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Get the Kids Outside

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Fun Facts about Animals to Inspire Your Kids’ Curiosity

Help inspire your kids’ curiosity about the natural world with these fun facts about animals. You might just learn something new!

closeup of grasshopper on index finger, smiling girl in background

Fun facts about animals are entertaining, but they can help inspire your child’s curiosity about the animal world. Learning interesting things about animals can inspire awe and wonder and help your children feel more connected to nature. That connection can play an important part in their relationship with animals.

You may not encounter a penguin or hippopotamus on your woodsy stroll, but your child might notice a hummingbird flying backwards or a butterfly ‘tasting’ with its feet. They might in turn feel more invested in animals’ well-being and grow up to defend their environment.

Children are born with a sense of wonder and an affinity for Nature. Properly cultivated, these values can mature into ecological literacy, and eventually into sustainable patterns of living.

Zenobia Barlow

A greater curiosity for and understanding of animals is also a great tool for helping your children face and overcome their fear of insects or other creatures.

MAMMALS & MARSUPIALS

  • aardvarks
    • Aardvarks are native to Sub-Saharan Africa.
    • They have tongues that are up to 12 inches (30 cm) long and ears than can grow up to 9.5 inches (24 cm) long.
    • While they have four toes on their front feet, their back feet have five! Speaking of toes, they walk on their toes instead of the soles of their feet (except while squatting).
    • Skilled excavators, they’ve been known to dig up to 2 feet (0.6 metres) in 15 seconds. This comes in handy when they dig their extensive burrows, which can be up to 30 – 40 feet (9-12 metres) deep.
    • They are insect devourers, eating up to 60,000 ants and termites in one night.
    • collective nouns: an aarmory of aardvarks

  • badgers
    • Badgers are found on all continents except for South American, Antarctica and Australia.
    • Badgers are characterized by their short legs, striped faces and sharp claws.
    • Excellent diggers, badgers live in underground homes, often as much as 10 feet underground, generally housing half a dozen family members.
    • Their homes (underground tunnel systems called “setts”) can be quite extensive — having up to 40 entrances — and are sometimes passed down from generation to generation.
    • As nocturnal animals, they emerge at night to hunt for prey.
    • They have an excellent sense of smell, 800 times more sensitive than a human’s.
    • Speaking of smell, they have a unique defense mechanism of emitting a strong musk to deter predators!

  • bats
    • They are the only flying mammals (though other mammals can glide).
    • They can reach speeds of over 100 miles per hour.
    • Their droppings (guano) can be used to make gunpowder.
    • They are important pollinators. (Over 300 species of fruit depend on bats for pollination.)
    • Some species use echolocation to “see”, others have better eyesight than humans.
    • They each have a unique pattern on their wings, making them each unique (like our fingerprints).
    • Bats aren’t vampire-like. In fact, only 3 out of about 1,300 species of bats feed on blood, and rarely that of humans. Bats generally prefer insects, fruit, nectar, pollen and even fish.

  • bears
    • Bears don’t actually hibernate! “Bears go into torpor, which while similar to hibernation is different. When in torpor bears reduce both their heart and breathing rate, and their temperature drops, but less so than animals that hibernate.”
    • For bears, Autumn is a time of hyperphagia – a period of excessive eating and drinking to fatten themselves up for hibernation/torpor. They eat and drink almost nonstop. Needing to consume around 10 times their regular intake of food, they roam outside their normal ranges and spend up to 20 hours each day focused on finding more calories.

  • caribou
    • Caribou are only caribou in North America — everywhere else, they’re known as reindeer.
    • Caribou/reindeer live in the Arctic, Greenland, Scandinavia, Russia, the US (Alaska) and Canada.
    • Both male and female reindeer grow antlers.
    • Their noses play the important role of warming the air they breathe before it reaches their lungs.
    • Some caribou migrate further than any other land mammal: more than 3,000 miles in a year.
    • Their hooves are larger in summer (soft ground) and smaller in winter (hard ground).
    • They have two layers of fur to keep them warm. In the winter, their coats can be as much as 3 inches (7.6 cm) thick.
  • cougars:
    • The cougar, also known as a mountain lion or puma, is a large, solitary cat native to the Americas, ranging from Canada to the southern Andes. With its powerful build and agility, the cougar can take down prey much larger than itself, making it a top predator in its ecosystem.
    • Cougars can leap up to 18 feet vertically in the air, and up to 40 feet horizontally in a single bound!
    • They are known for their eerie, high-pitched scream, which is often mistaken for a person in distress.
  • chipmunks
    • Chipmunks can gather up to 165 acorns in a single day. To temporarily store their food, they use their cheek pouches, which can expand up to three times the size of their head.
    • Similar to their squirrel cousins, some chipmunks are scatter hoarders, hiding their food in thousands of different caches. Others are larder hoarders, hiding their stashes in a ‘larder’ in their burrow.
    • Most chipmunks live in underground burrows, although some make their nests in logs or bushes.

  • chipmunks and other small animals have fast reaction times because they process information more quickly. They are essentially seeing everything around them in slow motion.
chipmunk grooming its tail; green background
  • dingoes
    • The dingo is a wild dog native to Australia, known for its sandy-colored coat and pointed ears. Dingoes are highly adaptable hunters, often traveling in packs and preying on small animals and birds, though they can hunt solo as well.
    • Dingoes can turn their heads nearly 180 degrees in either direction, giving them an excellent range of sight.
    • Unlike most domestic dogs, dingoes rarely bark—they communicate through howls and other vocalizations.
  • elephants:
    • Elephants are the largest land animals on Earth, found primarily in Africa and Asia. Known for their intelligence and strong social bonds, these gentle giants use their long trunks for everything from gathering food and water to expressing affection and communicating.
    • Elephants can “talk” to each other using low-frequency sounds that travel through the ground and can be felt miles away!
      Their memory is incredible—they can remember the locations of water sources and familiar faces for decades.
  • foxes:
    • Foxes are small, adaptable mammals native to North America, Europe, Asia, and parts of North Africa. Known for their bushy tails and clever behavior, they thrive in a variety of habitats, from forests and grasslands to urban areas.
    • Foxes use a magnetic sense to hunt, often leaping high to pounce on prey hidden beneath the snow or ground.
    • They communicate with over 40 different sounds, including barks, screams, and even giggle-like noises!
  • giraffes:
    • The giraffe is the world’s tallest land animal, native to sub-Saharan Africa. Known for its long neck and distinctive coat patterns, the giraffe uses its height to reach leaves high up in trees, primarily feeding on acacia species.
    • A giraffe’s tongue is about 18 inches long and is dark-colored to protect against sunburn while reaching for leaves.
    • Giraffes only need about 30 minutes of sleep per day, usually taking short naps while standing up!
giraffes have black tongues
  • groundhogs
    • Groundhogs are known my many different names, including: woodchuck, marmot, chuck, wood-shock, groundpig, whistlepig, whistler, thickwood badger, monax, moonack, weenusk, red monk and siffleux. The name “woodchuck” comes from the Algonquin name wuchak, which translates roughly to “digger”.
    • Groundhogs are rodents, belonging to a group of ground squirrels named marmots.
    • Groundhogs are native to North America.
    • Young groundhogs are called chucklings, kits, pups or cubs.
    • They have four incisors (front teeth) that grow 1.5mm or 0.0625in per week. They need to use them constantly to prevent them from growing too long.
    • When alarmed, they make a high-pitched whistle to warn others. (This is why they are sometimes called “whistlepigs”.)
    • Groundhogs hibernate in their burrows for 3-6 months (depending on climate). These burrows can be quite extensive — up to 9 metres (30 feet) in length and on several levels. They can remove up to 2700 kg (3 tons) of dirt when making their homes!
    • Although they spend most of the time on (and under) the ground, they can also swim and climb trees.
    • In preparation for hibernation, groundhogs spend the fall season gaining weight and building their fat reserves (equal to an extra 30-40% of their body weight).
  • hyenas:
    • The hyena is a carnivorous mammal native to Africa and parts of Asia, known for its strong jaws and distinctive “laughing” calls. Living in highly social clans, hyenas are skilled hunters and scavengers, playing a key role in their ecosystem by keeping populations in balance and cleaning up carrion.
    • Hyenas have one of the most powerful bites of any mammal, able to crush bones to access the nutritious marrow. Their bite force is around 1100 psi, compared to a human’s average bit force of 162 psi.
    • Despite popular belief, hyenas are more closely related to cats than dogs!
  • ibex:
    • The ibex is a wild mountain goat native to mountainous regions of Europe, Asia, and northern Africa. Known for its impressive, curved horns and agility, the ibex expertly navigates steep, rocky slopes in search of grass, moss, and lichen.
    • Ibex can scale near-vertical cliff faces with ease, using their specialized hooves for grip and balance.
    • Their horns can grow up to 40 inches long (or longer) and are used in jousts between males during mating season.
  • jackrabbit:
    • The jackrabbit, a type of hare, is native to North America, especially in the western United States and Mexico. Known for its large ears and powerful hind legs, the jackrabbit is built for speed and can sprint and leap great distances to escape predators.
    • Fun Facts:
    • Jackrabbits can reach speeds of up to 40 miles per hour and leap 10 feet in a single bound!
    • Their large ears help regulate body temperature by releasing heat in the hot desert environments they often inhabit.
  • kangaroos:
    • The kangaroo is a large marsupial (animal with pouch) native to Australia, known for its powerful hind legs, long tail, and distinctive hopping movement. Living in various habitats from forests to grasslands, kangaroos primarily feed on grasses and leaves.
    • Fun Facts:
    • Kangaroos can leap up to 40 feet in a single bound and reach speeds of 40 miles per hour!
    • Female kangaroos have pouches where they carry and nurse their young, called joeys, until they’re ready to explore on their own.
  • lions:
    • female lions (lionesses) do 90 percent of the hunting, while males protect the pride.
  • lynx:
    • The lynx is a medium-sized wild cat native to North America, Europe, and Asia, recognized for its tufted ears and thick fur, which keeps it warm in cold climates. Skilled hunters, lynxes rely on their keen eyesight to catch small mammals, especially in snowy environments.
    • Fun Facts:
    • Research shows that lynxes use their exceptional hearing, enhanced by ear tufts that act like mini antennae, to detect prey even through dense snow.
    • Their large, padded paws act like snowshoes, allowing them to move easily across snow without sinking.

  • martens:
    • The marten is a small, agile mammal native to North America, Europe, and parts of Asia, often found in dense forests. With its slender body and sharp claws, the marten is an excellent climber and primarily hunts small animals, birds, and insects.
    • Martens can rotate their ankles, allowing them to dig their claws in and climb down trees headfirst—a rare skill among mammals!
    • Known for their curious and playful behavior, martens are sometimes seen leaping between branches like squirrels.
  • narwhals:
    • The narwhal is a medium-sized whale native to Arctic waters around Canada, Greenland, Norway, and Russia. Often called the “unicorn of the sea,” the narwhal is known for its long, spiral tusk, which is actually an elongated tooth.
    • Fun Facts:
    • Narwhal tusks can grow up to 10 feet long and are thought to be used for sensing environmental changes and possibly even social interactions.
    • Narwhals can dive to depths of nearly 6,000 feet in search of fish, squid, and other prey under the ice.
  • orcas:
    • The orca, or killer whale, is a powerful marine mammal found in oceans worldwide, from the Arctic and Antarctic to tropical seas. Known for its black-and-white coloring and social intelligence, the orca is a top predator, often hunting in coordinated groups called pods.
    • Fun Facts:
    • Orcas are among the fastest marine mammals, reaching speeds of up to 35 miles per hour.
    • They have complex vocalizations and even unique “dialects” within each pod, allowing them to communicate and hunt with incredible precision.
  • otters
    • Some sea otters hold hands while sleeping (floating on their backs), to keep them from drifting away from each other.
    • Sea otters rely on their dense fur to keep warm (unlike most other marine animals who have blubber for insulation). They have the densest fur of all animals with up to 2.5 million hairs per square inch!
    • Some sea otters use tools (usually rocks) to access their food (e.g., smashing open a clam shell). They often store their tool in a pouch under their armpit.
  • platypuses:
    • The platypus is a unique, egg-laying mammal native to eastern Australia and Tasmania. Known for its duck-like bill, webbed feet, and beaver-like tail, the platypus is well-adapted to its semi-aquatic lifestyle, foraging for food underwater.
    • When European scientists were first introduced to the duck-billed platypus, some assumed it to be an elaborate hoax.
    • Baby platypuses are called puggles.
    • The collective noun for platypuses is not common/officially recognized, especially as they are generally solitary creatures. But in James Lipton’s book “An Exhaltation of Larks”, he lists it as an impossibility of platypuses. If you ask the non-academic internet, you might find the answer to be a paddle of platypuses.
    • Like sharks, they use electroreception to find their underwater prey and locate objects in deep water.
    • Although they are mammals, duck-billed platypuses lay eggs — making them a monotreme. Only 4 other monotremes still exist, and they are all species of echidna.
    • When put under UV light, they emit a biofluorescent green-blue glow. (Though scientists aren’t yet sure why.)
    • Platypuses are one of the few venomous mammals—males have a spur on their hind legs that delivers a painful toxin.
    • Platypuses scoop up mud to store food in their cheeks while diving, then chew it up after surfacing—almost like having built-in snack pouches!

  • polar bears
    • Polar bears can weigh up to 590 kg (1,300 lbs)!
    • They can swim for days at a time. One polar bear was tracked swimming 686 km (426 miles) over nine days, losing 22% of her body weight.
    • Polar bear skin is black! Also, the long “guard” hairs of their fur are both translucent and hollow (but appear white because of the light they reflect).
    • Polar bears can smell a seal on the ice 32 km (20 mi) away and a seal’s breathing hole 1 km (0.6 mi) away.
  • quokkas:
    • The quokka is a small marsupial native to Australia, specifically found on some islands off the coast of Western Australia. Known for its friendly demeanor and adorable, smiling face, the quokka is often called “the world’s happiest animal.”
    • Fun Facts:
    • Quokkas are great climbers! They can easily hop up rocks and trees to find tasty leaves and fruits to eat.
    • These little cuties are nocturnal, which means they sleep during the day and come out to play at night.
  • raccoons
    • The black markings across raccoons’ eyes allow them to see better – even in the dark – by reducing glare.
    • Their front paws are especially sensitive. Raccoons also use use a technique called “dousing” (dipping their food in water) to heighten their sense of touch, wetting their paws to stimulate the nerve endings.
    • They have adapted to a wide range of habitats, from cities and towns to high mountains.
    • The raccoon is a clever and adaptable mammal native to North America, known for its distinctive black “mask” of fur around its eyes and its bushy ringed tail. Raccoons are often found in forests, urban areas, and near water sources, where they search for food using their dexterous front paws.
    • Raccoons are super smart! They can remember how to open locks and solve puzzles for up to three years!

baby raccoon walking in short grass
  • seals:
    • Seals are marine mammals found in oceans and seas around the world, with notable populations in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. These playful animals are known for their streamlined bodies, flippers, and their ability to swim gracefully in the water while resting on land or ice.
    • Seals can hold their breath for a long time—some can dive for over 30 minutes without coming up for air!
    • They communicate with each other using a variety of sounds, including barks, grunts, and even some funny sneezes.
  • skunks
    • A skunk’s odorous spray (which they release as a defense mechanism) has a reach of up to 10 feet, but the smell can be detected up to 1.5 miles away.
    • Before releasing their pungent spray, skunks often perform a warning dance that may include backing away, raising their tail, stomping their feet and – for some – even doing a handstand.
    • Skunks don’t have great eyesight, but they have very good senses of smell and hearing.
    • Skunk spray happens to be highly flammable.

  • sloths
    • From the moment they are born, sloths are able to lift their entire body weight upwards with just one arm.
    • Specialised tendons in their hands and feet lock into place, allowing them to hang upside down for long periods of time without wasting any energy.
    • All sloths are colour-blind, can only see poorly in dim light and are completely blind in bright daylight.
    • Sloths can swim through water three times faster than they can move on the ground.

  • squirrels
    • In preparation for winter, red squirrels make mushroom jerky by drying out mushrooms and placing them in trees.
    • Squirrels can lose up to 25 percent of their hidden food to birds or other squirrels. They have been known to practice “deceptive caching”, where they dig a hole and pretend to hide a nut, conceivably to throw off potential thieves.
  • tapirs:
    • The tapir is a large, herbivorous mammal native to Central and South America, as well as parts of Southeast Asia. With its distinctive snout that resembles a short trunk, the tapir is an excellent swimmer and often found near rivers and forests, where it feeds on leaves, fruits, and aquatic plants.
    • Tapirs are great swimmers and can even use their snouts like snorkels to breathe while they swim!
    • Baby tapirs have a unique striped and spotted coat that helps them blend in with their surroundings and avoid predators.
  • urials:
    • The urial is a wild sheep native to Central and South Asia, particularly found in the mountainous regions of countries like Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan. Known for its impressive curved horns and reddish-brown coat, the urial is well adapted to rugged terrains and is a skilled climber.
    • Fun Facts:
    • Male urials can weigh up to 200 pounds and their horns can grow up to 3 feet long, making them quite the impressive sight!
    • During mating season, males will engage in head-butting contests to show off their strength.
  • vicuñas:
    • The vicuña is a wild camelid native to the Andes mountains in South America, particularly found in countries like Peru, Bolivia, and Chile. Known for its soft, luxurious wool and slender body, the vicuña is closely related to the alpaca and llama but is smaller and lives at higher altitudes.
    • Vicuñas have some of the softest fur in the world, so valuable that they were once called “the gold of the Andes” and only Inca royalty were allowed to wear it!
    • They have a unique way of communicating: vicuñas hum softly to each other to stay in touch while grazing together in groups!
  • walruses
    • Walruses can weigh over 680 kg (1,500 lbs) .
    • Their tusks are very useful in keeping air holes open in the ice, defending themselves against predators, and fighting other walruses. These tusks can grow to over 90 cm (25 in) long!
    • If necessary, walruses can sleep upright in the water, inflating air sacs on their throats to save them from drowning.
    • The walrus is a large marine mammal native to the Arctic regions, including parts of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Russia.
    • Known for its long tusks, whiskers, and blubbery body, the walrus is a social animal often found resting on ice floes or sandy shores.
    • Walrus tusks can grow up to 3 feet long and are used for fighting, climbing onto ice, and even digging for clams!
    • Walruses use their super-sensitive whiskers, called vibrissae, to detect clams and other food on the ocean floor, even in the dark Arctic waters.
  • whales:
    • The blue whale can measure up to 100 feet long. Its heart weighs about 400 pounds.

walruses resting on the beach
  • wolves:
    • Wolves don’t actually howl at the moon, but they do howl to communicate with their pack and warn other wolf packs to stay away.
    • Wolves have an excellent sense of hearing and can hear sounds from up to 6 miles away in the forest and 10 miles away out in the open.
    • Wolves are fast runners, reaching speeds of up to 38 miles per hour (61 km per hour), though only for short distances.
    • Wolf packs range from 2 to 30 members, though the average pack size is 6-8, usually made up of a breeding pair and their offspring.
    • A wolf’s territory varies greatly in size, from 25-150 square miles (65-389 square km) in some US states and Central Europe, or 300-1500 square miles (777-3885 square km) further north (Siberia, Alaska, Northern Canada, Scandinavia). The size of their territory is partly determined by the number of prey in a particular area (prey density).
  • xeruses:
    • The xerus, also known as the African ground squirrel, is a small rodent native to the savannas and grasslands of Africa, particularly in countries like Namibia and Botswana. With its bushy tail and strong digging claws, the xerus is known for living in social groups and creating elaborate burrow systems.
    • Xeruses are known for their playful behavior and often engage in fun games of tag with each other, making them one of the most social rodents in Africa!
    • These squirrels love to sunbathe! They often lie on their backs with their paws in the air to soak up the warm sun.
  • yaks:
    • The yak is a large, shaggy mammal native to the high-altitude regions of the Himalayas, particularly found in countries like Nepal, Tibet, and Mongolia. Known for its thick fur and long horns, the yak is well adapted to cold climates and is commonly used as a pack animal by local herders.
    • Yaks can survive at altitudes of over 18,000 feet and are known for their incredible strength, able to carry heavy loads across rugged terrain.
    • Their thick fur helps keep them warm in freezing temperatures, and they can even get a bit hot during the summer, so they shed up to 100 lbs of fur to stay comfortable!

BIRDS

  • Birds have large respiratory systems that take up one fifth of the space in their body. (In contrast, a mammal’s breathing system takes up only one twentieth of its body.) “Like mammals, birds also use oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. They have special air sacs in addition to their lungs, with hollow bones that allow these gasses to flow around the body more easily. This means that one bird breath goes further and does more work than one mammal breath.” (rspb.uk.org)Chickens are the closest living relatives to the Tyrannosaurus Rex.
  • Birds can sleep with one eye open and half their brain awake.
  • Migrating birds can also partially shut off their brains while flying, taking mid-air naps.
  • More than 200 species of birds practice a curious habit called anting: placing or rubbing live or crushed ants among their feathers. It’s not clear why they do this. It may be a form of self-stimulation, or it could be that the formic acid secreted by the ants benefits the birds by:
    • helping to decrease skin irritation
    • helping to control parasites (mites, lice)
    • making the ants easier to eat.
  • Why don’t birds fall off their perches when asleep? “Two thin tendons, called flexor tendons, extend from the leg muscles down the back of the tarsus bone and attach to the toes. When a bird lands on a perch, these tendons tighten and so the toes lock around the perch. This involuntary reflex keeps a sleeping bird from falling off a perch. The tendons stay tight until the legs straighten.”
  • baltimore orioles:
    • They can eat as many as 17 caterpillars in a minute.
  • hummingbirds:
    • They are the only birds that can fly backwards.
    • They are the smallest birds (the bee hummingbird weighs only 1.95 grams).
    • Their hearts can beat more than 1200 times per minute when flying.
    • They have the smallest eggs (about the size of a pea).

  • penguins:
    • Penguins’ black/white coloring acts as camouflage in the water: white when viewed from below (looking at the light above) and black when viewed from above (looking at the dark water below)
  • owls
    • Owls can turn their heads 135 degrees in either direction, giving them 270 degrees of total movement. Being able to turn their heads is important, as their eyes are fixed in place.
    • Owls are far-sighted, which means that they can see things clearly that are yards away, but things up close are blurry.
    • They also have excellent hearing! Many species of owl have asymmetric ears (one higher than the other, one farther forward), allowing them hone in on the sound’s precise location: the direction of their prey, its height off the ground, and its distance away.
    • When owls fly, they are nearly silent. thanks to special feathers that break up turbulence and feathers’ velvety texture that muffles noise.
    • Owl species can vary a lot in size: the Elf Owl is about 5 inches tall (13 cm) and the Great Gray Owl can be up to 33 inches tall (84 cm).
penguin diving in water
  • peregrine falcons:
    • “Peregrine falcons may reach speeds of 200 miles per hour when diving for prey. They use their balled-up talons to knock out their prey, then catch the hapless, falling bird before it hits the ground or water.”

peregrine falcon up close, green background
  • puffins
    • Puffin beaks change color, becoming duller in the winter and brighter once spring arrives.
    • Puffin tongues have special features which allow them to hold on to multiple fish in their beaks while hunting/diving. It’s usually an average of 10 fish, but one special puffin broke the record with 62 fish!
    • Puffins have to flap their wings very quickly to stay aloft (400 beats/minute).
  • ravens
    • They can imitate human speech, sometimes even better than parrots.
    • Ravens are very intelligent birds, using tools, deception or bartering to get what they want.
    • Ravens seem to appreciate play, and have been observed sliding down roofs, rolling down hills, doing somersaults in the air, playing keep-away with other animals and making toys.
    • They sometimes use gestures to communicate, pointing with their beaks or holding up objects to get attention.
    • Before mating and pairing off for life, juvenile ravens live in “gangs” with other juvenile ravens.
    • A group of ravens is called an unkindness, a rant, a constable, a treachery or a conspiracy.
  • starlings – murmuration
    • murmuration: the phenomenon that results when hundreds, sometimes thousands, of starlings fly in swooping, intricately coordinated patterns through the sky (NPR)
    • WHY? “Starlings can pack themselves into a roosting site… at more than 500 birds per cubic metre, sometimes in flocks of several million birds. Such high concentrations of birds would be a tempting target for predators. No bird wants to be the one that a predator picks off, so safety in numbers is the name of the game, and swirling masses create a confusion effect preventing a single individual being targeted.“ (phys.org)
    • HOW? “[O]ne bird affects its seven closest neighbors, and each of those neighbors’ movements affect their closest seven neighbors and so on through the flock. This is how a flock is able to look like a twisting, morphing cloud with some parts moving in one direction at one speed and other parts moving at another direction and at another speed.” (Treehugger)
starling murmuration in evening sky
  • wild turkeys
    • An adult turkey has 5,000 – 6,000 feathers on its body.
    • Wild turkeys are relatively fast, reaching speeds of up to 18 miles per hour on foot and up to 50 miles per hour in flight.
    • adult male = tom; adult female = hen; juvenile male = jake; juvenile female = jennie; young chick = poult
    • You can tell the sex and age of a wild turkey from its droppings: male droppings are j-shaped, female droppings are spiral-shaped. The larger the dropping, the older the bird.
    • The name “turkey” comes from the country of Turkey, through which the birds were transported on their way to European markets.

INVERTEBRATES (INSECTS, AMPHIBIANS, ARTHROPODS, GASTROPODS, MOLLUSKS)

  • ants:
    • A leafcutter ant can carry up to 50 times its body weight and lifts objects by using only its jaws.
    • A field ant’s neck can hold 5,000 times its body weight.
    • The trap jaw ant can close its jaws very quickly — at approximately 100 mph (161 km/h).
    • Ants don’t have ears, but ‘listen’ through their feet by feeling vibrations from the ground.
    • Ants communicate with pheremones (chemical signals) to alert other ants to danger, attract a mate, and leave a trail to a food source.
    • A giant ant supercolony was found in Argentina in 2000. It housed 33 ant populations (millions of nests, billions of workers) and was over 3,700 miles (5955 km) wide.
  • bees:
    • A bumblebee flaps its wings about 200 times per second.
    • Honeybee foragers have to (collectively) travel over 55,000 miles (88,514 km) and visit about 2 million flowers to collect enough nectar to make one pound of honey. The average forager will only make about 1/12 teaspoon of honey in her lifetime.
    • The average worker honey bee visits 50-100 flowers in a single collection trip.
    • The worker honey bee can carry pollen and nectar equal to 80% her body weight.
    • A bee has a sense of smell as much as 100 times more powerful than a human’s.
honeybee collecting nectar from flower
  • butterflies:
    • Butterflies taste with their feet
    • In the fall, millions of monarchs fly south from Canada and the US to southern California and Mexico. During the up-to-3000 mile (1649 km) migration south, a monarch will travel as many as 100 miles (161 km) per day. The entire migration cycle involves four generations.
    • Male butterflies will sometimes sip moisture from mud puddles to supplement their nectar diet with minerals and salts. (This behavior is called “puddling”.)
    • Butterflies prefer temperatures of 82-100 degrees Fahrenheit (28-38 degrees Celcius. Any colder and they need to warm up their flight muscles by either basking in the sun or shivering. If the temperature drops below 55 degrees F (13 degrees C), they can’t fly at all.
    • When resting, they hold their wings folded behind their backs.
  • cicadas:
    • Periodical cicadas have one of the longest insect lifespans (13 or 17 years), though only 2-6 weeks are spent aboveground.
    • Cicadas emerge in densities of more than a million per acre, or around 25-30 per square foot.
    • By emerging in masses, cicadas overwhelm their predators, who fill up and can’t eat any more.
    • In a full-scale emergence, the mating call of male cicadas can reach over 100 decibels, louder than a chainsaw or lawnmower.
  • cockroaches:
    • Because they use openings in their bodies to breath and don’t need their brains for basic functions, cockroaches can live for a week without their head.
    • Roaches are older than dinosaurs! Modern cockroaches have been around for approximately 200 million years, and there are roach fossils that date from 350 million years ago.
    • Cockroaches can survive for up to a week without food. (But only a week without water.)
    • They are relatively fast, some species moving at speeds of up to 3.4 mph (5.4 km/h). The equivalent for humans would be 210 mph (300 km/h).
  • crickets:
    • Crickets can jump as far as 60 times their body length.
    • Like grasshoppers, they make their noises through stridulation, but do so by rubbing their wings together (a scraping organ on one wing against a comb-like organ on another).
    • Every species of cricket has its own unique chirp.
    • You can use the frequency of a cricket’s chirp to calculate the approximate temperature outside. To calculate the temperature in Fahrenheit, count the number of chirps in 14 seconds and add 40. To calculate it in Celsius, count the number of chirps in 25 seconds, divide the number by 3 and add 4. (Farmer’s Almanac)
    • Some consider crickets to be the food of the future, as they are high-protein, packed with vitamins, and have much less impact on the environment than conventional meat.
    • They have long, wispy antennae.
    • Crickets are usually brown or black.
    • They are active at night.
    • They are omnivores, feeding on insects, grass, fruit, flowers, seeds.
    • Their “ears” are on their front legs.
  • dragonflies:
    • They can eat between 3-100 mosquitoes per day.
    • They only eat prey they catch while flying.
    • They have been around for 300 million years and once had wingspans of up to 2 feet (0.6 m).
    • They have the longest migration of any insect. The globe skimmer dragonfly is only 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) long, and scientists estimate that during its migration, the globe skimmer flies 4,400 miles (7,081 km) without landing.
black dragonfly on plant stem
  • earthworms:
    • Worms play an important role in aerating soil, allowing the passage of air, water, nutrients and minerals.
    • Worms breathe through their skin and have 5 ‘hearts’ (aortic arches).
    • Worms can regenerate some segments of their body.
    • Earthworms can push 10 times their body weight (think human to polar bear), and tiny hatchlings can push 500 times their body weight (think human to humpback whale).
    • The sun’s UV rays can be harmful to worms, so they are generally only seen at the surface in cloudy or wet weather.
  • fireflies:
    • Fireflies are also known as lightning bugs, glow flies, moon bugs, golden sparklers, lantern flies, fire beetles and fire devils.
    • These beetles emit light to communicate: to attract a mate, to defend territory, to warn predators.
    • Their bioluminescence is very efficient: nearly 100% of the energy is emitted as light, not heat (“cold light”).
    • They are found on every continent except Antarctica.
    • Each species has its own flash pattern.
    • They produce light in their lanterns (part of their abdomens) by combining the chemical luciferin and oxygen with the enzyme luciferase.
    • Not all fireflies can produce light.

  • flies:
    • True flies only have one set of wings. (Unlike butterflies and dragonflies which have two pairs.)
    • There are more than 100,000 different species of flies.
    • Without teeth, flies are unable to chew their food. Instead, they spit out enzymes to turn solid food into a liquid they can suck up through their proboscis.
    • Midges (tiny flies) are one of the fly species that serve as pollinators. You’ll appreciate them even more when you learn they are the primary pollinator for the cacao tree.
    • The horsefly can fly up to 90 mph (144 km/h).
    • The adult timber fly is considered the world’s largest fly and can grow up to 3.15 in (8 cm) long.

  • grasshoppers:
    • Grasshoppers’ hind legs act like catapults, allowing them to jump high in the air. If humans had comparable jumping abilities, they would be able to leap more than the length of a football field.
    • Grasshoppers’ “ears” are on their bellies/abdomens.
    • Their noises are made through stridulation (rubbing their hind legs against their forewings) or by crepitation, loudly snapping their wings as they fly.
    • short, stubby antennae
    • active during the day
    • herbivores: feed on grass, plant stems, flowers, seeds
  • ground beetles:
    • Ground beetles prefer moist habitats and can be found living under rocks, logs, bark and leaves.
    • They have long legs and shiny, ridged black or brown wing covers.
    • Some ground beetles are used in pest control for agriculture as they feed on pests including aphids, moth larvae, beetle larvae, and mites.
    • Ground beetles can lift up to 40 times their own weight.
  • ladybugs / ladybirds / ladybeetles:
    • “The name ‘ladybug’ was coined by European farmers who prayed to the Virgin Mary when pests began eating their crops. After ladybugs came and wiped out the invading insects, the farmers named them ‘beetle of Our Lady.’ This eventually was shortened to ‘lady beetle’ and ‘ladybug.’” (NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC)Their coloring and spots are a warning to predators that they taste terrible!
    • They are technically beetles, not bugs.
    • There are 5,000 species around the world, not all of them red (some yellow, orange, brown, pink, black).
lady bug, lady bird, lady beetle on leaf; green background
  • moths:
    • Moths are mimicry masters, impersonating less palatable animals or blending in with their environment.They are often considered pests (especially in agriculture), but some are also important pollinators.Moths have an excellent sense of ‘smell’, using their antennae. A male moth can detect a single molecule from a female more than 7 miles (11.3 km) away!Their wingspan varies greatly from species to species: an African micromoth (0.08 in / 2 mm) vs. a white witch moth (11 in / 28 cm).
    • When at rest, they hold their wings open.
    • more active at night
    • short, feathery antennae
    • thick body; usually dull in color
    • cocoons wrapped in silk
  • praying mantis:
    • When waiting for prey, praying mantises hold their front legs up, as if in peaceful prayer. But when they are ready to attack, they do so with with lightning speed.
    • Not only do praying mantises have a very stereo vision and a wide field of vision, they can also see in 3D.
    • Unlike other insects, they can turn their heads 180 degrees.
praying mantis in foreground, green background
  • roly polies / potato bugs / wood bugs:
    • Not actually bugs, not even insects — these “bugs” are actually terrestrial crustaceans.
    • Various names: roly poly, potato bug, isopod, tiggy-hog, parson-pig, cheesy bug, slater bug, woodlouse, pill bug, doodle bug.
    • Their defense mechanisms include rolling up into a ball for protection, as well as and releasing an odor.
    • They like dark, moist environments.
    • They play an important role as decomposers.
  • salamanders:
    • Like other amphibians, salamanders are known as “indicator species” due to their sensitivity to environmental change and pollution. They provide environmentalists with important insight into how an ecosystem is functioning.
  • slugs:
    • Land-living slugs have four retractable tentacles: two for seeing and smelling, two for touching and tasting.
    • Slug slime is a liquid crystal that facilitates locomotion, keeps their skin moist, protects them from fungi and bacteria, and helps them find a mate.
    • They come in a variety of colors including brown, black, yellow, green, pink, red and blue.
    • Slugs can stretch up to 20 times their length when squeezing through small spaces in search of food.
    • They play an important role by eating detritus and producing fertilizer.
  • snails:
    • The 40,000+ species of snails can be found in almost all habitats, from deep ocean trenches to deserts.
    • This gastropod’s slime has multiple functions, including helping it to: move forward or stick to surfaces; protect its skin and keep it moist; ward off predators; seal itself inside the shell (when in danger), ‘communicate’ with other snails; protect its eggs.
    • The shell length of snails varies greatly from species to species. Sea snails: 0.016-35 in (0.04-89 cm). Land snails:
    • 0.03-15 in (0.08-38 cm).
    • Common garden snails have a top speed of 0.006-0.03 m/hr (0.01-0.05 km/hr).
snail on hand of child in orange shirt; green background
  • spiders:
    • Spiders are not insects (3 body segments, 6 legs), they are arachnids (2 body segments, 8 legs).
    • Spider silk is one of the strongest natural materials on earth; a spider’s dragline silk is several times stronger than steel on a weight-for-weight basis.
    • Much of a spider’s movement is not controlled by muscles, but by “hydraulic power”, pumping fluid into their legs, causing them to extend.
    • It is estimated that the world’s spiders eat 400-800 million tons of insects and invertebrates annually, helping to keep insect pests in check. (This is more than the weight of the entire human population.)
    • Spiders have blue blood, 48 knees, and (most have) 8 eyes!
  • stick insects:
    • Stick insects are known for their ability to camouflage themselves to look like a stick, leaf or twig. Some are also able to change color in order to blend in better with their background.
    • ‘Autotomy’ is one of the stick insect’s defense strategies, which involves detaching its own leg in order to escape a predator. (This limb is regenerated after molting.)
    • Another defense strategy is ‘thanatosis’ , where they drop to the ground and play dead, staying very still.
    • In 2017, a stick insect was declared to be the longest insect in the world, measuring 25 inches (64 cm) with its legs outstretched.
  • stink bugs:
    • Stink bugs release foul odors when threatened, when crushed, or to attract a mate.
    • They can’t tolerate cold weather and often make their way into homes to survive winter.
    • Stink bugs are native to Southeast Asia but hopped a ride on a fruit crate and arrived in North America in 1988.
    • They communicate with each other by using their abdomens to vibrate the plants they’re sitting on.
  • wasps:
    • Wasps live on every continent except Antarctica.
    • Wasp nests are made from the ‘paper’ they make by chewing and spitting out pieces of wood/bark.
    • Wasps can be distinguished from bees by their narrower ‘waists’ and pointed (not rounded) lower abdomens.
    • A queen wasp forms a new colony every Spring.
    • Only female wasps have stingers, making them the primary protectors of the nest/queen.
    • Wasps play an important role as pest controllers. They are also important pollinators.
wasp on yellow flower
  • water striders:
    • Water striders have three pairs of legs, arranged as grabbers, paddlers and brakes.
    • On water, these insects are very fast, reaching speeds of approximately 100 body lengths per second.

WINTER SURVIVAL

Animals’ winter survival techniques include:

arctic fox in snowy backdrop

COLLECTIVE NOUNS

Language is fascinating and can pique our children’s interest, especially when combined with a subject they love: animals. Collective nouns for animals are a great source of humor and creativity and are simply fascinating!

MAMMALS & MARSUPIALS

  • aardvarks: an armory
  • apes: a shrewdness, a troop, a family, a band
  • baboons: a rumpus, a troop, a flange
  • badgers: a cete, a colony
  • bats: a colony, a cauldron, a flock, a camp, a cloud
  • bears: a sloth, a sleuth
  • beavers: a malocclusion, a colony, a family
  • boars: a singular, a sounder, a herd
  • buffalo: an obstinacy, a gang, a herd, a troop
  • camels: a caravan, a flock, a train, a herd
  • cats: a clowder, a destruction, a pounce, a glaring, a cluster, a clutter, a kindle, a litter, a pillow
  • cattle: a mob, a herd, a drove, a team, a yoke
  • cheetas: a coalition
  • coyotes: a wiliness, a pack
  • deer: a herd, a parcel, a bunch, a mob, a rangale
  • dolphins: a pod, a troop
  • dogs: a litter, a pack, a cowardice, a comedy, a cry, a kennel, a mute
  • donkeys: a pace, a herd, a coffle, a drove
  • elephants: a parade, a herd, a memory
  • elk: a gang, a herd
  • ferrets: a business
  • foxes: a skulk, a leash, an earth
  • giraffes: a tower, a totter, a herd, a corps
  • goats: a herd, a trip, a drove, a flock, a tribe
  • gnus: an implausibility, a herd
  • gorillas: a troop, a band, a whoop
  • hedgehogs: an array
  • hippopotami: a bloat, a thunder, a sea, a herd
  • hyenas: a cackle, a clan, a pack
  • jaguars: a prowl, a shadow, a leap, a parade
  • kangaroos: a mob, a troop, a court, a herd
  • lemurs: a conspiracy
  • leopards: a leap, a lepe
  • lions: a streak, a pride, a sawt
  • martens: a richness
  • mice: a mischief
  • moles: a labor
  • monkeys: a machination, troop, a barrel, a carload, a tribe
  • mules: a pack, a span, a barren
  • orangutans: a buffoonery, a family, a troop, a band
  • otters: a romp, a raft
  • oxen: a drove, a team, a yoke
  • pandas: an embarrassment, a sleuth
  • pigs: a drift, a drove, a sounder, a team, a passel, a litter
  • platypuses: an impossibility
  • polar bears: a pack, an aurora, a celebration
  • porcupines: a prickle
  • porpoises: a turmoil, a pod, a school, a herd, a shoal
  • prairie dogs: a coterie, a colony, a town
  • rabbits: a colony, a nest, a warren, a husk, a dawn, a herd, a wrack
  • raccoons: a mask, a gaze, a nursery, a committee, a smack, a brace, a troop
  • rhinoceroses: a crash, a stubbornness, a herd
  • seals: a harem, a herd, a pod, a rookery
  • sloths: a bed
  • skunks: a stench, a surfeit
  • squirrels: a scurry, a dray
  • tigers: an ambush, a streak
  • unicorns: a marvel
  • weasels: a sneak, a gang
  • whales: a pod, a gam, a herd, a school
  • wolves: a pack, a rout, a route
  • wombats: a wisdom
  • zebras: a dazzle, a zeal, a herd, a cohort

BIRDS

  • albatross: a rookery, a flock, a gam
  • buzzards: a wake
  • cardinals: a radiance, a college, a conclave, a deck, a Vatican
  • chickadees: a banditry, a dissimulation
  • chickens: a clutch, a brood, a flock, a peep
  • cormorants: a gulp, a flight, a sunning, a swim
  • crows: a murder, a horde, an unkindness, a conspiracy, a cauldron, a caucus, a congress, a cowardice, a hover, a mob, a muster, a parcel, a storytelling
  • doves: a pitying, a dole, a dule, a flight
  • ducks: a safe, a paddling, a raft, a dopping, a plump, a team, a brace, a flock, a badling
  • eagles: a jubilee, a convocation, an aerie, a congress, a soar, a spread, a tower
  • egrets: a conjugation, an RSVP, a skewer, a wedge
  • falcons: a cast, a bazaar, a cadge
  • finches: a charm, a trembling, a company, a trimming, a glister
  • flamingo: a flamboyance, a stand
  • geese: a gaggle, a skein, a chevron, a wedge, a flock
  • grouse: a pack, a chorus, a drumming, a covey, a grumbling, a leash
  • gulls: a colony, a screech, a squabble, a flotilla, a pack, a scavenging
  • hawks: a cast, a kettle, a boil, a knot, a spiraling, a screw, a stream
  • herons: a siege, a sedge, a battery, a hedge, a pose, a rookery, a scattering
  • hummingbirds: a shimmer, a charm, a bouquet, a hover, a glittering, a tune
  • jays: a scold, a party, a band, a cast
  • kingfishers: a clique, a concentration, a crown, a rattle, a realm
  • larks: an exaltation, an ascension, a chattering, a happiness, a spring
  • loons: an asylum, a water dance, a cry 
  • magpies: a tiding, a charm, a gulp
  • mallards: a sorde, a sute, a brace
  • narwhals: a blessing
  • ostrich: a wobble, a flock, a troop
  • owls: a parliament, a bazaar, a glaring, a sagaciousness, a silence, a stooping, a wisdom, a blizzard, a stable, a jail, a prohibition
  • parrots: a pandemonium, a company, a prattle
  • partridge: a covey, a bevy, a bew, a jugging, a warren
  • peacocks: an ostentation, a muster
  • pelicans: a pod, a squadron
  • penguins: a colony, a waddle, a raft, a rookery, a huddle, a tuxedo
  • pheasants: a nye, a flock, a bouquet, a nest, a nide
  • pigeons: a dropping, a band, a flight, a kit, a loft, a passel, a plague, a school
  • puffins: an improbability, a raft
  • puma: a prowl
  • quail: a covey, a flock, a bevy
  • ravens: an unkindness, a bazaar, a congress, a conspiracy, a constable, a rant, a scatter
  • robins: a worm
  • rooks: a building, a parliament
  • sandpipers: a bind, a contradiction, a fling, a hill, a time-step
  • sparrows: a ubiquity, a crew, a flutter, a host, a quarrel, a tribe
  • starlings: a clutter, a murmuration, a chattering, a cloud, a constellation, a filth, a scourge, a vulgarity
  • storks: a muster
  • swallows: a swoop, a gulp, a flight, a kettle, a flight, a richness
  • swans: a ballet, a bevy, a drift, a herd, a regatta, a whiteness, a wedge
  • swifts: a box, a drift, a swoop, a screaming frenzy
  • thrushes: a mutation
  • toucans: a durante
  • turkeys: a rafter, a gang, a death-row
  • vultures: a wake, a kettle, a committee, a cast, a colony
  • warblers: a bouquet, a fall, a confusion, a wrench 
  • woodpeckers: a gatling, a descent, a descension, a drumming, a fall
  • wrens: a chime, a herd
  • waxwings: an ear-full, a museum

INVERTEBRATES (INSECTS, AMPHIBIANS, ARTHROPODS, GASTROPODS, MOLLUSKS)

  • ants: a colony, an army, a nest, a bike, a swarm
  • bees: a swarm, a cast, a cluster, a colony, a drift, an erst, a grist, a hive, a nest, a rabble, a stand
  • butterflies: a kaleidoscope, a flutter, a flight, a swarm, a rabble
  • caterpillar: an army
  • crabs: a cast, a scuttle
  • crickets: a crackle
  • fireflies: a conflagration
  • flies: a business, a cloud, a swarm
  • grasshoppers: a cloud, a swarm
  • jellyfish: a smack, a bloom, a brood, a fluther, a smuth
  • ladybirds/ladybugs: a loveliness
  • mosquitoes: a scourge, a swarm, a cloud
  • snails: an escargatoire, a walk, a rout
  • spiders: a venom
  • worms: a bunch

REPTILES and AMPHIBIANS

  • alligators: a congregation
  • cobras: a quiver
  • crocodiles: a bask, a congregation, a float
  • frogs: an army
  • lizards: a lounge
  • rattlesnakes: a rhumba
  • toads: a knot, a knab, a nest
  • turtles: a bale
  • vipers: a generation

FISH

  • barracudas: a battery, a school
  • eels: a swarm, a bed
  • fish: a school
  • goldfish: a glint, a troubling
  • salmon: a run
  • sardines: a family
  • sharks: a shiver
  • stingrays: a fever
  • trout: a hover

sources:

For some animal-related wall decor, check out our posters: Collective Nouns of the Wild and Insect Collective Nouns and Animal Alphabet posters!

And to learn more about mammals around the world, don’t miss our Mammal Alphabet Flashcards.

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