Bird
Atlas
The

Illustrated by Richard Orr
Wr i t t e n b y B a r b a r a Ta y l o r

Contents
REVISED EDITION

Senior Art Editor Shreya Anand
Editor Ben Ffrancon Davies
Assistant Editor Manjari Thakur
US Editor Megan Douglass US Executive Editor Lori Cates Hand
Managing Editors Christine Stroyan, Kingshuk Ghoshal
Managing Art Editors Anna Hall, Govind Mittal
Senior Picture Researcher Surya Sankash Sarangi
Production Editor Kavita Varma
Senior Production Controller Jude Crozier
DTP Designer Bimlesh Tiwary Jacket Designer Akiko Kato
Jacket Design Development Manager Sophia MTT
Publisher Andrew Macintyre Art Director Karen Self
Publishing Director Jonathan Metcalf
Consultant Derek Harvey

4

5

Where Birds Live

8
10

This American Edition, 2021
First American Edition, 1993
Published in the United States by DK Publishing
1450 Broadway, Suite 801, New York, NY 10018

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under the copyright
reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by
any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise),
without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
Published in Great Britain by Dorling Kindersley Limited

What Is a Bird?

6

FIRST EDITION
Project Editor Anderley Moore Art Editor Sheilagh Noble
Designer Heather Blackham Production Shelagh Gibson
Managing Editor Susan Peach Managing Art Editor Jacquie Gulliver
Bird Consultant Michael Chinery

Copyright © 1993, 2021 Dorling Kindersley Limited
DK, a Division of Penguin Random House LLC
21 22 23 24 25 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
001–316677–Jan/2021

How to Use This Atlas

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THE AMERICAS

NORTH AMERICA

12

Fo r e s t s a n d Wo o d l a n d s

14

We s t e r n M o u n t a i n s

15

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The Arctic

16
18

Deserts

T h e We t l a n d s

Central America and
the Caribbean

42

SOUTH AMERICA

20

The Amazon Rainforest

22
23
24

The Andes
T h e Pa m p a s

The Galápagos Islands

26
28

Fo r e s t s a n d Wo o d l a n d s

30

36

The Himalayas

46

Southeast Asia
Japan and China

50
52

AUSTRALASIA

Wo o d l a n d , D e s e r t ,
and Grassland

54

Rainforests

56

Coastal Areas

34

44
48

The Mediterranean

32

New Zealand

58

AFRICA

Antarctica

Fo r e s t s a n d M o u n t a i n s

38
40

EUROPE

ASIA

The Savanna

R i v e rs , L a ke s , a nd S wam ps

60

Tr a v e l e r s o f t h e Wo r l d

62

Birds in Danger

64

Index

america

E
O P
U R

south

A T L A S

F

a n ta r c t i c a

R

R

T S

I

C

S

About 130 million years ago, Africa started to
split away from the other continents and became a
single continent. At that time Madagascar was still
joined to mainland Africa. Later, it drifted away to
become an island, so the bird life there developed
separately from that in mainland Africa.

E A

A

HOGGAR MTS
north

Ni

D E S E R T

Common ostrich
(Struthio camelus)

asia

africa

le
D
R E

TIBESTI MTS

south
america
australasia

a n ta r c t i c a

A

N

S E

ig

er

ARABIAN
PENINSULA

Lake Chad

Co

Ethiopian
Highlands

ng

FACTS ABOUT AFRICA
Number of birds
More than 2,500 species of
bird live in Africa. Kenya has a
particularly rich bird life, with
more than 1,000 different species.

n

Lake
Vi c t o r i a

e

a

Deep lake
Lake Tanganyika is 4,708 ft
(1,435 m) deep and is the second
deepest lake in the world. Africa's
largest lake is Lake Victoria, but
this is only 266 ft (81 m) deep.

V

o

c
IF
T

i n
d i
a n

G R E A T

R

Lake
Tanganyika

A

Zam

L L E Y

Lake
Malawi

bezi
M

A

D

A

G

A

Largest bird
The African common
ostrich is the world's
largest and tallest bird.
Males can be up to 9 ft
(2 m 70 cm) tall and
weigh as much as 344 lb
(156 kg). The ostrich also
lays the largest eggs. A
person can stand on one
of these eggs without
breaking it.

In the last 100 million years, Africa has drifted
toward Europe to its position on today's globe.

o

These storm clouds signal the
start of the rainy season on the
Tanzanian grasslands. Some
African birds migrate within
Africa, following the rains.

Red-billed quelea
(Quelea quelea)

Broadest bill
The shoebill or whale-headed stork has the
broadest bill of any bird—5 in (12 cm) wide.

e u r o p e

america

S A H A R A

Most abundant bird
There are more red-billed
queleas in the world than
any other bird. Feeding flocks
may contain millions of birds
and colonies and can have
up to 10 million nests.

Highest flier
A Rüppell's griffon vulture collided with a plane
when flying over the coast of West Africa at an
altitude of 36,988 ft (11,274 m). This is the
highest altitude a bird has ever been seen at.

india

australasia

A N
N E

A

M

AMAZING BIRDS OF AFRICA

Longest toes
Relative to its body size, the African jacana
has the longest toes: up to 3 in (8 cm) long.

eurasia

africa

america

M E
D I
T E

These pages introduce
the continent and give an
overview of the climate,
landscape, main bird
habitats, typical birds, and
amazing birds to be found
there. A large map shows
the size of the continent,
its position on the globe,
and major geographical
features. There is usually
a feature showing how the
position of the continent
has changed over millions
of years.

SC

A

R

Colossal crack
The Great Rift Valley is about
4,000 miles (6,400 km) long
and in some parts it is 22–37
miles (35–60 km) wide. It formed
about 25 million years ago when
land slipped down between
huge cracks, probably due to
movements of Earth's crust.

Longest river
The Nile is 4,145 miles (6,670 km)
long and is the world's longest river.
Spectacular waterfall
The Victoria Falls on the Zambezi
River drop 355 ft (108 m) over a
ledge 5,580 ft (1,700 m) wide.

Biggest desert
The Sahara is the biggest
desert in the world—it covers
an area of about 3.5 million sq
miles (9 million sq km). The
world's highest sand dunes occur
in the Sahara. They can be up to
1,410 ft (430 m) high.

Typical birds
t
namib deser

ATLANTIC
OCEAN

Here are just a few examples of typical birds from the
most important habitats of Africa. These range from
hot, dry deserts and open grasslands to warm, humid
rainforests and rivers, lakes, and swamps.

KA L A H A R I
DESERT

Hyrax

Marshes and swamps
Large numbers of fisheating birds, such as this
goliath heron, live and
feed in vast tropical
swamplands such as the
Okavango Delta in
southern Africa.

Mountains
Birds of prey, such as this
Verreaux's eagle, thrive in the
African mountains where they
can soar aloft rising air currents
and see their prey running on
the bare ground below.

Islands
The cuckoo roller is one of many
unique bird families that live only
on the island of Madagascar. Others
include the ground rollers, asities,
and vanga shrikes.

Savanna
There are only two species of
oxpecker in the world and they
both live on the African savanna.
Oxpeckers live on insects, which
they take from the skin of grazing
animals, such as this giraffe.

Deserts
Most birds find it hard to survive
in a dry desert habitat, but the
sandgrouse can live well on a
diet of dry seeds and fly long
distances to water holes.

Lakes and rivers
Kingfishers, such as
this pied kingfisher,
are a common sight
around African lakes
and rivers, which
are rich in food and
nesting places.

Rainforests
This pitta is a
common bird of the
rainforests. African
rainforests used to
be more widespread,
but have shrunk as
the climate became
drier and as people
cut down the trees.

How big?

Length: 1 ft
4 in (40 cm)

Symbols of each of the
birds illustrated on the page show
the main areas where each species
lives, although some birds live all
over the region. By looking at the
key, you can identify the birds
and then find them on the map.

Africa has not always been in the position it is in
today. Like all the other continents, it has gradually
shifted around Earth due to movements in the crust.
Africa was once attached to the other continents, but
over millions of years, it has drifted away. African
birds evolved into many unique species because they
could not mix with birds from other continents.
north

E

Continental pages

Bird symbols

The red shaded area on this globe
shows the location of the habitat
featured on the page. The shaded
area on this globe shows the
position of Central America and
the Caribbean within the Americas.

Africa on the move

Most of Africa has a hot climate, with large areas that
receive very little rain, especially the Sahara desert in
the north and the Namib and Kalahari deserts in the
southwest. The wettest areas are near the Equator in
the center of the continent. Unlike other continents,
Africa has few mountain chains. Generally, there are
high, flat plains sometimes broken by a single
mountain, such as Mount Kilimanjaro in
Tanzania, East Africa.

A

Where on Earth?

Climate and landscape

Despite its vast area of inhospitable terrain, the Sahara desert is on
the migration route for billions of birds that make this journey every
year to escape the European winter. The desert is spreading due to
climate change and increased periods of drought. People have also
caused the desert to spread at the edges by grazing too many animals
there and reducing the vegetation cover. Africa's rich and varied
bird life is also threatened by people cutting down forests, draining
marshes and swamps, and building farms and cities.

R

The bird atlas is arranged in order of continent—the
Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australasia, and Antarctica.
A double-page, such as the one on Africa (right), introduces
the continent as a whole. This is followed by pages showing
the main places where birds live—their habitats—within
that continent.
On any page you can see which continent it is about
by looking at the heading in the top left-hand corner; the
habitat featured is given in the top right-hand corner.
The sample pages here show how the information is
presented on the two main types of pages—continental
and habitat pages—and explain the maps, symbols, and
abbreviations used.

AFRICA

34

How to Use This Atlas

AFRICA
Africa is the second largest continent in the world. It is
nearly three times as big as Europe, but about the same number
of people live there. It was cut off from the other continents for
millions of years and many of its birds—the ostrich, the shoebill,
the secretary bird, as well as turacos, mousebirds, wood hoopoes,
and helmet shrikes—are not found anywhere else in the world.
Africa is mainly a dry continent with large areas of desert and dry
grassland. As a result, it has many land birds, especially seed-eaters.

Labels next to each bird tell you how big it is,
from the tip of the bill to the end of the tail. Sometimes male
and female birds are very different in size. In these cases,
measurements for males and females are given separately. In
some cases, the wingspan, length of tail feathers, or height of
the bird are also given. For example, on this page you can find
out the length of the male quetzal's remarkable tail feathers.

NORTH AMERICA

CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

Central America
and the Caribbean

The male has
shiny feathers
and shimmers
from head
to tail.

The ancient peoples of
Central America, the Maya
and the Aztecs, worshipped
the quetzal as a sacred bird.
Today it is the national bird of
Guatemala. Quetzals usually live
on their own, searching for fruit or
insects in forest trees. The male has
extraordinary tail feathers to help
him attract a female.

y

Three-waTTled

oilBird

PuerTo rican

Long, straight
bill for snapping
up insects.

Puerto Rican tody

Crested oropendola
(Psarocolius decumanus)
Length: 1 ft 7 in (48 cm)

BellBird

m

si

Tody

cresTed

Sunbittern

resPlendenT
queTzal

oroPendola

During its courtship display, the sunbittern spreads its wings
to show off the patches of orange and yellow on its feathers.
These look like the colors of a sky at sunset, which is how
the bird got its name. At other times, the mottled colors
on the feathers camouflage the bird as it searches for food
along stream banks in woodland areas. It catches fish,
insects, and frogs with its long, sharp bill.

t
sunBiTTern

s

e
dr
ma al
ra
nt
er ide
cc
o

Large, sensitive eyes
for finding its way
about at night.

g u l f
o f
m e x i c o

A male grows new tail
feathers each breeding season.
They can be up to 2 ft (60 cm) long.

Bahamas

A N
E S
T I L L

JA MA I C A

R

I

B

B

E

A

N

S

E

s e r
e s
L
i l l e s
n t

A

puerto
rico

A

C

A

Sunbittern
(Eurypyga helias)
Length: 1 ft 7 in (48 cm)
Black skimmer
(Rynchops niger)
Length: 1 ft 6 in
(46 cm)

Oilbird

Or

central america

P A C I F I C
O C E A N
200

400

Black skimmer

600 km

200

Rio Neg

400 miles

ro

Am

azo

The black skimmer has a strange bill—the bottom part is
about one-third longer than the top part. To find food, the
skimmer flies over shallow water with its bill open. When
its bill hits a small fish or crustacean, the skimmer
snaps the top bill down to trap its prey.

n

A B B R E V I AT I O N S U S E D I N T H E AT L A S :

Metric
mm
cm
m
km
sq km
kph
kg
°C

4

millimeter
centimeter
meter
kilometer
square kilometers
kilometers per hour
kilogram
celsius

Imperial
in
ft
mph
sq miles
lb
°F

inch
foot
miles per hour
square miles
pound
fahrenheit

Ta

A

18

pa

jó

s

N

D

0

Dense jungle vegetation is typical of
Central America's tropical rainforests.

S

0

inoco

gulf
of
panama

E

Young oilbirds do not fly until they are about
four months old so they grow incredibly fat.
People used to make oil from their fatty
flesh, which is how the bird got its name.
The oilbird lives in caves and finds its way in
the darkness by making clicking sounds. The
time it takes for the sound to bounce back
lets the bird work out how far away walls or
objects are. At night, it flies out of the cave
to feed on oily fruits. Its good sense of smell
and excellent eyesight help it find food.

Puerto Rican tody
(Todus mexicanus)
Length: 5 in (12 cm)

Wings are
spread out during
courtship displays.

h i s pa n i o l a

G R E A T
E R

Oilbird
(Steatornis caripensis)
Length: 1 ft 7 in (49 cm)

This tody lives in woods and
forests and feeds by pouncing
on insects from a perch. When
it flies, it makes a whirring
noise with its wings. During the
breeding season, the tody uses
its bill to dig tiny nesting burrows
in a bank, like its relative the
kingfisher. There are four other
species of Caribbean tody.

A t l a n t i c
o c e a n

c u b a
Small, weak
legs and feet

Male bellbirds make one of
the loudest calls of any bird.
They advertise for a female by
producing an explosive “bock”
noise. This call can be heard
0.6 miles (1 km) away. The
female builds the nest and
looks after the young.
She is a dull color to
camouflage her while
she sits on the nest.

Constantly jerks
head while perched.

is

k

er

M

c

sis

o

Black skimmer

Three-wattled bellbird

Three-wattled bellbird
(Procnias tricarunculatus)
Length: 1 ft (30 cm)

Crested oropendolas
live in groups and nest
together, too. They can
build up to 100 nests in just
one tree. This probably helps
protect the eggs and young from
predators, as the birds can warn
each other of danger. The male has
a spectacular courtship display to
attract a female. He makes a series of
loud gurgling sounds while flapping
his wings and leaning forward so far
that he almost falls off his perch.

Resplendent quetzal
(Pharomachrus mocinno)
Length: 1 ft 4 in (40 cm)

sip

r

Red Ri
v

Crested
oropendola

Resplendent
quetzal

A M E R I C A

as

Wattles hang
from top of
bill and edge
of mouth.

pi

Arkans

Mouth opens very wide to
allow the bird to swallow
large fruits.

Each woven
nest is over
3 ft 3 in (1 m)
long and
hangs from a
tree branch.

The rich bird life of Central America is partly due
to the landscapes in the region, which vary from dry
grassland on the west coast to alpine meadows in
the middle and lush rainforest and swamps on the
eastern coasts. Central America forms a narrow bridge
linking North and South America, so birds from both
continents mix there. Many North American birds
migrate to the warmer climate of Central America for the winter.
The Caribbean islands are the tips of mountains buried in very
deep water. The birds here are either strong fliers that were able to
reach the islands or they were blown there accidentally by strong
winds. Several unique species have developed on the islands: the
tody family, for example, is found nowhere else in the world.
N O R T H

The female is
dull colored
and does
not have a
long tail.

Scale

You can use this
scale to figure out
the size of the area
shown on the map.

Black skimmer
(Rynchops niger)

Latin names

Scientists have given each bird species a Latin name.
This means that everyone can use the same name to identify birds, no
matter what language they speak. A bird's Latin name is divided into
two parts. The first is a group name given to a number of similar birds.
For example, Rynchops is the group name for skimmers. The second part
identifies the particular species of bird and often tells you something
more specific about it. In this case niger, the Latin word for “black.”

What Is a Bird?

Body or contour feather
from a red lory.

Birds are the only living animals in the
world that have feathers. They also lay eggs,
breathe air, and are warm-blooded, meaning
that they keep their body temperature the same
Archaeopteryx at all times. Birds evolved from reptiles about
150 million years ago. The earliest bird we
know of, Archaeopteryx (meaning “ancient wing”), lived at this
time. It was about the size of a crow
and had feathers, although it probably
couldn't fly very well. The 10,964 or so
species of bird alive today have developed
from early birds like Archaeopteryx.

Peregrine falcon
(Falco peregrinus)

A bird's wing is light,
strong, and flexible so
it will not snap as the
bird twists and turns
through the air.

Down feather
from a pigeon.

Flight feather
from a
Guinea fowl.

Feathers

A bird has a huge number of
feathers. Even a small bird, such as
a wren, has more than 1,000 feathers.
There are three main types of feather—
flight feathers on the wings and tail, body
feathers which give a bird its shape, and fluffy
down feathers to keep it warm. Flight feathers
are made of strands called barbs which hook
together. If the hooks come apart, they can be
drawn together again, like zipping up a zipper.
Each year, a bird sheds or molts most of its
feathers and grows new ones to replace them.

The bill is lightweight,
but very strong.

Bird bones

A bird has a bony skeleton inside its body to
support and protect its delicate organs. But
the whole skeleton of flying birds is very
light and the long bones in their wings and
legs are hollow, with a honeycomb of stiff
supporting struts (above). This means
they have less weight to lift off the
ground and stay up in the air.

A bird uses its
tail feathers for
steering as it
flies through
the air.

BIRD BILLS
Birds use their bills to catch and hold their food,
care for their feathers, and build nests. The size
and shape of a bird's bill depends on what it eats
and where it finds its food.
Pine grosbeak
(Pinicola enucleator)
Seed-eater
White-cheeked barbet
(Megalaima viridis)
Fruit- and insect-eater
African paradise flycatcher
(Terpsiphone viridis)
Insect-eater

Birds have scaly legs
like their reptile
ancestors.

Pigeon
(Columba livia)

Pigeons and many other birds have a
flapping flight. Others, such as eagles
and albatrosses, glide long distances.
Hummingbirds can even hover.

How birds fly

Birds are the largest, fastest, and most powerful flying
animals alive. Their smooth, streamlined shape lets
them cut through the air easily, while their powerful
chest muscles flap their wings, pushing them along. A bird's
wings are curved on top and flat underneath. As a bird flies, this
airfoil shape creates an area of high air pressure under the wing and an area
of low air pressure above it. The high pressure under the wing pushes the
bird up into the air. Some birds, such as penguins and ostriches, cannot
fly—they run or swim very fast instead.

Eggs and chicks

All birds lay eggs. The eggshell is hard to protect the developing chick, but air
can still pass through. The chick also has a food store inside the egg. While the
chick develops, the parents have to keep the eggs warm by sitting on them.
This is called incubation. Many birds are blind, featherless, and helpless
when they hatch. Other birds, such as this duckling, spend longer
inside the egg and so are better developed when they hatch. They can
run around and fend for themselves almost as soon as they hatch.

Australian darter
(Anhinga novaehollandiae)
Fish-eater

A duckling starts to break out of its
shell by cutting a circle with its bill.

When the young bird pushes itself out
of the shell its feathers are still wet.

Within three hours its feathers are
dry and fluffy and it can run around.

5

Where Birds Live
Birds live in every corner of the globe. They
have spread so far because they can fly from one place
to another, live on a variety of foods, and maintain a
constant body temperature in most types of weather.
The place where a bird lives is called its habitat.
This is rather like its “home address.” A bird's habitat
must provide food, shelter, and somewhere to nest.
Some birds, such as the barn owl, can live in a range
of habitats from woodland to scrub; others are more
specialized (toucans, for example, live only in the

rainforests of Central and South America). Some
birds stay permanently in one habitat, while others
move away—migrate—at certain times of year.
There are an increasing number of human-made
habitats, such as houses, parks, and backyards.
Some of the most common birds, such as starlings
and sparrows, have adapted to live in these new
habitats near people.
The main types of bird habitat around the
world are shown at the bottom of these pages.

Look-alikes

ATLA NTIC

Birds that live in similar habitats or feed on similar things have often evolved to look
similar. The map shows the world's grasslands and three related birds that live in these
habitats in different parts of the world: the rhea, ostrich, and emu. Each is flightless,
but has evolved strong running legs to escape danger. Sometimes
birds can end up looking similar,
even though they are not related.
This is called convergent evolution.
For example, hummingbirds from
America and honeyeaters from
NORTH
AMERICA
Australasia probe flowers for
europe
nectar, but belong to completely
different groups of the bird
family tree.

asia

africa

E
OC

indian
ocean

A

SOUTH
AMERICA

Common emu
(Dromaius novaehollandiae)
Australia

N

australia

PACIFIC
OCEAN

Greater rhea
(Rhea americana)
South America
Common ostrich
(Struthio camelus)
Africa

Polar and tundra

6

Taiga

The Arctic in the north
and the Antarctic in the
south are among the
harshest environments on Earth.
Freezing temperatures, howling gales,
and long dark winters mean that
few birds can live there, but seabirds
nest along the coasts in summer.
Surrounding the Arctic is a cold,
treeless region called the tundra. In
summer, birds such as waders, ducks,
and geese flock there to raise their
young as there are few predators,
and plenty of food and light.

Coniferous trees such
as pine, fir, and spruce
grow in a huge forest
called the taiga, which stretches
across the top of North America,
Europe, and Asia. The taiga is one
of the largest forest areas in the
world. Most coniferous trees have
needlelike leaves that stay on the
trees all year. Birds feed on the tree
cones and help spread the tree seeds.
Summers are usually mild, but
winters are bitterly cold. Many birds
fly south to warmer places in winter.

Find out more: pages 8–9, 58–59

Find out more: pages 12–13,
28–29

Temperate
deciduous
woodlands
Deciduous, or broad-leaved,
woodlands grow south of the
dark conifer woods. Many of the
trees, such as oak and beech, lose
their leaves in winter, but there is
plenty of rainfall all year, and the
climate is generally mild. These
woodlands provide plenty of food
and nesting places for birds in
spring and summer.
Find out more: pages 12–13,
52–53

Grasslands

Grasslands occur where
the climate is too dry
and the soil is too poor
for most trees to survive. Fires
are common in this habitat, but
the grasses grow back. Grasslands
provide plenty of food for seedand insect-eating birds. Tropical
grasslands, such as the African
savanna, are hot all year with long
dry spells. Temperate grasslands,
such as the South American
pampas, are cooler, with hot
summers and long, cold winters.
Find out more: pages 23, 38–39

Living together

ISLAND EVOLUTION
Many rare and unusual birds live on islands, such as the Hawaiian
Islands (shown below), the Galápagos Islands, Madagascar, and
New Zealand. These species have developed in unique ways
because they have been cut off from their relatives on the
mainland for a long time. For example, on the Hawaiian Islands,
a finch-like bird arrived some 5–6 million years ago. Since there
were few other birds to compete with it, this bird evolved into
around 40 different species called honeycreepers.

In any one habitat, different species of bird
live side by side. In a rich habitat, such as
a deciduous woodland, various kinds of
birds can live on a single tree by feeding
and nesting at different levels and eating
different types of food. Some eat insects,
while others prefer seeds. In this way,
the birds share the resources of the
habitat and are more likely to
survive than if they compete with
each other for the same things.
Near the top of the tree,
tiny birds such as blue tits and
wood warblers hang from the
smaller twigs and pick insects
off the leaves and bark.

Wood warbler
(Phylloscopus sibilatrix)

Eurasian
blue tit
(Cyanistes
caeruleus)

Great spotted woodpecker
(Dendrocopus major)

In the middle of the tree,
birds such as spotted
flycatchers dart out from a
perch to catch flying insects.
Woodpeckers chisel into
trunks and branches to find
insects. They also dig out
nesting holes in the trunk.

Mountain habitats

Mountains such as the
Himalayas in Asia (right),
the Andes in South America, the
Rocky Mountains in North America,
and the Alps in Europe provide a
wide range of bird habitats. The
lower slopes have warm forests,
but these merge into grasslands
and tundra higher up. Above
a certain height—called the tree
line—there are no trees because
it is too cold for them to grow.
Near the very top, the ground
is covered with snow and ice,
and no birds can live there. Mountain birds have to cope
with freezing temperatures, fierce winds, and thin air. Some
birds move up and down the mountains with the seasons.

Scrublands

Deserts

This warm, dry,
dusty habitat with
tough shrubs and
small trees is found mainly around
the shores of the Mediterranean
Sea, California in the US, and
parts of Australia, where it is called
the outback or the bush. Many
birds move, or migrate, to these
scrublands during the long, hot
summers, when there are plenty
of insects and seeds to feed on.
Some fly away for the cooler,
wetter winter months.

Deserts cover about
one-fifth of the Earth's
land surface. They are
a difficult habitat for birds because
there is little rainfall and daytime
temperatures are very high. Birds
have to rest in the shade during the
hottest times of the day and either
get water from their food or fly long
distances to find it. Important deserts
of the world include the western
deserts of North America; the Sahara,
Kalahari, and Namib deserts in
Africa; and the Australian deserts.

Find out more: pages 30–31,
52–53

Find out more: pages 15, 52–53

On the woodland floor,
bigger birds such as the woodcock
feed and nest. These birds are
usually well camouflaged among
the dead leaves. Wrens and other
small insect-eaters hop nimbly
through the dense thickets of
leaves and twigs, where they
are hidden from predators.

Spotted flycatcher
(Muscicapa striata)

Eurasian woodcock
(Scolopax rusticola)

Northern wren
(Troglodytes
troglodytes)

Rainforests

Wetlands

Rainforests grow near
the equator where it is hot
and wet all year. They
cover less than 10 percent of the
Earth's surface but are home to more
than half of all the different species of
wildlife living on Earth. Many birds
live high up in the treetops, where
there is more sunlight, warmth, and
food. But birds live at all levels in the
forest, sharing the food and space of
this rich habitat. The largest birds live
on the forest floor.

Watery environments
are a favorite habitat
for birds. Herons,
ducks, geese, and swans flock to
wetlands because there are plenty
of fish, insects, and water plants
for them to eat, as well as reeds and
riverbanks for them to nest in. Trees
grow in swampy areas, but there
are hardly any trees on marshland.
Drainage and pollution of their
wetland habitats by people is a
major threat to many of these birds.

Find out more: pages 20–21,
36–37, 54–55

Find out more: pages 16–17,
40–41

7

THE ARCTIC

The Arctic

Snowy owl

Like a silent, white ghost, the
snowy owl glides over the Arctic
tundra, hunting for birds and
small mammals, such as lemmings
and hares. When there is plenty of
food around, these powerful owls
lay lots of eggs because their chicks
have a good chance of survival, but
when food is scarce, they may not
bother to lay any eggs at all.

The Arctic region lies right at the top
of the planet. It is mostly made up of an
ice- covered...