3. Interesting facts about Animals & Birds

Minnows have teeth located on a bone in their throat.

A sword-billed hummingbird can have a beak over four inches long, almost as long as the rest of its body.

Dolphins can swim and sleep at the same time.

Iguanas can recognize their human handlers and greet them differently, compared with strangers.

Average hummingbirds weigh less than a penny, beat their wings up to 80 times a second, and are the only birds that can fly backwards.

Snails and slugs have teeth, which are arranged in rows along their tongues, and used like a file to saw or slice through food.

Many hamsters only blink one eye at a time.

Wild turkeys can run at speeds of up to 25 miles per hour.

The only sound Seahorses make is a small clicking or popping sound during feeding or courtship.

Cicadas can make sounds at up to 120 dB, loud enough to cause permanent hearing loss in humans.

The giant huntsman spider has the largest leg span, which can reach up to 11 inches.

Dogs produce sweat only where they are not covered with fur, such as the nose and paw pads.

In 1681, the last dodo bird died.

Owls are equipped with 3 eyelids. They have a normal upper and lower eyelid, the upper closing when the owl blinks, and the lower closing up when the Owl is asleep. The third eyelid is called a nictitating membrane, and is a thin layer of tissue that closes diagonally across the eye, from the inside to the outside. This cleans and protects the surface of the eye.

Atlantic salmon can jump as high as 4.5 meters out of the water.

There are no ants in Iceland, Antarctica and Greenland.

The extinct ancestor of the horse, eohippus, had a short neck and was a bit taller than a normal sized dog.

Lions drink daily when water is available, but they often go without water for 4-5 days.

A salmon with two mouths, two sets of teeth and two tongues was caught by Bob Bateman of Canada.

Unlike most species of snakes, Anacondas give birth to live young, instead of laying eggs.