We might think of parrots as the masters of mimicry but in fact ravens kept in captivity are just as likely to pick up human speech and sounds if not better than parrots. In the wild ravens sometimes are known to imitate other animals or mimic predators so they can attract them to carcasses that they can't break open on their own. If that's not a smart bird, we don't know what is!
Ostriches may be known for their giant eggs, but little is said about their giant eyes - which are the largest eyes set on any land animal. That's right their eyes are the size of a billiard ball, which is 2in (5cm) in diameter, measured front to back, from the center of the cornea to the retina - five times bigger than the human eye.
Have you ever been eating outside and had your meal ruined by an invasion of ants crawling on your food or even worse on you! Well if you were a cardinal this would be a welcome scenario. This bird species likes to cover their feathers or crushed and living ants. While scientists still aren't sure the reason behind this anting, their best guess is that the birds use the formic acid secreted during this practice to help get rid of lice and other parasites.
Letting out a fart in any circumstance is definitely impolite and embarrassing, but especially at the dinner table. Well, if you want to have a classy dinner don't invite the worm-eating Bassian thrush, they find their prey hiding under leaves by farting directly on them. The gas moves the leaf-litter and dislodges the worms - yum.
Have you ever seen your friend yawn and then tried to turn away before you 'caught the yawn?' Well this behavior of contagious yawning is seen in very few creatures other than humans, such as dogs, chimps and lab rats. Budgerigars, or budgies, a common parakeet, are the only bird species/non-mammal scientists have observed so far that also exhibit this behavior. So if you have a parakeet try not to yawn around them!
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