Barn owls, ospreys, and bald eagles are among the many species of wild birds that mate for life and remain faithful to their partners for the rest of their lives.

The world’s smallest owl species is the Elf Owl, which grows to less than six inches in height and weighs less than one-and-a-half ounces.

Woodpeckers strike their beaks against trees and timbers around 20 times every second.

Tropical Hoatzin  birds are born with a tiny claw in the middle of their wings to help them clamber around the branches.

While some birds, like flamingos, sleep standing on one leg, other bird species have been found to sleep with one eye open, and others still sleep by shutting off one half of their brain at a time. 

Some bird species, including swifts and far-traveling seabirds, like albatrosses, even manage to sleep while they are flying. 

A group of geese is called a gaggle when the birds are on the ground, but a skein when they are in flight.

The V-shaped formation geese and similar birds make when they migrate is called a wedge.

A pelican’s pouch is properly known as a gular sac.