Random Most Interesting Birds on Earth (24 items)

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  (#24) Marabou Stork

  • Leptoptilos crumeniferus

  Here's another bird that won't be entering any beauty pageants. It has a bald head and neck, and unlike most storks, it finds food by scavenging corpses. These two features are actually connected; the featherless head is better suited for feeding from a rotting body.
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  (#3) King of Saxony Bird of Paradise

  • Pteridophora alberti

  The King of Saxony bird of paradise has magnificent head feathers that can grow up to twice its body length. The head feathers can be 50 cm long, while the bird itself is only about 22cm long.
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  (#16) Shoebill

  • Balaeniceps rex

  The shoebill is a large bird, with an average height of five feet, and a bill that's 7.5 to 9.5 inches long. They hunt snakes, lizards, amphibians, and rats, using their enormous bills to crush their prey in a single bite.
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  (#1) Philippine Eagle

  • Pithecophaga jefferyi

  This is the world's longest flying bird — about three feet from beak to tail. It's so huge that it eats monkeys.
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  (#14) Cassowary

  • Casuarius

  Cassowaries are a large, flightless birds, closely related to emus. They are typically timid, but are known to become aggressive if provoked. Despite their regal look, they can be very dangerous birds, able to charge at up to 30 miles per hour and kill aggressors with their sharp claws.
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  (#5) Peregrine Falcon

  • Falco peregrinus

  The peregrine falcon is the world's fastest animal. It can reach speeds of 200 miles per hour by soaring to immense heights, and then tucking in its wings and plummeting to earth like a torpedo. No other creature is more aerodynamic.

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