Mind blowing facts about birds

• According to the BBC, the oldest parrot on record is a Blue and Gold Macaw named Charlie. Charlie is reported to have been owned by Winston Churchill, and is believed to be 104 years of age.
  
  
• There are over 350 species of parrots in the world.
  
  
• The smallest parrot species are the Pygmy Parrots, who average at about 8cm in length.
  
  
• The largest of the parrot species is the Hyacinth Macaw, which can grow to a length of about 40 inches from the beak to the end of the tailfeathers.
  
  
• At any given time, there are anywhere between one and two billion living birds on the planet.
  
  
• The only species of parrot that builds a nest is the Quaker Parrot. The Quakers link their nests together to form structures akin to "bird condominiums". These nests can reach weights greater than 200 lbs.
  
  
• The most common bird on the planet is the Chicken.
  
  
• Based on similarities in skeletal structure, a good number of scientists have theorized that many modern bird species evolved from the dinosaurs.
  
  
• Female Lovebirds often amuse their owners by shredding up the paper lining on their cage and placing the strips between their tailfeathers. This is an instinctual behavior that would allow the bird to carry materials back to her nesting site for construction.
  
  
• Migratory bird species fly in formation to conserve energy -- much like driving in a larger vehicle's slipstream can reduce the amount of gas you require.
  
  
• There are over 40 million pet birds living in the U.S.
  
  
• Some parrot species must fly over 500 miles a day in the wild to forage for food.
  
  
• Birds have a reduced sense of taste as compared to other animals, and science has yet to definitively prove that all bird species have a sense of smell.
  
  
• A bird's feathers weigh more than its skeleton does.
  
  
• The shape of a bird's beak directly corresponds to the type of diet it eats in the wild.