Snipfact:

  Each feather weights very little, but together they make up a large part of the weight of a bird, especially as flying birds have light skeletons. The skeleton of the frigate bird, a large bird with a 2.1 m (6.9 ft) wingspan, weighs just 113 g (4 oz), less than the weight of all its feathers.

  The Japanese phoenix fowl is a domestic bird. It has tail of feathers measuring up to 10.6 mm (34.8 ft), the longest of any bird. Various types of pheasant have tail feathers of 2 m (6.6 ft) long or more and a peacock’s tail feathers can be 1.5 m (5 ft) long.

  Grebes eat their own feathers. They are thought to form pellets that help the birds regurgitate (bring up) the bones and scales of the fish they eat.

  Pen for writing were once made from the quills, or feathers, of geese, turkeys and other birds. The word pen comes from the Latin penna, a feather.

  A songbird such as a sparrow has about 3,000 feathers in the summer but as many as 3,500 in the winter to keep it warm A swan may have 25,216 or more – up to 20,000 of them on its head and neck. The bird with the fewest feathers is the ruby-throated hummingbird with only 940.

  Birds shed their feathers at intervals and grow new ones. This process is called moulting. Feathers fall in a set pattern and in pairs, one from each side, so that the bird’s flight is not unbalanced. Birds that do not fly, such as penguins, moult all over.

  The body of a feather is called its vane, the shaft is known as the rachis and the individual tufts are known as barbs. The barbs have hooks called barbules that cling to the others like velcro to make a smooth surface. Feathers are made of keratin, the same material as our hair and nails.

  Ostrich: height 2.74 m (9 ft); weight 156.5 kg (345 lb) Emu: height 1.52 m (5 ft); weight 40.0 kg (88.2 lb) Cassowary: height 1.52 m (5 ft); weight 33.5 kg      (73.9 lb) Rhea: height 1.37 m (4.5 ft); weight 25.0 kg (55.1 lb) Emperor penguin: 1.30 m (4.3 ft) weight 29.4 kg  (64.8 lb)

  Great bustard:                                             wingspan 2.7 m (9 ft); Weight 20.9 kg (46 lb) Trumpeter swan:                                         wingspan 3.4 m (11 ft); Weight 16.8 kg (37 lb) Mute swan:                                                wingspan 3.1 m (10 ft); weight 16.3 kg (36 lb) Albatross:                                                        wingspan 3.7 m (12 ft); weight 15.8 kg (34.8 lb) Whooper swan:                                                wingspan 3.1 m (10 ft); weight 15.8 kg (34.8 lb)

  The poor-will of North America is the only bird that hibernates. In autumn the bird dozes off in a rock crevice or an old nest and sleeps through the winter. Its heart rate and breathing slow down and its body temperature drops from its normal 41 o C down to 13 o C so it uses as little energy as possible.

  The Arctic tern migrates further than any other bird . Every year it flies from the Arctic to Antarctica and back again – a round trip of at least 40,000 km (25,000 miles).

  Ruppell’s griffon is the highest-flying bird. In 1973 one was recorded at 11,278 m (37,000 ft) above sea level – 2,427 m (7,963 ft) higher than Mt Everest – after colliding with an airliner.

  The bird with the longest beak in relation to its body is the sword-billed hummingbird – its beak is 10.5 cm long and its body is 13.5 cm long. The bird with the longest beak of all is the Australian pelican. Its beak is 47 cm long.

  The smallest bird is the bee hummingbird, which is 5.7 cm (2.2 in) long and weighs 1.6 g (0.056 oz).

  Birds are new vertebrate animals with two legs and front limbs that have become adapted to form wings. All birds have feathers and most, but not all, can fly. Birds reproduce by laying eggs from which their young hatch.

  Stonefish lie on the sea bed where they resemble rocks encrusted with seaweed. Unsuspected swimmers who tread on the fish receive a very painful sting from their spines. In several cases, victims may die.

Most Sharks are harmless but a few spices have been known to attack people. The great white, tiger and bull shark are the most dangerous of 631 attacks on humans recorded from 1580 to 2007 135 resulted in death.

  Sea Wasps, also known as Box Jellyfish, live off the Coast of Australia. They have tentacles up to 9m long and venom as powerful as that of cobra. Australian coast gaurds often wear nylon tights to protect them against the stings, which can cause death within three minutes.

  Piranha are small but incredibly ferocious fish which live in the rivers in parts of south america. They hunt in groups, attacking any creatures in the water -including humans unlucky enough to encounter them. They strip their prey to the bones in minutes.

  Several species of Octopus are dangerous. The sting of the Blue-Ringed Octopus which lives in the Australian seas, can cause paralysis and even death.

  Certain parts of the Japanese puffer fish, also known as the maki-maki or deadly death puffer fish, contain a powerful nerve poison that can kill you if you eat it. There is no known antidote, Despite the danger, puffer fish are eaten in Japan, where they are a very expensive delicacy. People are specially trained to prepare them because eating the wrong part causes death in about 60 per cent of cases. About 50 people a year in Japan die after eating incorrectly prepared puffers.

  Freshwater electric eels live in South America and are the most powerful of all the electric eels. They can release up to 650 volts, which is enough to kill a person. Fortunately, this rarely happens.

  Cone-shells, found in the South Pacific and Indian oceans, have poisonous barbs that cause paralysis and occasionally death if you touch them. The geographer cone is probably the most dangerous of all.

  The tiny candiru fish lives in South American rivers. It can enter your body and kill you unless it is surgically removed.

  The barrel sponge of the Caribbean is up to 1.8 –2.4 m (6-8 ft) tall.

  The Lion’s mane jellyfish (Cyanea arctica) is up to 2.3 m (7.5 ft long). With tentacles that add an extra 37 m (121 ft).

  The gastropod group includes snails. The largest gastropods is the trumpet or baler conch. It lives off Australian coasts and weighs up to 18 kg (40 lb). Its shell measures 77 cm (30 in) long and 101 cm (40 in) round.

  A clam known as Tridacna derasa measures up to 124 cm (49 in) across and weighs 263 kg (580 lb)