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Feathered Friends
Welcome to Feathered Friends! We would like to introduce you to some of our feathered friends in the avian (bird) world. There are too many species to cover but here are a few. We will be constantly adding to this section and hope that you will stop by for a visit often.
Chickens
Because of the integral role that chickens play on the farm they are covered in the Barnyard Animals Section.
Ducks
- A baby duck is called a duckling.
- Ducklings can swim as soon as they hatch. This is known as precocial, which simply means an animal born in an advanced state able to do many things by themselves. They still need their parents, but they can do things like walk and eat by themselves.
- An adult male duck is a drake.
- The hen or adult female lays the eggs.
- A duckling is hatched from an egg.
- Ducks live in groups called flocks.
Geese
- Geese are very protective of their home. They will chase any intruder out of their territory. This behavior is known as being territorial.
- One goose is called a goose, but two or more are known as geese.
- Geese live in a group called gaggle.
- A gander is an adult male goose.
- A female goose is simply known as a goose.
- A baby goose is a gosling.
- A gosling is hatched from an egg.
- Goslings can swim as soon as they hatch, and are therefore known as precocial animals.
Parrots
- There are many breeds of parrots from small to very large. A Hahn’s Macaw is a small parrot and a Hyacinth macaw is a very large parrot.
- Large parrots like our Blue and Gold Macaw, Rio, can live to be seventy years old. Now that’s old.
- Batwa is our African Grey parrot. He is considered a medium size parrot and can live up to fifty years. That’s a long time too.
- Parrots live in groups called flocks. These flocks can be very large. A flock of Cockatoos in Australia might contain 200 birds.
- Parrots scream a lot and people think they are very noisy, but that is how they communicate with each other in the wild. Sometimes the birds in the flock are on the ground, in trees or flying. This can cover a large area, so it is necessary to scream to their flock mates so they can be heard.
- Some parrots can talk or imitate sounds like a telephone ringing, while others don’t say a thing except their normal calls and squeaks.
- A parrot uses it’s strong beak to break open nuts. We have to use a nut cracker to open nuts. Wow, that beak is strong.
- Parrots are very smart, we already know some of them can talk but our cockatoo, Gitu, can unlatch her cage door and open it. We have to padlock it closed to keep her in her cage when we are not home. Braveheart, the little Quaker parrot took the screws out of the door of her cage.
- Parrots are hatched from an egg and are altricial, meaning they are completely helpless and depend on their parents for everything. They can not walk or swim like ducks or geese.
- Parrots and other birds are called “hatchlings” after they hatch from the egg.
Swans
- A cygnet is a young swan.
- Swans are very territorial, making them very protective of their home range. They will chase an intruder away by biting and beating their wings. Their wings are capable of breaking an adult mans arm.
- Cygnets are hatched from eggs.
- Cygnets are precocial, which means they are hatched in an advanced state able to do many things by themselves. They still need their parents, however, cygnets are able to walk, swim and eat on their own soon after hatching. Cygnets are quite opposite from parrot hatchlings.
- A cob is an adult male swan.
- An adult female swan is called a pen.
- Swans live in groups known as a flock.
- Swans usually mate for life. However, if a mate dies, the survivor will take a new mate.
Turkeys
- Toms are mature male turkeys.
- A female turkey called a hen or jenny lays the eggs.
- A poult or young turkey, hatches from an egg.
- Turkeys live in groups called flocks. So far we have learned that chickens, ducks, sheep, and turkeys all live in flocks.
- Wild turkeys usually perch in a tree to sleep. This is known as roosting.
- Roosting in trees helps provide protection from predators.
- Domestic turkeys usually can not fly because they are too heavy. They have been selectively bred for decades to produce large breast meat. This prevents them from being able to fly like their wild ancestors. Wild turkeys are capable of flight.
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