I may not fly much, but I do study.
And I have something to read.
Listen to this:
Ask, please,
the birds of the heavens,
and they will tell you
that the hand of Jehovah has done this.
—Job 12:7, 9—
Okay, here we go!
Let me introduce you to …
The FastestI’m the Peregrine Falcon. When I dive, I can reach 320 kilometers per hour. This is faster than a bullet train.
My body is built for flight:
hollow bones, strong yet light,
chest muscles so powerful they drive my wings,
a heart that beats over 600 times a minute in the chase,
and lungs with special air sacs that give me fresh air all the time, even when I breathe out.
That’s how I stay fast in the thin air of the sky.
The SmallestI’m the Bee Hummingbird—just 5 centimetres long.
I flap my wings 80 times a second. I can fly forward, backward, sideways, straight up and down—even upside down!
I hover while I sip nectar, and my tongue dips in and out 20 times a second.
At night, I rest in torpor. My heartbeat slows from more than 1,000 beats a minute to fewer than 50. My body cools almost to the night air—like a tiny hibernation until morning. And my down feathers are my blanket—softer than marshmallows, warmer than wool.
The Farthest Nonstop Flyer I’m the Bar-tailed Godwit, and I fly from Alaska to New Zealand—in one go. No naps. No snacks. Just sky.
Before I leave, I eat so much that I almost double my weight. My stomach and gut shrink for the journey, making room for fat to burn as fuel. I can stay in the air for more than a week without landing, crossing oceans and storms.
Once I flew 9 days straight. I travelled over 12,000 kilometres.
When I finally reach land, I am thin and weak—so the first thing I do is eat, and eat, and eat some more.
The Farthest MigratorI’m the Arctic Tern. Every year I travel from one end of the planet to the other and back again. Over 70,000 kilometres, farther than any other bird.
To find my way, I sense the Earth’s magnetic field.
How? That’s my little secret.
Do I ever just… stay home?
Not when there’s sunlight to chase.
I follow summer, north to south and back again,
so my wings never leave the light
The HighestI am the Rüppell’s Vulture. I once flew at 11,300 meters—higher than Mount Everest. Up there the air is thin, but my blood is rich with hemoglobin that clings tightly to oxygen, so even in the heights my body stays strong.
My wings stretch nearly three meters, carrying me on mountain winds for hours without a beat. My eyes can spot a meal from more than five kilometres away.
I eat what others cannot—flesh, bone, even rot.
My stomach is so strong it destroys the germs of disease.
The Biggest“I’m the ostrich,” said the tall one. “Too heavy to fly, but 2.5 metres tall and faster than a racehorse.”
“I’m the albatross,” said the one with wings like sails.
“Wingspan? 3.5 metres. I glide across oceans for days.”
“Then I’m the biggest,” said the ostrich.
“No, I am,” said the albatross.
The V-ShapeWe do this because the air currents work like waves.
The bird in front pushes the air downward, and the birds behind catch that rising air — it gives them extra lift.
By taking turns at the front, no one gets too tired.
Flying this way lets us travel much farther, saving as much as 70% of our energy.
That’s teamwork in the sky.
Preening Feathers require a lot of care.
I reach back with my beak to a small gland near my tail and gather a drop of special oil.
With care, I spread it over my feathers, cleaning them, waterproofing them, and zipping them neatly back into place.
Without preening, my feathers would soak through and lose their shape, and I could no longer swim or fly.
Contour feathers give birds their shape, help them fly, and provide colors or camouflage.
Down feathers keep birds warm, especially chicks before adult feathers grow in.
Powder feathers create dust that cleans and waterproofs the plumage.
Phylloplumes act as tiny sensors to help birds adjust feathers for balance and control.