7
Birds
Textbook: Part 1, pp. 30–33
GoalKnow the features of birds (warm blood, feathers, eggs, nests), what they eat, and flying and flightless birds.
New words
feather · patnest · uyabeak · tumshuq
Explanation
Birds are warm-blooded: their body temperature stays the same. The body is covered with feathers; feathers keep heat in, and wing and tail feathers help flight. Birds lay eggs, most build nests, hatch the chicks and feed them. Birds see and hear well; an owl can hear a mouse squeak at night. Eagles and falcons hunt rodents and snakes, pelicans catch fish, tits and swallows eat harmful insects, and pigeons and sparrows eat grain. Most birds fly, but the African ostrich cannot: its wings are small and it is heavy.
Worked examples
A tit in the garden eats many harmful caterpillars and insects every day and protects trees.
An eagle builds its nest of branches on a mountain peak, while a tit makes a neat nest lined with moss and feathers.
Class activity
“Bird watcher”: watch birds in a yard or garden for 10 minutes. How many did you see? What did they do (fly, peck grain, sing)? Write the results. If you like, make a bird feeder.
Practice
1
What covers a bird’s body and why?
Feathers; they keep heat in and help flight.
2
Which bird cannot fly: pigeon, ostrich, eagle?
ostrich
3
How do tits and swallows help people?
They eat harmful insects.
4
Where do birds hatch their chicks?
From eggs, in a nest (usually one they build).