1. Cuba is called The Sugar Bowl of the World.
2. No 13 is considered to be a lucky number in Italy.
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1- The first nobel prize was awarded in 1901 to Sully Prudhomme
2- France has the highest number of Nobel laureats with 15 awards
3- The 1921 French nobel laureat (poet and novelist)Anatole France has the same name as his country
4- The oldest woman to win nobel prize of literature is Dorris Lessing
Dorris Lessing was born in iran,moved to zimbabwe with her parents and then in 1949 came to london
5- Boris Pasternak was awarded with literature nobel prize in 1958 but he refused to accept it for he feared that he would annoy the soveit junta but in 1989 his son yevgeny received that award in place of his father
6- V S Naipaul is the writer from Trinidad of indian origin ,married to a pakistani won the booker prize in 1971 and nobel prize in literature 30 years later
7- The Man Booker prize is given to a writer from netherlands and british common wealth countries and not from any other country

8- no one writers of the children s books have won the nobel prize in literature so for

The spring water from a mountain near Russia turns icy cold in summers and boiling hot in winters.

• Rasool Buksh of Pakistan aged 84 hasn’t slept for 45 years due to an accident on the sleeping part of his head 45 years ago.

• Java is one of the islands of Indonesia where flying snakes are found.

• The city of New Jersey in America has a museum which has 5,400 types of spoons.

• Winston Wright wrote a 50,000 letter novel in which the letter ‘E’ was not used even once.

• 12 astronauts walked on the moon between 1969 and 1972. Their footsteps are still seen there because there is no wind on the moon.

• More than one million earths can fit inside the sun.

• Bicycle is the main method of commuting in China. Every year 17 million bicycles are produced in China.

• There are more than 7,500 types of grass.

• Ants and bees recognise members of their own colony by smell.

• The Niagara Falls froze solid as it was extremely cold in the winter of 1932.

• An average American spends six months of his whole life at red traffic lights.

• A snail can sleep for three years without eating.

• Memory span of a goldfish is for three seconds.

• The brain of the ostrich is smaller than its eyes.

• Dolphins don't automatically breathe; they have to tell themselves to do it.

• A lion's roar can be heard from five miles away.

• One in every three people in the country of Israel uses a cell phone.

• 27 per cent of Americans believe we never landed on the moon.

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My will shall shape the future.
whether I fail or succeed shall be no man's doing, but my own.
I am the force; I can clear any obstacle before me or I can be lost in the maze.
My choice; my responsibility; winning or losing, only I hold the key to my destiny.
Z.A Sangi

The world's tallest animal is a giraffe and the world's known tallest man is Robert Pershing Wadlow. The giraffe is 5.49m (18 ft.), the man is 2.55m (8ft. 11.1 in.).

The world's tallest woman is Sandy Allen. She is 2.35m (7 ft. 7 in.).

The giant who fought David in the Bible was 2.97m (9ft. 9in.) tall.

The oldest man to reach the Everest (8848 m), the world's highest peak is a venezuelan. He is Ramón Blanco and he did it in september 1993, he was 60 years old.

Kuala Lumpur's Petronas Towers hold the title of the tallest buildings in the world. Both the towers reach a total height of 1,483 feet (452 meters) measured from the ground to the tip of the masts. Is has 29 double-deck passenger elevators in each tower and a total of 76 lifts serve the towers. Each tower has 2 million square feet of office area equal to 48 football fields.

The height of The Empire State Building in New York : 1,250 feet (381 m)
Eiffel Tower, Paris : 984 feet (300 m)
Statue of Liberty, New York : 310 feet (92 m)

Mountain heights...

Mount Everest : 29,028 feet (8,853 m)
Aconcagua (South America) : 22,834 feet (6,960 m)
McKinley / Denali (North America) : 20,320 feet ( m)
Kilimanjaro, Africa : 19,340 feet (5,894m)
Elbrus, Southern Europe : 18,510 feet (5,642 m)




Allah Nagheban,

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ஜ иστнιπg ιš ιмթΘรรιвlε тσ α ωιℓℓιиg нєαят ஜ

Taipei tower takes height record


• Taipei 101




TAIPEI, Taiwan -- An office tower in Taipei, Taiwan, has overtaken Malaysia's Petronas Towers as the world's tallest building.
The Taipei 101 tower achieved its full 508-meter (1,674 feet) height Friday, with the addition of a huge metal spike capping the 101-floor structure.

Although the building remains under construction and will not officially open until late 2004, the 60-meter spire pushed the tower's height well above the 452-meter high twin towers in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.

Taipei's Mayor Ma Ying-jeou says he hopes the new structure will become his city's trademark icon.

"I have no doubt that it can bring Taipei to the world and bring the world to Taipei," Ma said at the tower's topping-out ceremony Friday.

The designers of the Taipei 101 tower say it has been built to withstand typhoons and earthquakes, both of which have struck the Taiwan capital in recent years.

Taiwan, which straddles an active fault line of the western Pacific regularly experiences earthquakes.

High ambitions
In September 1999 a powerful quake of magnitude hit the capital, killing more than 2,400 people and destroying or damaging over 50,000 buildings.

The architects behind the new Taipei 101 tower say it will easily ride out a quake of similar strength, or an even more powerful one.


Malaysia's Petronas Towers: The world's tallest -- until Friday.
The completion of the tower's full height comes as many people around the world continue to question the need for soaring skyscrapers in the wake of the September 11 attacks on New York's World Trade Center (WTC).

Indeed, one future contender to unseat the Taipei 101 from its position as the world's tallest building is the proposed Freedom Tower, designed to replace the WTC.

Although that has yet to get the go-ahead, many New Yorkers say they do not want the tower to be built in their city fearing it will prove a target for future attacks.

Meanwhile Shanghai is continuing work on what may take over from the Taipei 101 as the world's tallest building -- the Shanghai World Financial Center, due for completion around 2008.

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●๋• ●๋• τнαπκz FΘг Reading my profile ●๋• ●๋•

copying ........................................... my dear, its 44th day of 2009

Shanghai World Financial Center has already been completed and opened for public on 30th Aug 2008

__________________
Hai ghanimat kay israr-e-hasti sai hum
Bay khabr aaie hain, bay khabr jaien gain
Q A

"I am." is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.

A rhinoceros horn is made of compacted hair.

The shortest war in history was between Zanzibar and England in
1896. Zanzibar surrendered after 38 minutes.

A polar bear's skin is black. Its fur is not white, but actually clear.

Donald Duck comics were banned in Finland because he doesn't wear pants.

More people are killed by donkeys annually than are killed in plane crashes.

Shakespeare invented the word "assassination" and "bump."

If you keep a Goldfish in the dark room, it will eventually turn white.

Women blink nearly twice as much as men.

The name of all the continents end with the same letter that they start with.

The word "lethologica" describes the state of not being able to remember the word you want.

TYPEWRITER, is the longest word that can be made using the letters on only one row of the keyboard.

If the population of China walked past you in single file, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction

The word racecar and kayak are the same whether they are read left to right or right to left.

A snail can sleep for 3 years.

China has more English speakers than the United States.

The electric chair was invented by a dentist.

Did you know you share your birthday with at least 9 other million people in the world.

The longest word in the English language is 1909 letters long and it refers to a distinct part of DNA.

Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds, dogs only have about ten.

Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.

feb 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.

Cat's urine glows under a black light.

Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors.

Babies are born without knee caps. They don't appear until the
child reaches 2-6 years of age.

Nutmeg is extremely poisonous if injected intravenously.

Only one person in two billion will live to be 116 or older.

if you yelled for 8 years, 7 months and 6 days, you would have produced enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee.

The human heart creates enough pressure when it pumps out to the body to squirt blood 30 feet.

On average, people fear spiders more than they do death.

The strongest muscle in the body is the TONGUE.

it's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.

A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.

The ant always falls over on its right side when intoxicated.

Polar bears are left-handed.

The catfish has over 27,000 taste buds, that makes the catfish rank
#1 for animal having the most taste buds.

A cockroach will live nine days without its head, before it starves
to death.

Butterflies taste with their feet. Elephants are the only animals
that can't jump.

An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.

Starfish haven't got brains.

Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.

Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite.

The average secretary's left hand does 56% of the typing.

A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.

There are more chickens than people in the world.

Two-thirds of the world's eggplant is grown in New Jersey.

The longest one-syllable word in the English language is "screeched."

No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver or purple.

"Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt".

Almonds are members of the peach family.

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When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk. ~ The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

1. It takes about 20 seconds for a red blood cell to circle the whole body.
2. It's been proven that people can lessen reactions to allergies by laughing.
3. Laughing lowers levels of stress hormones and strengthens the immune system.
4. Six-year-olds laugh an average of 300 times a day. Adults only laugh 15 to 100 times a day.
5. The human heart creates enough pressure while pumping to squirt blood 30 feet!
6. February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.
7. Tomato Ketchup was once used as medicine in the United States. It was sold as "Dr. Miles Compound Extract of Tomato"
8. When you blush, the lining of your stomach also turns red.


[*]About 10% of the world's population is left-handed [*]If you are right handed, you will tend to chew your food on your right side. If you are left handed, you will tend to chew your food on your left side.[*]The smallest bird in the world is the Hummingbird. It weighs 1oz [*]An elephant can smell water three miles away [*]Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair. [*]Kite flying is a professional sport in Thailand. [*]A BUTTERFLY has 12,000 eyes. [*]CASSOWARY is one of the dangerous BIRDS that can kill a man or animal by tearing off with its dagger like claw. [*]People with blue eyes see better in dark.[*]The only 2 animals that can see behind themselves without turning its head are the rabbit and the parrot.

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Main ne Allah ko apne iradon ke tootne se pehchana ... !!

Smallest Bird, Largest Bird, Fastest Bird, Slowest Bird
Smallest Bird

Male bee hummingbirds (mellisuga helenae), which live in Cuba, weigh 0.056 ounces and are 2.75 inches in length. The bill and tail account for half of this length.


Smallest Bird of Prey

The black-legged falconet ( Micrphierax fringlius ) of southeast Asia and the white-fronted or Bornean falconet ( M. latifrons ) of northwestern Borneo both have an average length of 5.5-6 inches, including a 2 inch tail, and weigh approximately 1.25 ounces.

Smallest Parrot
The Pygmy parrots of Papua and nearby islands. Genus Micropsitta. There’s six different sorts - Yellow-capped, Buff-faced, Finsch’s, Geelvink, Meek’s, Red-breasted - all around 3" long (8cm). Thought to eat lichens and mosses but not much is known about their lifestyles.

Fastest Swimming Bird
Gentoo Penguin found on the Antarctic Islands can swim 40 km per hour. Large populations are found at South Georgia, Falkland Islands, and Iles Kerguelen although their breeding distribution is circumpolar. An orange bill and a white stroke behind its eye distinguish the black and white gentoos from the smaller adelie and chinstrap species. Long stiff tail feathers stick out behind as they walk, often cocked up in the water, no other penguin has such a prominent tail. They breed in winter at the more northerly sub-Antarctic islands, laying two eggs as early as July. Can dive over 300’ though most prey dives are shallower. Most dives last only half a minute.

Largest Carnivorous Bird
Titanis Walleri. This bird is known from the early Pleistocene (Ice Age) of Florida. It is the last known member of the family Phorusrhacidae, a group of large, flightless birds which evolved in South America. This creature had an estimated body height of 3 meters (if it stood fully erect, and 2.5 meters in more normal situations). Titanis really had arms instead of wings.

Tallest Flying Birdscrane
The largest cranes (family Gruidae) can be almost 6 ft. 6 in. tall.

Heaviest Flying Birds
The Kori Bustard or paauw (Ardeotis Kori) of northeast and southern Africa and the great bustard (Otis tarda) of Europe and Asia weigh about 40-42 pounds. There is a report of a 46 lb. 4 oz. male great bustard shot in northeastern China. It was too heavy to fly.

Heaviest Birds of Prey
Andean condors (Vultur gryphus) are the heaviest species of bird of prey. Males weigh 20-27 pounds and have a wingspan of at least 10 feet. A male California condor (Gymnogyps californianus) preserved in the California Academy of Sciences is reported to weigh 31 pounds. It is rare for the species to exceed 23 pounds in weight.

Heaviest Parrot
Flightless Kakapo around 7lbs in weight; New Zealand [contributed by Harold Armitage, Wild Macaws Wild Macaws]

SinbadA flightless nocturnal bird, which was described by early European settlers as " the most wonderful bird on Earth, " the Kakapo parrot was once endemic throughout New Zealand. Today only 50 birds remain, some of which live on Little Barrier Island (Hauturu) as part of a Department of Conservation endangered species recovery programme.

The name "Kakapo" is Polynesian (Maori) for "parrot of the night." Moss green, like Kakapo "Suzanne’s" foster brood, Codfish Island, 2002. Photo by Don Merton/DOC.the foliage of the native trees and grasses in which it evolved, funny and cuddly, with a wonderful spicy fragrance, this unique bird has small wings, useless for flight but handy to steer with when you’re jumping down a bank, and a rudimentary keel in its sternum. It browses forest trees, ferns, herbs, moss and lichen and grinds its food between a powerful lower mandible and a grooved pad in the upper mandible, a method of mastication which is thought to be unique.

Longest Feathers
The phoenix fowl or Yokohama chicken (a strain of the red junglefowl Gallus is bred in Japan for ornamental purposes. A rooster with a 34 ft. 9.5 in. Tail covert was reported in 1972.

Longest Bills
The bill of the Australian pelican (Pelicanus conspicillatus) is 13-18.5 inches long.
The longest beak in relation to body length is that of the sword- billed hummingbird ( Ensifera ) of the Andes. At 4 inches, the beak is longer than the bird’s body (excluding the tail).

Only Nostrils on tip of Beak
The Kiwi is the only bird with nostrils at the tip of its beak. Whereas other birds hunt by sight or by hearing, the national bird of New Zealand uses its beaky nostrils to sniff out food at night. Although the Kiwi is roughly the same size as a chicken, it lays an egg which is 10 times larger than a hen’s. It also has wings but cannot fly.

Biggest Eyes
The ostrich has the largest eyes of any land animal. Each eye can be up to 2 inches in diameter.

Largest Field of Vision
The eyes of the woodcock are set so far back in its head that it has a 360 degree field of vision, enabling it see all round and even over the top of its head

Best Talker
The African Grey Parrot has been called "the perfect mix of brains and beauty" (Bird Talk, Aug. 92) and the "cadillac of parrots" (Bird Talk Sept. 93). Much of the notoriety of this species stems from the phenomenal gift of speech members exhibit. While many parrots learn some words or phrases, many cases have been documented of African Greys learning multiple lines of songs, prayers, or plays. The Guinness Book of World Records lists the best talking parrot or parrot like bird as a African Grey named Prudle. Prudle was captured near Jinja, Uganda in 1958 and when "he" retired from public life in 1977 had a vocabulary of nearly 1000 words. Many owners have been surprised (and sometimes shocked) when their Grey learned a new word or phrase after hearing it only a few times. One of our favorite stories in this respect was one related by a priest that had a pet Grey. While hanging some pictures in his office, the priest hit his hand with a hammer. He let out a stream of obscenities that his Grey learned (from this one occurrence according to the priest). The priest’s embarrassment was compounded by the other aspect of greys gift for mimicking, that is they often sound exactly like the person that spoke the words or phrase. [contributed by Harold Armitage, Wild Macaws Wild Macaws]

Most Airborne Bird
The sooty tern (Sterna fuscata) leaves its nesting grounds as a youngster and remains aloft for 3-10 years, settling on water from time to time. It returns to land to breed as an adult.

Longest Flight
A common tern (Sterna hirundo) that was banded in June 1996 in Finland was recaptured alive 16,250 miles away at Rotamah Island, Victoria, Australia in January 1997. It had traveled at a rate of 125 miles a day.

Slowest-Flying Birds
The American woodcock (Scolopax minor) and the Eurasian woodcock (S. Rusticola) have both been timed lying at 5 mph with out stalling during courtship displays.

Slowest Wing beat
The slowest wing beats recorded during true level flight averaged one per second. They were by several species of the New World vulture ( family Cathartidea)

Largest Wingspan
The wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) has the largest wingspan of any living bird. As a result, it is an expert glider and it is capable of remaining in the air without beating its wings for several hours at a time. The largest known specimen was an extremely old male with and 11 ft. 11 in. wingspan. It was caught in the Tasman Sea in September 1965. It has also been known to sleep while it flies!

Largest Ever Wingspan
The South American teratoron ( Argentavis magnificens), which existed 6-8 million years ago, had an estimated wingspan of 25 feet.

Parrot with largest Wingspan
Hyacinth Macaw, around 1100 mm - Brazil [contributed by Harold Armitage, Wild Macaws Wild Macaws] The Hyacinth macaw is the most majestic of all parrots. Although the Hyacinth Macaw and Green Wing Macaw are both commonly referred to as the "gentle giant" of the macaw species. The Hyacinths are truly the "dream bird" of all bird lovers. The Hyacinth macaw can attain the total length of up to 42 inches and have a beak pressure that can easily disassemble a welded wrought iron cage bar by bar in a very short time. In spite of their tremendous strength, this is one of the most laid back and easy-going of all of the macaws.

Fastest Flying Bird
The peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) is the fastest living creature, reaching speeds of at least 124 mph and possibly as much as 168 mph when swooping from great heights during territorial displays or while catching pry birds in midair.

Fastest Wing beat
The horned sungem (Heliactin cornuta), a hummingbird from South America, beats its wings up and down 90 times a second.

Flying Backwards
While hummingbirds are probably the champions of backwards flight they are by no means the only birds that can fly in this way. When two herons or egrets fight, periodically one of them caught at a disadvantage in the dispute will flutter backward. Occasionally warblers fluttering at the tip of a branch as they pick off insects will flutter backward when they overshoot some flying insect. It is probable that any bird which uses fluttering flight can move backward when pressed to do so.

Fastest Land Bird
Despite its bulk, the ostrich can run at speeds of up to 45 mph if necessary.

Highest-Flying Birds
A Ruppell’s vulture (gyps rueppellii) collided with a commercial aircraft over Abidjan, Ivory Coast, at an altitude of 37,000 feet in November 1973. The impact damaged one of the aircraft’s engines, but the plane landed safely. The species is rarely seen above 20,000 feet.

In 1967, about 30 whooper swans (Cygnus were spotted at an altitude of just over 27,000 feet by an airline pilot over the Western Isles, UK. They were flying from Iceland to Loch Foyle on the Northern Ireland/republic Ireland border. Their altitude was confirmed by air traffic control.

Longest Stride
The stride of an ostrich may exceed 23 feet in length when the bird is sprinting.

Highest G-Force Borne
The beak of the red-headed woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) hits the bark of a tree with an impact of velocity of 13 mph, subjection the bird’s brain to a deceleration of approximately 10 g when its head snaps back. Other woodpeckers may experience and even higher g-force.

Most Food Consumed
Hummingbirds (family Trochilidon) requires at least half their own body weight in food (mainly nectar and tiny insects) every single day. With the possible exception of shrews, they have the highest metabolic rate of any known animal.

Strangest Diet
An ostrich living at the London Zoo, England was found to have swallowed an alarm clock, a roll of film, a handkerchief, a 3-foot long piece of rope, a cycle valve , a pencil, three gloves, a collar stud, a Belgian franc, four halfpennies and two farthings.

Longest Fast
The male emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) spends several months without feeding on the frozen wastes of the Antarctic sea ice. It travels overland from the sea to the breeding colony, courts the female, incubates the egg for 62-67 days, waits for the female to return and travels back to the open sea, going without food for up to 134 days.

Largest Prey
The wild animal known to have been killed and carried away by a bird was a 15 pound male red howler monkey killed by a harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja) in Manu National Park, Peru in 1990. The harpy eagle is considered the world’s most powerful bird of prey, although it weighs only 20 pounds.
An incredible video of a Golden Eagle taking a small Mountain sheep or goat and carrying it off to it’s nest.

The largest documented prey taken by a Philippine eagle is a 14 kg (30.8 lbs) Philippine deer Cervus at a nest studied by Kennedy in 1985. also on records; a mature female monkey taken and carrying it in one foot in Cagayan; and a large python.
The African crowned eagle is Africa’s most powerful and ferocious eagle in terms of the weight and nature of prey taken. Mammalian prey, especially duikers, may weigh up to 34 kg (75 lbs) and still be preyed on by these eagles.

Sharpest Vision
The peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) is believed to be able to spot a pigeon from a distance of more than 5 miles under ideal conditions.

__________________
I don't give anyone a reason to HATE ME. They create their own drama out of PURE JEALOUSY...!!!

Biggest Nest
The incubation mounds built by the mallee fowl (Leipoa ocellata) of Australia are up to 15 feet tall and 35 feet wide. A nest site is estimated to weigh 330 tons.

A 9 ft. 6 in. Wide 20 foot deep nest was built by a pair of bald eagles ( Haliaeetus leucocephalus), and possibly by their successors, close to St Petersburg, Florida. When examined in 1963, the nest was estimated to weigh in excess of 2.2 tons.

Smallest Nests
The vervian hummingbird ( Mellisuga minima) builds a nest about half the size of a walnut shell. The deeper but narrower nest of the bee hummingbird (M. Helenae) is thimble sized.

Smallest Egg
The smallest known bird’s egg were tow vervain hummingbird (Mellisuga minima) eggs less than 39/100 inch long. They weighed 0.365 g. (0.0128 oz.) And 0.375 g (0.0132 oz.)

Biggest Eggs
The extinct giant elephant bird (Aephornis maximus) - picture below under heaviest birds - laid 1 foot long eggs with a lElephant Bird egg compared to chicken eggliquid capacity of 2.25 gallons- the equivalent of seven ostrich eggs and more than 12,000 humming bird eggs. When early Arabian and Indian explorers started returning from their journeys along the coast of Africa with stories of gigantic birds many times the size of a man, they brought evidence…huge eggs, up to three feet in circumference. They were the eggs of a bird that would later come to be known as the Elephant Bird, or Vouron Patra (Aepyornis maximus). The eggs that the Elephant Bird laid were larger than the largest dinosaur eggs, and, in fact, they were as large as a structurally functional egg could possibly be…the largest single cells to have ever existed on Earth.

The ostrich egg is 6-8 inches long. 4-6 inches in diameter and weighs 2 lb. 3 oz. - 3 lb.14 oz.. It is equal in volume to 24 chicken eggs. The shell is 3/50 inch thick but can support eh weight of an adult human. The largest on record was laid in 1988 by a two year old northern/southern hybrid (Struthio c. camelus x s. c. australis) at the Kibbutz Ha’on collective farm, Israel. Ti weighted 5 lb. 2 oz.

Heaviest Bird Ever Alive - 2 candidates
Elephant BirdThe Elephant Bird (shown above under biggest eggs) is thought to have been the inspiration for the Roc (or Ruhk) made famous in the stories of Sinbad and the accounts of Marco Polo. While Aepyornis was by no means as large and terrible as the elephant-eating Roc, it WAS one of the largest birds that ever lived. The flightless bird grew to around ten or eleven feet tall, and is estimated to have weighed up to 1100 pounds. By comparison, a BIG Ostrich will go eight feet and 300 pounds. The home of the Elephant Bird was the island of Madagascar, off the eastern coast of Africa. The island was first populated by African and Indonesian peoples that are thought to have arrived around the time of Christ, about 2000 years ago. They were, in turn, visited by Muslim traders from East Africa and the Comoro Islands in the ninth century. The first Europeans to visit the island were the Portuguese in 1500, but Europeans didn’t really establish a foothold on the island until the French settled there beginning in 1642. The Elephant Bird was probably still around at that time but it had already become very rare. One of the only contemporary European accounts of the bird was written by the first French Governor of Madagascar, Étienne de Flacourt, who wrote, in 1658, "vouropatra - a large bird which haunts the Ampatres and lays eggs like the ostriches; so that the people of these places may not take it, it seeks the most lonely places." The natives’ histories of the Elephant Bird, however, rarely describe it as an aggressive bird, and more often portray it as a shy, peaceful giant. Most likely the Vouron Patra was driven to extinction by people raiding their nests. The eggs and egg shells were both very important items to the tribal Malagasy, who used them for food and all kinds of stuff. The fossil record shows that maximus was not the only species of Aepyornis that ever lived. It is thought that between three and seven different types of Elephant Bird have lived since the Pleistocene although only one, the smaller Aepyornis mullerornis is thought to have survived into historic times along with the Elephant Bird. Only the giant is known to have co-existed with humans, and by 1700, it too was gone.

Only the largest of the New Zealand Moas were taller, some reaching thirteen feet, but they weren’t as massively built. Moa were large flightless birds that went extinct in the late 1700’s or early 1800’s. These huge, bulky birds lived in lowland forests on the islands of New Zealand. The word moa comes from the Maori language, in which the plural of moa is moa (we are using that convention). The oldest-known moa fossils date from 2.4 million years ago. The last of the moa (the smaller species) lived on the South Island of New Zealand until the 1700’s. On its native New Zealand, there were no large mammals to prey on the moa or its eggs; its only predators large birds, like the Haast eagle (which is now extinct). When the Maori people moved to New Zealand over 1,000 years ago, they destroyed much of the moa’s lowland forest habitat and introduced mammals, including dogs and rats. These mammals ate the moa’s eggs. The Maori people also hunted and ate the moa. These forces probably contributed to the extinction of the moa. The moa had a large body, a small head, a long neck, short, thick legs, and a large beak. There were 11 species of moa. The largest was almost 11.5 feet (3.5 m) tall and weighed perhaps 700 pounds (320 kg); the smallest of the moa were turkey-sized. The moa’s nest was located on the ground (leaving the eggs vulnerable to predators). The moa was an herbivore (plant-eater); it ate fruit and some plant material (like leaves). These birds swallowed stones (which went into gizzard) that helped digest the food. Classification: Kingdom Animalia (animals), phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata (vertebrates), class Aves (birds), order Dinornithiformes, family Anomalopterygidae (the lesser moa) and family Dinornithidae (the greater moa). There were 11 (or possibly 13) different species of moa, including Dinornis, the biggest moa and the biggest bird that ever lived.

In ancient Australia, until 50,000 years ago, there was a group of birds called the Dromornithids. By far the largest of them was "Dromornis stirtoni", a massive creature that stood 3 meters tall and must have weighed more than half a ton. They disappeared rather abruptly, and there is still much debate about the reasons. But the Australians seem to have kept a memory of these giant birds. In some legends, there is a creature called "mihirung", and most likely this means a dromornithid bird.

Smelliest Bird
The south American hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin) has an odor similar to cow manure. Colombians call it pava hedionda ("stinking pheasant"). The cause of the smell is believed to be a combination of its diet of green leaves and its specialized digestive system, which involves a kind of foregut fermentation.

Large Flocks
Flamingoes, with their long necks and legs, have a height range of 3-5 feet and are the biggest bird to form large flocks. Of the four species, the lesser flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor) of eastern and southern Africa has been seen in flocks of several million birds, particularly in the Great Lakes of eastern Africa.

Biggest Bird
The largest and strongest living bird is the North African ostrich (Struthio camelus . Males can be up to 9 feet tall and weigh 345 pounds, and when fully grown the have one of the most advanced immune systems of any animal. South Africa was the first country to see the commercial potential of ostrich products - the creature are prized not only for their large soft white feathers and their meat but also for their skins, which are made into the strongest commercially available leather in the world. Ostrich farming is believed to have begun in the Karoo and Eastern Cape c. 1863. By 1910 there were more than 20,000 domesticated ostriches in the country, and by 1913 ostrich feathers were the fourth most important south African export product. Demand began to dry up soon afterwards, but there was an ostrich revival in the 1920’s when farmers started to produce biltong ( dry strips of ostrich meat) commercially.

Biggest Seabird
The Northern Royal Albatross (Diomedea epomophora sanfordi) with a wing span 3 metres, flight speed up to 115 km/h. 80% of life spent at sea. White body, black on backs of wings. Feeds on surface shoaling fish and squid. Male and female equal share in rearing chick, raising one chick every two years. Mature at six years, live about 45 years. Mate in October, one egg laid in November, incubation 79 days. Chick guarded for first six weeks, young depart late September.

Biggest Cockatoo
Sub-species Proboscigar Aterimus Goliath. The weight of the female Palm Cockatoo is between 500-950 grams, and the males weigh between 540-1100 grams. Both females and males height range from 49-68 centimeters. The wings are about 35.1 centimeters, the tail about 23.8 centimeters, the bill about 9.1 centimeters, and the tarsus about 3.5 centimeters. These Palm Cockatoos are very large birds. They are the largest of all parrots. The scientific name is derived from both Greek and Latin. Proboscis is Greek for nose, gero is Greek for carry, and atterimus is Latin for black. Most Palm Cockatoos are dark gray and black with a cheek-patch of bare red skin . The cheek skin color may change according to their level of stress, it may change pink or beige if it is stressed, or if it is excited it will turn yellow. Palm Cockatoos have a very strong mandible, which they use for cracking nuts.

Most Abundant Bird
The red- billed quelea (Quelea quelea) of Africa has an estimated adult breeding population of 1.5 billion. The slaughter of at least 200 million of them each year has no impact on this number.

Rarest Bird
With 168 birds on the list of the world’s most critically endangered creatures–and many of them from remote, inhospitable places–researchers cannot say for sure which species is the rarest. But that dubious distinction may belong to the po’ouli (pronounced "poh-oh-U-lee"). This Hawaiian honeycreeper, whose name means "black-faced," survives only in a few hundred acres of nearly impenetrable rain forest on the windward side of Maui’s Haleakala Crater. At last count, the known po’ouli population was six. And with time running out, experts are scrambling to find a way to save the species from extinction.

Rarest Parrot
Spix’s Macaw. Endemic to one small area of northeastern Brazil, in a habitat known as the "caatinga" (an arid region of flat savanna scrubland interspersed with seasonal creeks and gallery forests), the Spix’s Macaw was considered to be extinct in the wild 10 years ago. Despite concerted efforts of the Brazilian government and an international committee whose members include the aviculturists that hold this endangered species, government officials, conservationists and ornithologists the last one died in 2001. The conservation of this species is now dependent on the success of the captive-breeding and field program. The global captive population has grown significantly from a low of 11 known birds to 60 (54 of which are captive-hatched); new holders are participating in the program, the field research program has collected valuable data on the natural history of this species and the ecology of the region, a strong community outreach program is in place, habitat protection and restoration projects are ongoing, and basic research on psittacine reintroduction techniques has been successfully completed. [contributed by Harold Armitage, Wild Macaws Wild Macaws]

Bossiest Bird
The kea ( Nestor notabilis) from New Zealand is the only bird known to have a society in which the higher status individuals force others to work for them.

Most Unusual Birds
The home of the Great Indian Hornbill is a prison. When the female is ready to lay her eggs, she hides in a hole in a tree. The male then seals up the hole, leaving her just a narrow slit through which he passes her food. The female stays in there until the chicks are a few months old, when she breaks out and helps the male with feeding duties.
The Secretary Bird may have long legs but it can’t run. Instead it hops along the African scrublandin search of its staple diet of snakes and lizards. The bird gets its name from the 20 black crest feathers behind its ears which are reminiscent of the old quill pens once favored by secretaries.
The Quetzal from central America has such a long tail (up to 3 feet) that it can’t take off from a branch in the normal way without ripping its tail to shreds. So instead it launches itself backwards into space like a parachutist leaving an aircraft. The Quetzal nests in hollow trees but has to reverse into the hole. Once inside, it curls up its tail over its head and out of the hole.
The Male Bower-Bird from Australia attracts a female by building an elaborate love bower. After building a little hut out of twigs, he decorates it with flowers and colorful objects such as feathers, fruit, shells, and pebbles or sometimes glass and paper if the nest is near civilization. One particular species (the Atlas Bower-Bird) actually paints the walls by dipping bark or leaves into the blue or dark-green saliva he secretes. The entire bower-building procedure can take months and the bird will often change the decorations until he is happy with them. When finally satisfied, he performs a love dance outside the bower, sometimes offering the female a pretty item from his collection.
The Young Hoatzin of the Amazon forests has claws on its wings to help it clamber through the dense undergrowth. The bird is a throwback to the prehistoric archeopteryx, which also had three claws on each wing.
The Little Tailorbird uses its sharp beak to pierce holes along the edges of two leaves. It then constructs a nest by neatly stitching the leaves together with pieces of grass.



What advantage do many birds gain by flying in V-formation?
As a bird flap its wings it disturbs the air and leaves whirling eddies behind. Some gregarious species take advantage of the upward sections of these whirls and each bird in the V-formation stations itself at the correct place so the inner wing obtains support from the wake of the bird immediately ahead. Thus every bird in the flock except the leader saves energy by using the V-formation type of flight.

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I don't give anyone a reason to HATE ME. They create their own drama out of PURE JEALOUSY...!!!

IN 24 HOURS AVERAGE HUMAN:

1) HEART beats 1,03,689 times.

2) LUNGS respire 23,045 times.

3) BLOOD flows 16,80,000 miles.

4) NAILS grow 0.00007 inches

5) HAIR grows 0.01715 inches

6) Take 2.9 pounds WATER (including all liquids)

7) Take of 3.25 pounds FOOD.

8) Breathe 438 cubic feet AIR.

9) Lose 85.60, BODY TEMPERATURE.

10) Produce 1.43 pints SWEAT.

11) Speak 4,800 WORDS.

12) During SLEEP move 25.4 times

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Jo ALLAH karay c .. o sohna karay c
jab bhi kaam aaya mera PARVARIGAAR kaam aaya