Category Zoology

Snakes have no legs at all, but they move very well without them! A snake can zigzag over the ground just about as fast as most people can walk.

Snakes are different from lizards because they have no ears and no eyelids. And to smell, a snake flicks out its tongue! Snakes use their good sense of smell to find their food.

Most snakes like their food alive. They eat many kinds of small animals – even other snakes. Snakes don’t chew their food – they swallow it whole. Their jaws are hinged like a pair of nutcrackers. For a great big mouthful, they can release the hinges and open their mouths very wide. In fact, a little garden snake can swallow a whole frog! The African egg-eating snake can swallow an egg bigger than its own head. And a big python can swallow a whole pig, hoofs and all!

Pythons curl themselves around their prey and squeeze it to death. Other snakes, such as vipers and rattlesnakes, have poison glands. Hollow teeth, or fangs, inject the poison into the victim’s body. Some kinds of cobras squirt poison at an attacker’s eye.

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Turtles and tortoises are reptiles with shells on their backs. Most can pull their heads, legs, and tails inside the shell for protection.

Many turtles spend a lot of time in the water. They can swim much better than they can walk. The sea turtle spends almost all its time in the water and has strong flippers for swimming. These turtles eat animals and plants.

Tortoises are turtles that live only on land. They have club-like legs for walking on sand, mud, or grass. The shells of most tortoises are tall and round, while the shells of many other turtles are flat to help them glide through water. Most tortoises eat plants.

Turtles don’t watch over their eggs before they hatch. Female turtles dig holes in the mud or sand. They lay their eggs in the holes, then cover up the eggs and go away. The warm sun hatches the eggs, and the babies dig their own way out.

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It’s the middle of the night in the desert. A small lizard lies almost covered with sand. Only its head sticks out. It is using the sand like a blanket to keep its body warm during the cool night.

When the sun comes up, the lizard crawls out of the sand. It moves very slowly because it is still cold. It lies on a rock for a long time, letting the sun warm it. When its body is warm enough, the lizard dashes off to look for food.

Lizards and all other reptiles are cold-blooded. Their bodies get just as hot or cold as the air or water around them. If their bodies get cold, reptiles can’t move well. If they get too hot, reptiles die. So reptiles must spend their time playing hide-and-seek with the sun. If they are cold, they lie in warm sunshine. If they are hot, they hurry into the shade.

A reptile that lives where winters are cold moves more and more slowly as cold weather comes. The reptile curls up in the warmest hole it can find. Soon its body grows cold and stiff. It cannot move at all. Only when warm weather returns can the reptile move again.

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Have you ever seen a big, fat frog? Did its bulging eyes and raspy croak make you laugh?

Have you ever seen a tiny garden snake zipping through the grass? Were you amazed at how fast it could travel with no feet?

Snakes and frogs belong to two groups of animals called reptiles and amphibians.

Amphibians and reptiles slither, scamper, hop, or swim. Some hiss, some croak, and some make no sound at all. Some amphibians have scaly skin that feels like tree bark. Some snakes have skin that feels like warm glass. Some frogs are slimy, but most snakes are not.

Amphibians and reptiles live all over the world – in woodland forests and rain forests, the Australian outback and the African plains, and maybe in your own garden.

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Suppose you found some eggs lying on the ground. Now suppose that some little creatures with scales hatched out of them. What kind of animal would they be?

Could they be fish? Fish have scaly skin, but fish eggs do not have hard shells. Besides, most fish lay their eggs in water. So they could not be fish.

Could they be birds? Birds lay eggs, too. But birds don’t have such scaly skin. So they could not be birds.

They must be reptiles. Only reptiles have scaly skin and lay their eggs on land. Alligators, crocodiles, lizards, snakes, turtles, and tuataras are all reptiles.

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You know that all birds have feathers. Some feathers are quite beautiful. But what are feathers for? Feathers help most birds to fly, but they are important for other reasons, too.

In cold weather, a bird’s feathers make a warm winter coat. The bird fluffs up its feathers to keep its body warm. For some birds, waterproof feathers act like a raincoat. These birds can swim and dive without getting too wet and sinking.

The colours of feathers can be important, too. Bright colours help some birds attract mates. Other colours make birds blend in with their habitat so they are hard to see. Then hungry enemies won’t notice them.

All birds have wings. Wings are for flying, of course, and most birds can fly.

A bird’s wings are thin and very light. They are nothing but a few little bones and small muscles covered with thin skin and feathers.

Bird wings aren’t all the same, however. The kind of wings a bird has depends mainly on the bird’s way of life.

Inside an egg, a tiny baby bird is curled up in a ball. Its head is bigger than its body. Its eyes are closed. All the food it needs is inside the egg. The baby bird has grown so much that it fills up the egg. It is ready to hatch.

The baby bird begins to move inside the egg. The eggshell cracks, the crack grows bigger, and bits of the shell fall off. Soon there is a big hole. The baby bird wiggles through the hole. A new life has begun.

When some kinds of birds hatch, they are helpless. Their eyes are still closed and they have no feathers. They can’t stand on their tiny, weak legs. Birds such as robins and nuthatches are helpless for weeks after they hatch. They need their mothers to feed them and keep them warm. But other kinds of birds can see, walk, and hunt for food soon after they hatch, even though they cannot fly yet. Two days after hatching, a duckling can run, swim, and find food.

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It’s springtime. A bird flies by with a piece of red string in its mouth. Soon it flies by again with a twig. What is it doing? The bird is getting ready to build its nest. The nest is where the mother bird will lay her eggs. After the chicks hatch, they will stay in the nest until they grow up.

Different kinds of birds build different kinds of nests. Many birds make nests in trees. Some of these are layers of twigs piled together. Others are like bowls made of mud and grass. Nests can also be holes in tree trunks, or hanging pouches or sacs made of woven twigs and grass.

Some water birds make nests that float on water. They make the nests out of weeds and sticks and fasten them to rushes.

Some birds don’t make nests at all. Some sea birds lay their eggs on a ledge on the side of a cliff. Other birds lay their eggs in holes in the ground. And some birds lay their eggs in the nests of other birds.

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Not its wings. Some other animals have wings, too.

Not its bill. Some other animals have bills, too.

Not its eggs. Many other animals lay eggs.

Not the fact that it can fly. Some birds can’t fly.

Give up?

Feathers! All birds have feathers. In fact, birds are the only animals that have feathers.

So if it has feathers, it’s a bird!

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