Top Tens
- The Life of Birds is off air
- Remind me
Top Ten: Bird Facts
Why are flamingos pink? Are ducks the best weathermen? And what's James Bond got to do with the price of birds' nest soup? Find out in our top ten list of birdlife trivia...
Birds fact #1
The world's smallest flying bird is the Bee Hummingbird, native to Cuba. At just 5.7 centimetres in length, it weighs in at a miniscule 1.6 grams.
Birds fact #2
The fictional secret agent James Bond was named after a famous ornithologist, an expert in Caribbean birds. Ian Fleming said of the name: "I wanted the simplest, dullest, plainest-sounding name I could find; James Bond was much better than something interesting, like Peregrine Maltravers".
Birds fact #3
Flamingos are pink because of their staple meal - carotene-rich brine shrimp. Chicks are born with grey plumage, which turns from light pink to dark red, dependent on their food supply. Flamingos with pale feathers are usually unhealthy or malnourished. However, every flamingo has 12 black flight feathers in each wing.
Our Programmes
In UKTV Documentary
Competitions
| David Attenborough
| Fred Dibnah
| Medical
| Message Boards
| Michael Palin
| Myths and Magic
| Nature
| Profiles
| Programmes
| Quizzes
| Ray Mears
| Space
| Technology
