My Science School

Vulture is a bird of prey. The Old World vultures include 15 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; and New World vultures are restricted to North and South America. Most of the species have a bald head, and a neck devoid of feathers.

It has a strong, sharp and hooked beak and a long wingspan, which allows it to stay in flight for long periods of time, without flapping my wings. It scavenges on carrion and sometimes feeds on newborn and wounded animals. It can go without food for days and when it does find something to eat, it has its fill.

It has a throat pouch called a crop, which is used to store food to be consumed later or to feed young ones. It has strong stomach acid, which allows it to safely digest decaying carcasses.

It is a myth that vultures circle dying animals waiting to feed. These birds are powerful fliers and soar on thermals (columns of rising air) while they look for food, but they cannot sense when an animal is dying. When they locate a carcass by smell, sight, or the sound of other birds feeding, they approach it quickly before other predators find it.

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Cuscus is a marsupial that lives in Australia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and on the nearby islands. It can survive in tropical rainforests, mangroves and dense forests at high altitudes.

Its body is covered with thick, woolly fur that can be black, brown, white, tan or grey in colour. The fur can be covered with spots. It has a rounded head with small ears and large eyes. Its eyes are adapted for night vision.

It lives on treetops and eats leaves, nectar, flowers and fruits. Sometimes, it eats small animals, and occasionally eggs. Pythons, hawks and owls are its predators. It is a shy and territorial animal.

Common spotted cuscus natural habitat comprises rainforests with trees like mangroves and eucalyptus. Cuscus who lives in the mangroves will migrate to the tropical forest during the winters. Cuscuses create their habitat in hollow trees. They also tend to create a platform on branches of a tree for resting during the day. Common spotted cuscus can be found sleeping under a canopy of leaves when the weather gets really hot. During summer time, they prefer resting inside a hollow log of tree. They prefer living in regions where their food requirements are taken care of by easy availability of fruit.

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Frilled lizard is a type of reptile found in Australia and New Guinea. Its name comes from the large frill around its neck, which usually stays folded against its body. It opens the neck frill when it feels threatened, during courtship or to eliminate excess heat.

It spends the majority of its time in the trees. Its diet consists mainly of insects and small vertebrates.

When faced with danger, it raises its hind legs, unfold the frill, open its yellow mouth and start to hiss. If it doesn’t work , it runs to the safety of a tree without looking back.

The Frilled Lizard is a diurnal lizard meaning that they are active during the day and are resting in the night-time.

The lizard is arboreal and spends most of its time on trunks and limbs of standing trees. Due to its excellent camouflage, it is usually observed only when it descends to the ground after a rainfall or to search for food.

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Avocet is a medium-sized wading bird found in Europe, Asia, Australia and North America. It inhabits wetlands, marshes and swamps.

Its body is covered with black and white feathers. It has long, slender legs and webbed feet. Its long, upward curled beak is most distinctive feature.

Its diet includes insects, worms, crustaceans, molluscs, fish and amphibians. It is a social bird that lives in large flocks. It is highly territorial and it aggressively protects its territory.

Their nests are little more than depressions in the sand or platforms of grass on mudflats. If the water rises, the breeding pair raises the nest a foot or more with sticks, weeds, bones, and feathers to keep the eggs above water.
After hatching, the young not only feed themselves, but they can also swim.
Avocets will defend themselves using distraction tactics such as loud screeching, a "crippled bird" act, and even a "dive bomb" display where the bird will swoop down on the predator and narrowly miss it until the intruder turns away.

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Nile crocodile is a large crocodile native to freshwater habitats in Africa.

Its body has dark bronze colouration, with faded blackish spots and stripes variably appearing across the back. It has a huge, teeth-filled mouth. It can reach a maximum size of about 20 feet.

Its diet includes mainly fish, but it does not mind eating other animals such as zebras, small hippos, porcupines, birds and even other crocodiles.

The females keep constant guard over the nest during the three-month incubation period. Just before hatching, the young crocs send out high-pitched sounds a signal for help. The female digs up the nest for young ones to emerge from the eggs.

Nile crocodiles have a dark bronze colouration above, with black spots on the back and a dirty purple on the belly. The flanks, which are yellowish-green in colour, have dark patches arranged in oblique stripes. There is some variation relative to environment; specimens from swift-flowing waters tend to be lighter in colour than those dwelling in lakes or swamps. They have green eyes.

Like all crocodiles, the Nile crocodile is a quadruped with four short, splayed legs, a long, powerful tail, a scaly hide with rows of ossified scutes running down its back and tail, and powerful jaws. It has nictitating membranes to protect the eyes and lachrymal glands to cleanse its eyes with tears. The nostrils, eyes, and ears are situated on the top of the head, so the rest of the body can remain concealed underwater. The coloration also helps to camouflage it; juveniles are grey, multicoloured, or brown, with dark cross-bands on the tail and body. As it matures, it becomes darker and the cross-bands fade, especially those on the body. The underbelly is yellowish green.

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Olive ridley turtle is a species of turtle that live globally in the coastal waters of at least 80 countries. It is named for the generally greenish colour of its skin and shell, or carapace.

It is among the smallest of the sea turtles, reaching only about 2 feet in shell length. It feeds on jellyfish, snails, crabs, and shrimp and occasionally algae and seaweed.

Females migrate hundreds or even thousands of miles every year to lay eggs on tropical and subtropical beaches. They lay about a hundred eggs, but may nest up to three times a year.

These turtles are solitary, preferring the open ocean. They migrate hundreds or even thousands of miles every year, and come together as a group only once a year for the arribada, when females return to the beaches where they hatched and lumber onshore, sometimes in the thousands, to nest.

Olive ridleys have nesting sites all over the world, on tropical and subtropical beaches. During nesting, they use the wind and the tide to help them reach the beach. Females lay about a hundred eggs, but may nest up to three times a year. The nesting season is from June to December.

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