Category: Birds
These diminutive doves are native to Australia and also popular as pets the all over the world. They prefer an arid or semi-arid habitat but require access to water. While they are often seen toddling around on the ground, they are also strong flyers. They do well on a pelleted diet, seeds and grit to help digest the seeds.
Asleep at the wheel?
Can you imagine spending nearly all of your life in the air? The common swift doesn’t have to - it just does! From the day this bird learns to fly, it almost never touches the ground voluntarily - it eats, drinks, mates, and may even sleep while flying. While sleep walking can be problematic in humans, many birds have the ability to enter a state called unihemispheric slow-wave sleep, where one half of the brain sleeps as the other remains alert. This method of “sleeping with one eye open,” is a great way to avoid becoming another animal’s meal, and has led to the suspicion that these birds, who almost never willingly land, also sleep while in flight!
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