Radio Solutions Questions from 4BC

Last week we had some interesting questions about the habits of our animals!

Where do birds sleep at night?

Birds tend to sleep in the same areas they inhabit during the day. They usually find a safe place and if possible they huddle together with other birds. Water birds will often sleep whilst floating on water or standing on one leg on the edge of a pond and other birds will find shelter in trees with thick foliage.

Some birds can even sleep whilst flying ... true! Birds can sleep with one eye open and this is called unihemispheric sleep and it means that half the brain is asleep and the other half is awake. This gives them the ability to watch for enemies and still catch up on sleep – and this is what allows them to fly whilst sleeping.

For those birds who do stop and rest to sleep, they fluff up their feathers to provide insulation and turn their head and rest it on their back. This gives their neck muscles a rest.

Have you ever wondered why birds don’t fall off their perch when sleeping? It is because of a special muscle around their knee joint. When they squat down and slightly bend their leg, this muscle pulls the claw muscles tight and helps them clasp around the perch. A bird cannot move his foot until he has straightened his legs.


Ashley from Belmont State School asked how he could tell whether his baby grey cockatiels are boys or girls?

The sex of normal grey cockatiels can be easily determined once the adult plumage is through at about 6 months. Unfortunately other than having expensive blood/dna tests done by a bird vet it is impossible to tell the sex of a cockatiel before this time.

However, once the adult feathers are through, depending on the colour variety the male usually has a brighter yellow face, whereas the female only has traces of yellow around the beak eyes and forehead. The male's tail feathers will be a solid grey color with no striping, but the female's will remain striped and they will have yellow spots on the underside of their flight feathers. See the picture here thanks to http://www.birdhealth.com.au/


Lilly asked, why do frogs croak more when it is raining?

In most frog species it is only the males who croak and they mostly croak to attract female frogs for mating and to warn other males away from their territory. Many tree frog species let out a “rain call” when rain is coming to advertise the fact they are there ready and waiting and that the weather conditions are perfect for mating – lots of water for egg laying and nice moist conditions outside the pond. Very romantic!