Bird champions and record-holders

The Great Bustard is possibly the heaviest living flying animal, alongside the similarly sized Kori Bustard. An adult male typically is 90–110 cm (3.0–3.6 ft) long with a 2.1–2.5 m (6.9–8.2 ft) wingspan and usually weighs from 10 to 16 kg (22 to 35 lb).

The ostrich is the fastest flightless bird. It can accelerate at up to 72 km/h. The ostrich is also the only bird that has a bladder.

The Penguin is a unique bird that can swim, but cannot fly. Penguins nest in big colonies of several thousand pairs or more. Parent Penguins take it in turns to keep the eggs warm.

Birds are fascinating creatures. Some, like the tufted puffin, can even fly under the water. Like all birds of the auk (Alcidae) family, tufted puffins move underwater using their wings.

Kiwi are flightless anourous birds. They have strong leg muscles with sharp claws. The bird is the national symbol of New Zealand. Its image is on the national emblem and the New Zealand dollar. There are no live Kiwis left in the wild. Though it is included in the Red book and protected, in the past 100 years, kiwi numbers have decreased from several million to several thousand.

The peacock has the most beautiful plumage of all fowl-like birds and the ugliest voice. The Burmese subspecies of a Javanese peacock is the national symbol of Myanmar, and the ordinary peacock is the official national symbol of India and the unofficial national symbol of Iran.

The Polar Owl is the biggest bird in the Arctic. Females are larger than males. They have a body length of 55-65 centimeters, a wingspan of 150-160 centimeters; and a weight of 1.5-2 kilograms. Owls are the only birds that can see the color blue.

Almost all Amazonian parrots can simulate human speech. One of the most gifted is the Yellow-headed Amazon. Unlike the majority of speaking parrots, Amazons can "chat" to humans and even interrupt conversations with loud remarks.

The speed of the Peregrine falcon during an attack can reach 322 km/h.

Flamingos have the longest legs of any other bird. They live mainly in the tropics and subtropics. They also nest on the coast of the Caspian Sea in Kazakhstan.

The biggest pelican is the Dalmatian. It reaches up to 180 centimeters in length and 15 kilograms in weight and has a wingspan of 3 meters. The bones of a pelican are hollow and light — the weight of a pelican’s skeleton makes up only 10 percent of its body weight.

Waxwings are unable to split out berries and so swallow them whole instead. The birds can eat so many berries in one day that they double in weight.

Seagulls drink salty sea water because their tonsils are adapted for salt filtration.

Russia is home to six species of cormorants. Two are included in the Red book of endangered species.