My Science School

Despite their common name, birds are rarely eaten by this species. They were so named because one was seen eating a hummingbird. They may feed on a young bird found in its nest, but mainly eat frogs, lizards, beetles, small snakes and bats.

The hairy body of the Goliath bird- eating spider is dark and light brown in color. The variation of color in this tarantula gives it the somewhat golden shade, thus the name species name blondi. They have two body parts which is the head and neck combined (cephalothorax) and the abdomen. They have eight walking legs; two front appendages that resemble shorter legs (pedipalps) and two fangs (chelicerae). The pedipalps help grab and hold prey; the fangs, located on the underside of the chelicerae, inject venom into the victim. They are often said to be the heaviest spider in the world. Leg span can reach 12 inches (30.5 cm) and weight can be more than six ounces (170 gr).

Goliath bird-eating spiders are nocturnal, living in burrows that have been abandoned by other small animals. They are solitary and only have partners for mating. They are very aggressive and defend themselves by stridulation (a warning sound) and throw off barbed hairs from their abdomen. The exoskeleton of the spider is shed at least once each year, allowing it to grow but they are quite vulnerable during this stage.

They can be found in the wet swamps and marshy areas in the rainforest located in the northern South American countries of Suriname, Brazil, Guyana and Venezuela.

Credit : The Dallas World Aquarium

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Coloration is a bluish gray above, with black bars on the white to yellowish white underparts. Adult peregrines range from about 36 to 49 cm (14.2 to 19.3 inches) in length. Strong and fast, they hunt by flying high and then diving at their prey. Attaining tremendous speeds of more than 320 km (200 miles) per hour, they strike with clenched talons and kill by impact. Their prey includes ducks and a wide variety of songbirds and shorebirds. Peregrines inhabit rocky open country near water where birds are plentiful. The usual nest is a mere scrape on a ledge high on a cliff, but a few populations use city skyscrapers or tree nests built by other bird species. The clutch is three or four reddish brown eggs, and incubation lasts about a month. The young fledge in five to six weeks.

Captive peregrine falcons have long been used in the sport of falconry. After World War II the peregrine falcon suffered a precipitous population decline throughout most of its global range. In most regions, including North America, the chief cause of the decline was traced to the pesticide DDT, which the birds had obtained from their avian prey. The chemical had become concentrated in the peregrine’s tissues and interfered with the deposition of calcium in the eggshells, causing them to be abnormally thin and prone to breakage. In the British Isles, direct mortality from another pesticide, dieldrin, was the most important cause of the decline. Following the banning or great reduction in the use of most organochlorine pesticides, populations have rebounded in virtually every part of the world and now exceed historical levels in many regions.

Credit : Britannica

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The vampire squid has 8 long arms, and a long curly strand that serves as a sensory filament.

It has a unique ability to react when it is startled. It can curl its web and arms around the rest of its body—turning sort of ‘inside out.’ This change in appearance may help it avoid being attacked by predators.

These cephalopods --they’re technically not squids-- live in the deep ocean with millions of other species, some of which are little-known and on which little study has been done.

Vampire squid are cephalopods that are about the shape, size, and color of a football. The name “vampire” was given to these little squid because of the dark blood-red coloration, eye color (sometimes blue in different lighting), and what looked like spines on the tentacles. These gave rise to the false idea that it sucked blood out of its victims. In fact, these squid float peacefully in their deep, dark, oxygen-deprived habitat, waiting for food to come to it— a different behavior than that of other squid and octopus species.

Credit : National Geographic

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Scorpions use their pincers to grasp their prey; then, they arch their tail over their body to drive their stinger into the prey to inject their venom, sometimes more than once. The scorpion can voluntarily regulate how much venom to inject with each sting.

Envenomation is the process by which a scorpion uses its tail to inject venom. This venom goes through the tail and out of the stinger, which has a syringe-like structure to allow the venom to be secreted. After the venom is secreted, it goes into the prey's body to paralyze it and eventually kill it.

These scorpions are also known to strike humans because they generally prefer to be left undisturbed. Scorpion strikes and stings usually happen when a human unwittingly disturbs a scorpion by lifting the rock that covers the scorpion or by crushing it to their skin.

Scorpions that have invaded the home also can sting people. The scorpion hides during the day and. in a home, clothing and shoes in closets are ideal hiding spots. When people put on the clothes, the scorpion stings in defense.

Credit : Orkin

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Giant pandas signify aggression by lowering their heads and staring at their opponents. The giant panda is a generally a passive animal and not initiate to attack man or other animals. Giant pandas, however can become violent when provoked or surprised. Generally when hearing abnormal sounds the giant panda will escape the area immediately or they will climb the nearest tree. Should they become trapped the giant panda will cover their face with their paws often hiding its eye-patches and curl up. This gesture states that they are scared and/or angry. At close range, aggression is signaled by a swipe with a paw, or by a low-pitched growl or bark that will generally send an opponent (another giant panda) scampering up the nearest tree.

Giant pandas are solitary and peaceful animals, which will usually avoid confrontation, but if escape is impossible, they will certainly fight back. And as cuddly as they may look, pandas can protect themselves as well as most other bears by using their physical strength, and powerful jaws and teeth.

Pandas can grow up to 1.5m long and weigh as much as 150kg. And while their large molar teeth and strong jaw muscles are designed for crushing bamboo, they can deliver a very nasty bite.

In addition, giant panda are excellent climbers, with cubs able to clamber up trees when they are just 6 months old. They can also swim and, unlike most other bears, do not hibernate for months at time during winter. With all these attributes in their arsenal, fully grown giant pandas can defend themselves against most predators.

Credit : WWF

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A blue-ringed octopus is one of several species of small octopuses that display small, bright blue rings on their body when they are alarmed. They live in tide pools and shallow reefs. They like moderate-temperature water and are found in the tropics and temperate regions of the world. When they are at rest, they are gray or beige and their rings aren't visible.

Blue-ringed octopuses are tiny. Their bodies are about the size of a golfball and their arms are 3 to 4 inches long. They hide in cracks and under rocks during the day. They eat small crabs, hermit crabs, and shrimp.

While blue-ringed octopuses have extremely toxic venom, they don't make it themselves. They use bacteria they find in the ocean and store it in their salivary glands. The bacteria secrete a toxin called tetrodotoxin, or TTX. It then uses its beak to make a hole in its prey's shell to spit the saliva in it. ?

The toxin in the saliva paralyzes the prey while the blue-ringed octopus eats it. The TTX that a blue-ringed octopus injects is so deadly that 1 milligram of it can kill a human. It's one of the most potent toxins on earth, and there is no antidote.

Credit : WebMD

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For them, camouflage seems like a good idea but instead, flamingos advertise their drumsticks with neon — literally. Some are so bright, they make your eyes hurt.

The fact that they are a little too visible is not a genetic mistake. The iconic plumage is not present at birth, nor in the first few months. By nature, flamingos are greyish-white and gradually turn pink because of what they eat. Certain crustaceans and algae contain a reddish-orange pigment called beta carotene. That's right, the same stuff you find in carrots. Should a flamingo avoid these dyed foods, its pink would fade and eventually the bird turns white again.

Few people spare a thought about where flamingos come from. How old are they? When was the first fossilized flamingo found? Way back in the Miocene era, a lake existed in modern-day Spain. The lake dried up and left behind limestone and fossils. Incredibly, one ancient discovery was a preserved nesting site. It contained five eggs laid around 18 million years ago and presented the first traces of the flamingo.

However, the prehistoric flamingo was a little different. The adult responsible for the clutch was never found but the way it constructed the nest was unlike today's birds. Modern flamingos build mud towers for a single egg. The fossil nest, with its five eggs, was woven from sticks and leaves. The ancient eggs shared remarkable similarities to modern-day flamingos, but since the nest compared better to grebes, a living relative of flamingos, it could've belonged to a mutual ancestor.

Credit : Owlcation

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A bear may stand on its hind legs to get a better look or to pick up your scent if it cannot tell what you are.

Grizzlies tend to like open areas like tundra, alpine meadows and coastlines. For the most part, grizzly bears live alone. Every now and then, they will meet up with other grizzlies outside of mating season and stand next to each other, but not much socialization will occur. 

Grizzlies have a habit of rubbing their backs against trees, but they're not trying to scratch an unbearable itch. Rather, they are communicating with one another by leaving their scent. One scientist who studied bears rubbing their backs in the woods says that by marking trees, male bears get to know one another better, thus reducing fighting among themselves over females. 

The biggest gathering of grizzlies is during the salmon run in Alaska. When the salmon migrate upstream for the summer, grizzlies gather to catch their fill of these bountiful fish, according to National Geographic. The largest bears get the first catch.

The fat in salmon help grizzlies bulk up for hibernation in the winter. Before hibernation, these bears will dig dens in hillsides and may line the floor with a bed of leaves. Hibernation lasts four to six months, which can add up to one-third to one-half of their life, according to the San Diego Zoo. 

Grizzlies like to spend their days awake and hunting, but if humans are around they have been known to switch to a nightly schedule. Most brown bears are most active during early morning and dusk.

Credit : Live Science

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Three-banded armadillos are various shades of brown. The hard carapace covering their bodies develops from the skin and is composed of strong, bony plates, called scutes. The tail, top of head and the outer surfaces of the limbs are also usually armored.

When frightened, they will roll up almost all the way until their armor forms a trap that snaps closed on their predator's hand or paw. The shell also helps protect them from the thorny vegetation that armadillos frequently pass through. The under surface is soft, hairy skin. The carapace is not attached to the skin on the two sides, allowing the head, legs and tail to tuck inside when the animal rolls into a ball. This works well against most predators, but unfortunately has made La Plata three-banded armadillos easy prey to human hunters.

The range of La Plata three-banded armadillos includes parts of Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. They live in open, grassy areas, open forests and marshes. They do not dig burrows like most armadillos, but use the abandoned burrows of anteaters when they can get them.

They use their well-developed sense of hearing and smell to detect both predators and prey. In the wild they feed primarily on ants and termites, which they obtain using their powerful forelegs and claws.

At the Smithsonian's National Zoo, La Plata three-banded armadillos are fed soaked insectivore diet and mealworms.

Credit : National Zoo

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Colonies of army ants consist of a queen, workers, and soldiers. Workers are infertile females and are unable to establish their own colonies. Instead, they forage for food, bringing prey into their nests. Smaller army ant workers also tend to the queen’s eggs, while the soldier ants defend the nest. A single colony can contain up to 24 million individual ants.

Army ants typically nest in trees above the ground but also can form a bivouac, creating a nest from the bodies of the ants themselves. During this process, they use their claws and mandibles to attach themselves to one another, forming protecting walls to safeguard their queen and larvae. This structure is temporary and disassembles when the army ants mobilize.

Unlike other ant species, army ants are known to be nomadic, making temporary nests while traveling from one location to the next. During the nomadic stage, they march at night and stop to rest in daylight. This nomadic stage may last several days. There are over 200 species of army ants that exist worldwide. They are found in the southern United States, but are more common in Central America, South America, Africa, and parts of Asia. 

Credit : Orkin

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Giant Squids fall in the class of deco-pods and that is because they have ten arms. Eight arms are of the same length, while the remaining two arms are much longer. The two long arms are called tentacles and these tentacles extend out from the Giant Squid’s head. These tentacles catch their prey. The arms have very sharp teeth which allows the food to be minced into very tiny pieces. Giant Squids have a donut-shaped brain. After the food passes through the throat and the esophagus it then passes through the brain. It all starts with the arms being attached to the head. The food then is digested in the stomach. The food must be small to pass through the brain because it can cause brain damage if large pieces is caught in the brain.

Giant Squids have been thriving in the oceans for millions of years. Evolutionary biologists are scientists who study them. These squids have small stomachs and the digestion of the food takes place in their stomachs. They are closely related to the octopus and they both have a complex nervous system. About 80% of their brain is used to process visual information and the other 20% is used to send food to the stomach where it is digested.

The giant squid’s food passes through the brain before it reaches the stomach because of the arms and tentacles that are attached to the head. Many deep water submarines are sent to the ocean floor to observe these ocean creatures. Some people refer to them as beasts of the ocean. Stories have been told in legends of sailors being eaten by these giant creatures. The Sperm Whale is much larger than the giant squid and it hunts the giant squid for food.

Credit : Act for Libraries

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All bats have very big appetites, because flying uses up lots of energy. A common pipistrelle can eat over 3,000 tiny insects in a single night!

Bats are not blind, but at night their ears are more important than their eyes. As they fly they, make shouting sounds. The returning echoes give the bats information about anything that is ahead of them, including the size and shape of an insect and which way it is going. This system of finding prey is called echolocation - locating things by their echoes.

Bats are the only mammal that can truly fly (rather than glide). Their wings are actually hands that have adapted for flight, which means they are very flexible and able to move independently. This fantastic manoeuvrability arguably makes bats better at flying than birds!

Bats do not make nests, but choose various places throughout the year to roost. Bats are roost in houses, both new and old but some species prefer hollow trees, or caves. In buildings they often shelter behind hanging tiles and boarding or in roof spaces. For several weeks in summer, female bats choose somewhere warm to gather in a maternity roost. They have their babies here and stay until the young are able to fly and feed themselves. 

Credit : About Bats

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The closest relative of the big-eared woolly bat, the spectral bat is a large, carnivorous leaf-nosed bat. It is usually found in Mexico, Central America, and South America.

Known as the great false vampire bat or Linnaeus’s false vampire bat, the spectral bat is in fact the largest carnivorous bat. It has a robust skull and teeth which makes it easy for it to deliver a powerful bite to kill its prey.

What it feeds on depends on the availability of prey. It usually feeds on birds, rodents, and other species of bat. It also eats some insects like beetles. The caloric needs of a spectral bat are high and it has to feed often.

The overall population of the spectral bat is decreasing. In 2018, it was declared ‘near threatened’ by the IUCN.

Big-eared woolly bats are very large predatory bats with diverse feeding habits. They are known to eat geckos and even fruit. They are primarily carnivorous and insectivorous, though.

Big-eared woolly bats can take preys that weigh around 70 grams, but they usually consume smaller ones. They feed primarily on small arthropods and small vertebrates, including beetles, moths, small mammals, birds and even other bat species. But they usually do not consume the catch until they have returned to their roost in their heads-down position.

These bats usually fly slowly, partially because of their large size; their body mass typically ranges from 75 to 96 grams. Big-eared woolly bats live in colonies that are usually small. Even if they live in ground, their colonies are usually small. A typical colony consists of up to seven bats, usually a male-female adult pair and their offspring.

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Burrowing owls are small owls with long legs and short tails. They have round heads and do not have ear tufts. They are found throughout the open landscapes of North and South America. Unlike most owls, burrowing owls are often active during the day, though they tend to avoid the midday heat.

Burrowing owls hunt close to the ground catching insects and small animals. They spend most of their time on the ground or on low perches such as fence posts. They usually put animal dung around their burrows. This attracts dung beetles which these birds feed on.

These birds are opportunistic predators who hunt by swooping down from their perches and surprising the prey. They also capture prey by hovering over open areas or by running along the ground to chase the prey down. They usually feed on large invertebrates, small mammals, and other birds.

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