........but the "auk" - an Artic bird that looks like a penguin - can!

(Another fact brought to you by the friendly people who manufacture the hot chocolate mix packets in my cabinet)

What mix is that Linda?

I'm not at home (I can check tonight, though) right now. But, I think it's Nestles' Hot Chocolate Mix. I like the facts on the packages! Perfect for us trivia types! Quaker Oatmeal does the same thing with their "instants." I remember reading the facts on those packages when I was young. I was pleasantly surprised to see, the last time I bought it, that they have continued the tradition.

Other bird facts:

• A duck's quack doesn't echo, & no one knows why.
  
• A group of crows is called a murder.
  
• A group of geese on the ground is a gaggle, a group of geese in the air is a skein.
  
• A seagull drinks salt water because it has special glands that filter out the salt.
  
• A sparrow has more bones in its neck than a giraffe.
  
• An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
  
• Bird droppings are the chief export of Nauru, an island nation in the western Pacific.
  
• Canadian geese mate for life.
  
• Canaries can grow NEW brain cells.
  
• Chickens & turkeys are known to cross-breed.
  
• Chimney's used to be cleaned by dropping live chickens down them.
  
• Eagle owls have been known to catch a full grown fox, hawks, & even other species of owl!
  
• Eagles can live in captivity for up to 46 years.
  
• Emus cannot walk backwards.
  
• Emus have double-plumed feathers, & they lay emerald/forest green eggs.
  
• Flamingos are not naturally pink.
  
• Kiwis are the only birds that hunt by the sense of smell.
  
• Not all chicks are yellow when they hatch, some are white & others are brown.
  
• On average, hens start laying eggs at 4-51/2 months!
  
• Only male turkeys (Toms) gobble, females make a clicking noise.
  
• Owls are the only birds who can see the colour blue.
  
• Some birds use stars to orientate themselves during migration.
  
• The Australian emu holds the land speed record for birds at 31 mph.
  

Penguins can jump as high as 6' in the air.
Penguins are found in the Antarctic, not Arctic.

A hummingbird weighs less than a penny.

Penguins may also be found in the Galapagos Islands, and it depends on which hummingbird species you are talking about. Only the Bee Hummingbird weighs in under a penny while the largest, the Giant Humming Bird of South America, weighs 10 times as much.

[This message has been edited by pogo_ntn (edited 03-01-2000).]

Flamingos get their pink color from the pink salmon they eat.

There are no such things as "Canadian geese." The correct plural spelling is "Canada geese" seeing as how there is a Canada Goose. The name of the bird is a name, it is not referring to the country it comes from (Which does happen to be Canada, but still)

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Just remember to keep your eyes open and keep on smiling, because the smile and your eyes are the REAL first thing guys notice.

Have to respond to this quacking duck not echoing legend that is everywhere on the net. Have you noticed that everywhere you see it quoted it ALWAYS says......"and no one knows why" Someone probably posted this long ago somewhere and now everyone just accepts it as fact and quotes it verbatim. Have always been skeptical about this so did a little research.
The quack of a duck does indeed echo, and lots of people know why: sound waves bounce off of solid surfaces.

From a science and technology site.....

There is no reason why a duck's quack shouldn't echo in exactly the same way as any other
sound. Like other sounds, quacks are simply waves of pressure moving through the air.
These waves can bounce off walls or other objects, causing an echo. Of course, the proof of
the pumpkin is in the squeezing. Bring your favorite duck to your favorite echo spot and see
what happens!

So Cecil,who runs "The Straight Dope" website did just that. Won't post the whole thing here but you can read it at.........http://www.straightdope.com/columns/980522.html

Also...according to The San Fernando Valley Folklore Society's website (snopes.com).(we all know it as Urban Myths and Legends) a ducks quack does indeed echo.

So the only place I've seen that it doesn't echo is the endless number of trivia and useless info pages on the net. And while they are fun sites...(none better than Fun Trivia) we all know how unreliable they can be. Just take at look at our own "Ask Fun Trivia" site and see all the guessing and wrong answers that are being submitted as fact. Am embarrassed to say that I myself even submitted this non echoing answer at Ask Fun Trivia before actually checking it out. I try to be as accurate as possible as so many people take answers from trivia sites as factual. Newest one going around now is the Susan Lucci one about her being the daughter of Phyllis Diller. NOT SO and yet everyone accepts it as fact. I prefer a reliable source for questionable trivia.

EVER THE SKEPTIC.....Dave.

Just fixing the link for Dave.

Straight Dope

Incidentally, the Straight Dope® website also has a UBB powered message board. You can catch me over there posting as, oddly enough, UncleBeer.

Dave - what about the flamingo post? Sounds bogus but I'm much too lazy to research it myself.

Was only slightly skeptical on the flamingo one ,gustav, figuring it had to do with diet but didn't think they were big salmon eaters. So looked around and here's what I found.

Got this from Sea World site. Consider it reliable as they are the experts.

Feather color varies with species, ranging from pale pink to crimson or vermilion.

Feather coloration is derived from carotenoid pigments found in a flamingo's food.

Blue-green and red algae, diatoms, larval and adult forms of small insects, crustaceans, molluscs, and small
fishes make up the main diet of flamingos.

2. A flamingo's pink or reddish feather, leg, and facial coloration comes from a diet high in alpha and beta
carotenoid pigments, including canthaxanthin. The richest sources of carotenoids are found in the algae and
various insects that make up the staples of a flamingo's diet.

I was thinking there aren't a lot of salmon in the Florida Keys(i.e. none) and not a lot of flamingos competing with the Grizzleys during salmon runs. Plus I believe the nature of their bills is for siphoning the small critters you've mentioned out of the water.

gustav - Take it from a person who works around birds. Flamingos couldn't eat the salmon if they wanted to. Their beak aren't designed for that. Their beak are designed to filter microscopic 'stuff' out of the water, like plankton.

Another interesting flamingo fact is the flamingos beak is actually upside-down! If you take a look bird's beak the larger part is on the top. That helps a bird eat nuts and fruits. When a flamingo stands with its head in the air, it's beak has the smaller part of mandible on top. When the flamingo bends it's head over to eat, it's right-side up!

Incidentially, The cuban bee hummingbird weighs less than a dime.
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Why rely on ancient thoughts to make our point? Can't we all just be original?

[This message has been edited by splatt123 (edited 04-30-2000).]

According to Monty Python, a European swallow is much too small to carry a coconut. (Although two African swallows may be able to if working together). Holy Grail was on last night - still makes me laugh.

Ah, but gustav, African swallows are non- migratory!

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"With sword of truth, I turn to fight, the satanic powers of the night." -Jon Pertwee

JoJo2 - A ducks quack echos just like all other sounds. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a bit gullable.