Flightless Birds. Ostriches

Millions of years ago, all birds could fly. But as time passed, some birds lost the ability to fly because they did not need to fly to obtain food or escape from predators.
Ostriches are the largest flightless birds in the world. They may be as much as 2.4 m tall and weigh up to 181 kg. They live in Africa. The female’s feathers are almost uniformly brown, while males have a black body with white wing and tail feathers. These large birds have been farmed for more than 150 years, starting in Australia. Ostriches have the largest eyes of any land animal – 5 cm in diameter.
Rheas are similar in appearance to ostriches, but they are smaller and live in South America. They can usually be found in flocks of about 50 birds. The male incubates the eggs of five or six females for about five weeks, and then takes care of the young.
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Bivalve mollusks

Bivalve mollusks are known by such common names as clams, mussels, cockles, oysters, and scallops. These aquatic invertebrates live in marine and freshwater habitats all over the world. There are more than 30,000 living species of bivalves.
Bivalves range in size from the fingernail-sized “nut shells” to the giant clam which weighs up to 225 kilograms.
Its shell protects soft body. Muscles connect the two valves of the shell and allow closing the shell quickly and tightly. The innermost shiny shell layer is called mother of pearl. Some bivalves build shiny round pearls around particles of dirt that enter their shells.
A bivalve has a nervous system, a digestive system, a heart, and gills instead of lungs. Bivalves lack a well-developed head, and so their sense organs are located on the fringe of the mantle.
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Mockingbird – talented bird

Mockingbirds are wonderful songbirds. They are known for imitating the songs of other birds. The common mockingbird may learn the songs of more than 30 other kinds of birds. They also can imitate different sounds and sing their own musical songs.
Mockingbirds live in bushy areas and suburbs in the Americas. They are medium-sized gray or brownish birds with slim bodies and long tails. Mockingbirds use their strong and slender bills to eat insects, seeds, and berries.
These birds strongly defend their territory and even attack larger animals and humans whom they see as a threat.
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Dodo – extinct bird

Dodo (Raphus cucullatus) is one of the best-known extinct species. This flightless bird lived in the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius and disappeared around 1680.
Dodo was a member of the dove or pigeon family, about the size of a large turkey. It was a grayish white bird with a huge black-and-red beak, short legs, and small wings. They did not have natural enemies. However, in the early sixteenth century humans discovered the island. European sailors hunted birds for food. The Portuguese found a tropical paradise in Mauritius. There was a unique collection of strange and colorful birds: parrots and parakeets, pink and blue pigeons, owls, swallows, thrushes, hawks, sparrows, crows, and dodos. The birds weren’t afraid of humans and became easy prey for sailors. In 1598 the Dutch followed the Portuguese. In 1644 the island became a Dutch colony and people decided to eradicate the birds, despite the fact that they were not pests. By 1680 the birds were exterminated. So, it took people less than 100 years to destroy them.
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Buffalo – Water-Loving Beast

The buffalo are large animals with big horns. The American bison is often called a buffalo, but it is not a true buffalo.
Buffalo live in warm places in Asia or Africa. The best known among them is the Indian buffalo which is also called a water buffalo. These animals love to lie in the water or in mud. It helps them to stay cool and protect them against biting insects.
Most buffalo are mainly black, brown, or gray. They eat mostly grasses and other vegetation.
People use buffalo to carry loads, pull carts, and to plow fields, especially in India and East Asia. They also eat meat and use skin for making leather goods. Many things are made from the buffalo’s horns.
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Mimicry – Protective Coloration

Mimicry may be defined as imitation or copying of an action or image. It helps animals and plants in various ways: keep them from being eaten or help them get food.
The fly orchid is a type of plant whose flower looks like a fly. This helps the plant attract real flies to pollinate it.
Some animals use mimicry to prey on other creatures. The tongue of the alligator snapping turtle looks like a worm. The turtle lies in water with its mouth open. When fish come over to get the “worm,” the turtle eats them.
The eggs of the European cuckoo look like the eggs of other birds. So, host parents incubate cuckoo’s eggs as their own.
Passionflower plants sometimes grow little lumps that look like butterfly eggs. So, the plant protests itself from being eaten by the caterpillars that would develop from the real eggs.
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Echidna – unusual animal

Echidna is an unusual mammal. They are the only living mammals (along with their relative the platypus) that lay eggs. These animals are also called spiny ant-eaters. They are found only in Australia, New Guinea and the islands located in the Bass Strait.
There are three species of echidna. The short-nosed echidna is common in Australia and on the island of Tasmania. Two species of long-nosed echidna live only on the island of New Guinea.
Echidnas have brownish fur with spines. Their feet have strong claws that are good for digging. They have a long, sticky tongue. Echidnas have no teeth.
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