays depends on how many lemmings there are.
Southern Cassowary
Cassowaries swallow fruit whole and spread the seeds of more than 200 rainforest plant species, some of which depend on them.
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
In Sydney, sulphur-crested cockatoos have learned to lift the lids of wheelie bins to find food, and the skill has spread from suburb to suburb by imitation.
Superb Lyrebird
The superb lyrebird is one of the world’s greatest mimics, copying the songs of dozens of other birds and, occasionally, human sounds such as camera shutters and car alarms.
Toco Toucan
A toco toucan’s huge bill works as a radiator: the bird can change blood flow to it to lose or save body heat.
Wandering Albatross
The wandering albatross has the largest wingspan of any living bird and can travel thousands of kilometres on a single foraging trip, barely flapping.
White Stork
White storks avoid long sea crossings on migration, funnelling over the Strait of Gibraltar and the Bosphorus in huge flocks that ride warm air currents.