Kids Encyclopedia

Pelican — A pelican, is a large water bird with a large throat pouch, belonging to the bird family Pelecanidae. Along with the darters, cormorants, gannets, boobies, frigatebirds, and tropicbirds, pelicans make up the order Pelecaniformes. Modern pelicans, of which there are eight species, are found on all continents except Antarctica. They primarily inhabit warm regions, though breeding ranges reach …

Peacock — Peafowl are two asiatic species of flying birds in the genus Pavo of the pheasant family, Phasianidae, best known for the male’s extravagant eye-spotted tail, which it displays as part of courtship. The male is called a peacock, the female a peahen, and the offspring peachicks. The adult female peafowl is grey and/or brown. Peachicks can be between …

Partridge — Partridges are birds in the pheasant family, Phasianidae. They are a non-migratory Old World group. These are medium-sized birds, intermediate between the larger pheasants and the smaller quails. Partridges are native to Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Partridges are ground-nesting seed-eaters. According to Greek legend, the first partridge appeared when Daedalus threw his nephew, Perdix, off …

Parrot — Parrots, also known as psittacines are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae (’true’ parrots), the Cacatuidae (cockatoos) and the Strigopidae (New Zealand parrots). Parrots have a generally pantropical distribution with several species inhabiting …

Parakeet — Parakeet is a term for any one of a large number of unrelated small to medium sized species of parrot, that generally have long tail feathers. Older spellings still sometimes encountered are paroquet or paraquet. The term Grass Parakeet (or Grasskeet) refers to a large number of small Australian parakeets native to grasslands such as Neophema and Princess …

Oystercatcher — The oystercatchers are a group of waders; they form the family Haematopodidae, which has a single genus, Haematopus. They are found on coasts worldwide apart from the polar regions and some tropical regions of Africa and South East Asia. The exception to this is the Eurasian Oystercatcher and the South Island Oystercatcher, both of which breed inland, far …

Owl — Owls are a group of birds that belong to the order Strigiformes, constituting 200 extant bird of prey species. Most are solitary and nocturnal, with some exceptions (e.g. the Northern Hawk Owl). Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish. They are found in all regions of the Earth …

Ostrich — The Ostrich is one or two species of large flightless birds native to Africa, the only living member(s) of the genus Struthio. Some analyses indicate that the Somali Ostrich may be better considered a full species apart from the Common Ostrich, but most taxonomists consider it to be a subspecies. Ostriches share the order Struthioniformes with the kiwis, …

Oriole — Orioles are colourful Old World passerine birds in the family Oriolidae and genus Oriolus. They are not related to the New World orioles, which are Icterids, family Icteridae.Two families of perching birds of the order Passeriformes are known as orioles: 28 to 30 species of the Old World family Oriolidae and about 25 species of the New World …

Nutcracker — The nutcrackers (Nucifraga) are a genus of two species of passerine bird, in the family Corvidae, related to the jays and crows. One, the Spotted Nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes), occurs in Europe and Asia, the other, Clark’s Nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana), in western North America. The most important food resources for both these species are the seeds (pine nuts) of …