Wild birds can vary. Anything from the flamingo, to the kiwi! Each special in its own way. England does not have very many exotic looking birds. But places like Africa have beautiful brightly coloured ones! Like the pink flamingo!!!!

Flamingo's are beautiful creatures with long legs for standing in high water. They also have a long neck to reach down into the water! They are  bright pink in colour and this (although not many people know it) is because they eat mostly pink prawn off the bottom of the river. Because this is nearly the only thing they eat, and they eat so much of it, its causes them to be pink!!!

Look at this picture of some flamingos.

Kiwi's are small, flightless birds native to New Zealand. Kiwi's have 2 strange things about them. Perhaps this is what makes them so fascinating! One, they are the only bird to have nostrils on the end of their beak, and two, the female lays the largest egg in proportion to her size, they are the size of chickens, yet have eggs that are the size of an ostriches!!!!

Ostriches are the largest birds in the world, they come from Africa, and are relatives to the emu, rhea and cassowary. Ostriches cannot fly but are very fast,they can run up to 40 mph! Ostriches are the only bird to have 2 toes on each foot! Most have 3! Females can lay 10-70 eggs per year!!! The eggs are large weighing roughly 4 pounds! The wives tale that says ostriches keep their heads in the sand is not true.

Hummingbirds are tiny creatures with beautiful coloured feathers and fast beating wings. The photo is of a male ruby-throated hummingbird. Females do not have the red throat. Hummingbirds do not have any particular song, they can only make a small "squeak" that is very faint. Hummingbirds nest in tiny cup-shaped nest high up in the trees. Their eggs look like white beans. Hummingbirds eat sweet nectar from flowers. They are the only bird with the power to fly backwards or to hover.

This is the mute swan. Swans are large birds native in England in local ponds and rivers. Swans have long necks for getting deep under the water and to the plants on the bed of the river. Mute swans are white in colour with a black beak, black feet and legs. Mute swans have been in England since the twelfth century. They have grown in numbers but since the 60's are now going back down because of lead poisoning from fishermen's discarded lead weights. The male swan is known as a Cob, the female, a Pen, and the young are called Cygnets.