Brilliant Birds Wings Facts For Kids That Are Worth Burro'wing' Into!

Birds are warm-blooded vertebrate animals whose wings allow them to lift their body in the air for a long soaring flight forward in the open sky.

Birds with longer wings have the tips of the primaries (primary feathers) stick out near the tail area. They make one of the most diverse species on earth, with differences in shape, size, weight, bones, colors, habitat, and physique.

The smallest bird, which is the hummingbird, flies between flowers to collect nectar while the largest bird, the ostrich, can run faster than pretty much any other bird and many other animals in the bird kingdom. A parrot is known to mimic human sounds, sometimes even uttering proper sentences, while a penguin can survive in the coldest regions of Antarctica.

Their peculiar shape and bend of their wings allow birds to glide through the air with minimal energy spent. Some of the popular variations are red wings birds, elliptical wings birds, birds with blue wings, cedar wax wings birds, and yellow birds' black wings. After understanding the importance of the shape of a bird wing, do read about birds that sing at night and birds that mate for life.

Birds Without Wings

Many birds are not seen flying through the air and they usually walk or swim their way back and forth. These species lost the ability to fly over long years of evolution and are called flightless birds.

There are almost 60 known similar species that come under the category of flightless birds. The most common birds out of these species include domestic chicken and domestic ducks, ostriches, emus, kiwis, and penguins.

Although these birds have lost the ability to fly, they still retain wings which can be seen as a natural part of their body and are usually placed towards the back. These wings do not help birds in flight but are definitely found to help them to run at faster speeds with the help of these wings which sometimes help them take themselves off the ground a little bit, especially in ostriches.

Caring For Birds With Broken Wings

If you find an injured bird or a bird shows signs of broken wings at any time, there are a few things you must look for in order to give first aid to the bird and help reduce its pain. If you find a bird with broken wings, most probably it is lying somewhere in the corner of the sidewalk or on the grass in your backyard.

When you find that bird, lift it gently and cover it in a soft and warm towel or a clean cloth. See to it that the bird is not suffocated in the cloth, nor is its body or injured wing twisted in a weird manner. Place the bird inside a shoebox and lay it down snugly with the cloth or towel, so that it's warm and comfortable. Do not lift it again unless necessary, and do not give any food or water to the bird, as a frightened bird may not want to eat anything out of fear and if fed forcefully, it is at risk of choking.

Contact a veterinarian in your area or any animal rescue services nearby, which you can easily find on the internet. If you think that the wound is not too serious, or if it is not bleeding, you can let the bird rest for a while until it recovers in a few hours before taking flight and soaring off into the sky. If the wound looks bloody, you can wipe it very gently with a clean cloth to remove the excess blood before you make a call to your nearby vet or animal rescue service.

Should I clip my bird's wings?

Birds with clipped wings may find it difficult to fly, if not impossible.

Birds with clipped wings cannot fly long distances, but they can jump or soar in short distances or hop. If you are afraid that your bird might fly away any time through an open window or a door, maybe you can consider clipping off their wings, more specifically, the primary feathers.

But it is necessary that clipping of a bird's wings is done by a skilled professional or a veterinarian who is experienced in clipping bird wings. If not done properly and the wings become imbalanced, the bird may start to only fly in circles or injure itself by losing balance or falling off from its perch.

Clipping can be recommended as a last resort to keep your bird safe and within the confines of your home, but it is absolutely not recommended if the case is not so.

How do you clip a bird's wings?

As mentioned above, clipping off a bird’s wings is not recommended unless it is a last resort to keep your birds from soaring out of your home. That being said, if you still want to clip your bird’s wings, there are some very important things to keep in mind before doing so.

If you do not know which wings to clip and have no prior experience with clipping birds' wings, it is strongly suggested that you visit your nearest veterinarian to get the job done. If you clip the wings wrong, it can be harmful to the bird's life. The clipping of bird wings involves a procedure where the longest feathers on the bird’s wings, called flight feathers (also called primary feathers), are clipped off, so as to prevent the bird from flying.

This process does not harm the bird physically, but it does cost them mentally and increases their risk of injury if they try to fly with their clipped wings. Clipped wings can make birds disoriented and imbalanced.

Birds With Big Wings

Some birds who have to fly long distances for migration have adapted and evolved to have gigantic wings to fly against high-speed wind and stay in the air for days on end, soaring towards their destination.

The bird known to have the largest wingspan is the wandering albatross with its large wingspan of up to 12.1 ft (3.7 m). These birds are mainly found in the Southern Ocean and live in water most of the time. Interestingly, the albatross is considered one of the few bird species which can survive both on land and in water.

The great white pelican, being the second on the list, can have a wingspan of up to 10.5 ft (3.2 m), and next, we come to the Andean condor, primarily found in South America, and the marabou stork.

Can birds fly with wet wings?

Every bird wing has a protective layer of oils which helps the bird to keep water from saturating its wings and making them heavy.

The best examples are eagles and gulls. While this oil is quite effective in small showers, very heavy rains can become a hindrance for small to medium-sized birds if they try to fly.

As much as the protective layer of oil prevents water absorbency and saturation, it cannot protect birds from a downpour. Hence, in heavy rains or when wings of a bird get seriously wet, they can fly short distances with wet wings, but not long distances. Generally, birds tend to take shelter and stay in one place during downpours to protect themselves from rain and they forage in the closest places in search of food.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for birds' wings facts then why not take a look at birds of Indiana, or how fast does a hummingbird flap its wings?