Blackbird – interesting bird

Blackbirds are songbirds named for the black color of the males’ feathers. The blackbird family consists of 94 medium-sized species of birds. Common (or Old World) blackbird is related to thrushes, robins, and bluebirds. The best-known types are the red-winged blackbird and the yellow-headed blackbird.
The blackbird lives in woods and gardens in Europe, Asia, New Zealand, and Australia. Most types are found in North America. They live in marshes, fields, prairies, woods, and towns.
These birds are from about 20 to 28 centimeters in length. The males are black and the females are brown.
Most blackbirds eat mainly insects and grains and other seeds.
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Cheetah – fastest animal

Cheetah is the world’s fastest land animal. They can sprint faster than 110 kilometers per hour, but they usually cannot keep up this top speed for more than 455 meters.
“Cheetah” comes from the Hindu word chita, meaning “spotted one.” Small black spots cover most of the cheetah’s sandy yellow fur. The belly is white. Black lines run from the eyes to the corners of the mouth.
An average cheetah measures 1.4 to 1.5 meters long and stands between 69 and 86 centimeters high at its shoulder. Its tail extends 61 to 81 centimeters. It weighs between 36 and 66 kilograms. Males tend to be larger than females.
Cheetahs cannot retract its claws. This allows the animal to dig into the ground as it runs, giving it speed.
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Llama – Bounty of the Andes

The llama is a mammal that belongs to the camel family. Unlike camels it doesn’t have humps. Close relatives of the llama are the alpaca, the guanaco, and the vicuna. Llamas are about 1.2 meters tall, can weigh 250 pounds, and have long legs and a long neck.
Their coat is usually white, but some llamas are black, brown, or white with black markings.
These animals are kept by South American Indians in the mountains of Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Chile, and Argentina. Llamas were domesticated over 6,000 years ago by the Indians of the Andes. Llama was the only pet, which was used for transportation of goods, and later horses were brought to South America.
It is a source of food and milk as well as wool that can be used to make clothing, rugs, and rope.
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Cute little hamsters

Hamsters are small mammals that belong to the rodent family. They have dense fur, a short tail, and large cheek pouches to carry food. Like other rodents, they have large front teeth. Hamsters are among the few animals born with developed teeth. They have good senses of smell and hearing but poor eyesight. There are about 16 species of hamsters.
In the wild, hamsters live in dry areas in central Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. They dig burrows, or underground tunnel systems.
The common or black-bellied hamster is an aggressive, solitary, burrowing animal. They live in grassy steppes and cultivated areas in Europe and western Asia south to Iraq. Its body length is about 30 cm. The winter burrows of the common hamster contain separate storage chambers for each type of food. In winter the common hamster blocks up the entrances to its burrow, and sleeps in a bed of straw.
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Barracuda – fierce fish

Barracuda is one of the fiercest fish in tropical waters. They circle around groups of smaller fish until the fish huddle together in fear. The barracudas then dive in and slash the fish with their teeth. The great barracuda sometimes even attacks human swimmers.
Barracudas live in warmer parts of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, including the Caribbean Sea. There are about 20 species and some of them can be poisonous.
It is a long, cylindrical, silvery fish. Their silver coloring and elongated bodies make them difficult for prey to detect. Barracudas have long mouths filled with large, knifelike teeth. They have two fins on the back and small scales on the body. These fish are average about 1 meter in length. The great barracuda can reach a length of 2 meters and weighs more than 50 kg, and it is an aggressive fearsome predator of other fish. The great barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda) can change color to match its background environment. Specifically, it is found in the west Atlantic from Brazil to New England and in the Gulf of Mexico.
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Interesting facts about sparrows

Sparrows are small, brownish or grayish songbirds. They are among the best-known birds in the world. They live in cities, farms, grasslands, woodlands, and marshes. These birds eat mostly seeds and insects.
The house sparrow is about 12 to 15 centimeters long. The song sparrow is about the same size or slightly larger.
There are two main groups of sparrows: Old World sparrows and New World sparrows. Old World sparrows come from Europe, Asia, and Africa. New World sparrows are found in North America and South America.
They are highly territorial during their breeding season, proclaiming their territory by singing, which in many species is quite loud, rich, and musical.
Some species of sparrows are fairly easy to keep in captivity, and they are kept as pet cagebirds.
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Opossum – Playing Dead to Stay Alive

Most opossums live in forests of Central and South America. The Virginia, or common, opossum is the only marsupial found in North America. Opossums are the oldest marsupial mammals. The ancestors of these animals have appeared at the end of the Cretaceous period, which ended about 66 million years ago. Possums were first described by Spanish chronicler of South America Pedro Cieza de Leon in 1553.
Opossums can have a body length as great as 50 cm, plus a tail (almost naked and prehensile) of up to 54 cm. They have a long, pointy white face and beady little eyes. Possums have 50 teeth. They have coarse fur that can be grayish white or nearly black. These animals live in hollow trees or under stumps and roots.
They are solitary animals, coming together only to mate.
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