10 strange birds, which is difficult to believe the existence of

How many times do not stop surprising fantasy nature. At this time, our attention was attracted by birds. Most of the people that were in this collection look as if all were not born on the planet.

The bearded

The bearded man, or as it is called, vulture - the bird of the family Accipitridae. The only species in the genus bearded. This is a fairly large bird with a 95-125 cm in body size. Their weight can reach 7, 5 kg and have a wingspan of the biggest representatives of comes to 308 cm.

bearded live mainly in the Southwest and Central Asia, it is also found in the Eastern and Southern Africa and Southern Europe. In Russia, these birds can be found in the Caucasus, and occasionally in the Altai and Sayan Mountains. But everywhere is rare because of the persecution by man.

Thick antbird

Bird, known as the "Mona Lisa bird kingdom" because of the thick curved beak, resembling a mysterious smile. A few years ago it was re-discovered by scientists in Colombia after a 40-year absence.

A study of this type is complicated by the fact that they live in a very hard tropical forests of Venezuela and Colombia. It is for this reason that from 1965 to 2004, these birds do no one saw.

Malay Hornbill

Malay Hornbill - one of the largest hornbills. Some specimens reach a length of 122 cm and weighing 3 kg. They live mainly in the humid subtropical forests of the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java and Borneo. The main habitat - the forest-covered slopes of the mountains at an altitude of about 1500 meters.

Another feature of these birds is their life expectancy. As a rule, in captivity they live for 35 years or even longer. Known isolated cases, when the representatives of this species live up to 90 years.

Goatsin

Bird that their appearance resembles some ancient lizard-fledged. Not large - about 60 cm Lives in Equatorial South America from Colombia to Bolivia.. Goatsin almost do not fly, most of the time kept on the trees and rarely descend to the ground.

An interesting feature of this species is its system of digestion. All this takes place by fermentation in large goiter. From this Goatsin it has extremely unpleasant smell of dung. That is why European settlers in South America called Goatsin "stinking bird." Besides meat Goatsin has a sharp smell of stale, inedible and never even eaten by the natives.

shoebill

Shoebill, or as it is called, the royal heron - a very large bird of the order Ciconiiformes. On average, its height is 1, 2 m and a wingspan of up to 2, 3 m itself the main distinguishing feature of kitoglava -. Big, like a wooden shoe beak, making it a highly skilled fishing master. At the same time, nothing else that the bird's beak can not do. And if it becomes tight with the usual feed, she faces starvation.

Another unusual feature - kitoglava eyes. They are not located on both sides of the skull, like most other birds, and in its front part. Because of this, he still sees a three-dimensional. Homeland kitoglava - swamped parts of Africa. Despite the fact that the bird habitat is large enough, some populations are very small and scattered.

harpy eagle

Large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Dean harpies body comes to 110 cm, and the wingspan can exceed 2 meters. At the same time, and weigh the bird very well: up to 9 kg. As the name implies, these hawks inhabit the plains in the tropical forests of Central and South America, from Mexico to Brazil.

In harpy eagle incredibly large and powerful legs that are able to keep a very large weight. Fingers vooruzhench long black claws. Not surprisingly, from the villages of these predators sometimes carry small piglets and lambs.

Muscovy duck

On the territory of the former Soviet Union, this bird is commonly known as "indoutka" that means it supposedly hybrid origin of the turkey and duck. In fact, the name of the Muscovy duck has received from the properties attributed to older individuals to allocate in the fleshy growths on the head of the fat allegedly smell of musk.

For the first time Muscovy duck it was domesticated by the ancient Aztecs. Later this bird was introduced first in Africa, then to Europe, Asia and Australia, as well as Russia. On the territory of the former USSR, musk ducks were first imported in 1981 from the GDR, and then again in 1988 in France.

victoria crowned pigeon

Quite a large bird from pigeon family. It is found only in New Guinea, mainly in the northern part of it. The body length of 74 cm, weight 2 to 5 kg. Crowned pigeons can fly, but they do it very reluctantly, only in case of danger. Most of the time on the ground, where collect fallen fruits, seeds and berries.

This type of pigeon is a rare and vulnerable species. The number of birds everywhere decreasing. This is mainly due to the immoderate and uncontrolled hunting for feathers, as well as because of the destruction of their natural habitat - swamp forests and forests of sago palms.

Southern Ground Hornbill

It is the largest hornbills of all existing in the world. Body length they may be up to 129 cm, and weight to 6 and 2 kg. The main area of ​​their habitat - the African savannah, south of the equator. Most of the time they spend on the ground, gather food, slowly pacing the savannah.

In addition to the fact that they are the largest hornbills, they are still the only real predators within this family. Southern Ground Hornbill feed on arthropods and insects: grasshoppers, beetles, termites and even scorpions. However, during the dry season, it can even produce protein of a young hare or a mongoose.

king vulture

The most striking of all the Vedas family American vultures. It inhabits South America. Interestingly, his Latin name Sarcoramphus papa comes from the fact that in fights with other vultures for carrion, this species usually turns out to be the winner.

king vulture - a fairly large birds. Their body can reach 85 cm in size and weight as high as 4 to 5 kg. The scope of their wings has about 2 meters, so the flying vulture is impressive.