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An American goldfinch soars through the warm spring air, it’s yellow feathers reflecting the sun. Suddenly the bird opens its mouth and chirps a call that sounds like “po-ta-to-chip.” This flier isn’t looking for a salty snack. It’s using this vocalization to communicate with its flock. The bird flies on, continuing its delicious call.
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Snowy plovers are small shorebirds that dash in and out of waves at the beach. While it looks like they are playing, these chunky little white birds are actually chasing after a meal of small insects and crustaceans. These small birds have rounded heads with steep foreheads and short necks. Their bills are black and they have large eyes. They have short black legs and dark gray to black feet. As plovers mature, their feathers change. Typically, their feathers are snowy white, hence their name, with black, brown, and gray markings on wings and head. They have patches of brown or black on their shoulders. Snowy plovers feast on beetles, flies, marine worms, crabs, clams, sand hoppers, seeds, and aquatic insects. While they search for food plovers will run, stop, look, and then peck and poke at plants and the sand. Plovers will run into swarms of flies with their bills open and snapping, trying to grab a bite. They nest on the sand on sparsely vegetated coastal beaches and lakeshores and also nest near man-made wastewater ponds and reservoirs. They often line their sand nests with seashells. Many sandy beaches are raked to make them attractive to humans and beach grasses are planted to control beach erosion. As a result, plovers‘ breeding numbers have decreased as their beach habitats and breeding areas are used for fun and recreation. Both parents will take care of the large eggs, but females often take over day duty and the males take over at night. Newly hatched snowy plover chicks look like fluffy white cotton balls.
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The blue whale is the largest mammal in the world. A blue whale calf weighs two tons (1,814 kilograms) at birth and gains an extra 200 pounds (91 kilograms) each day of its first year. Blue whales are able to breathe air, but they are very comfortable in the ocean waters where buoyancy helps to support their incredible bulk. These mammals are found in all the world’s oceans and often swim in small groups or alone. These giant creatures feed on tiny shrimplike animals called krill. Only a few thousand blue whales are believed to swim the world’s oceans. They were hunted for many years for their blubber and oil, and they were almost hunted to extinction. They were protected under the 1966 International Whaling Convention and are now considered to be an endangered species.
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The ocelot quietly stalks through the grass in a Mexican forest. It crouches, then—bam!—pounces on an unsuspecting mouse. Dinner is served. The rodent probably never saw this wild cat coming. Its unique spotted coat helps it blend into the forest while it hunts for prey. The ocelot’s camouflage also helps protect it as it sleeps during the day on tree branches or in bushes. Although the cat is twice the size of an average house cat, ocelots are prey for harpy eagles, pumas, jaguars, and anacondas. NIGHT CAT Ocelots are nocturnal, meaning they’re most active at night. They use their sharp vision and hearing to hunt rabbits, rodents, iguanas, fish, frogs, monkeys, and birds. When they’re ready to eat, the wild cats don’t chew their food—instead they use their teeth to tear meat into pieces and then swallow it whole. Like a domestic cat, an ocelot’s raspy tongue can clean a bone of every last tasty morsel. CUTE KITTENS An ocelot family usually includes a mom and one or two young. The kittens are born with their spots but have gray coats and blue eyes that turn golden brown when they’re about three months old. Ocelots live with their mom for about a year and then leave to find their own territory. There’s a whole lot to love about ocelots! Text by Allyson Shaw / NGS Staff
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This 4-inch-long (10-centimeter-long) fish shares an amazing partnership with another sea creature: the anemone (pronounced: uh-NEM-uh-NEE). The partnership benefits both participants, and the close relationship led to the fish being named an anemonefish. Anemones have tentacles that sting, but the clownfish isn’t bothered by them. In fact, it lives among the tentacles. Living among the tentacles of the anemone, the clown anemonefish gains protection from predators—which don’t dare get near the stinging protector. The anemonefish also gets to eat leftovers from the anemone’s meals. The anemone benefits from having the fish around, too. The useful fish nibbles away parasites that bug the anemone. And sometimes the anemonefish brings food into the tentacles which the anemone can also eat. Generally several anemonefish make one host anemone their home.
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A queen stretches out in her spacious home as her subjects scurry around her. The queen’s workers try to make her comfortable and keep her dwelling clean. This “royal” is well cared for, but you couldn’t exactly call her lifestyle luxurious. That’s because she’s a termite! LARGE AND IN CHARGE Over 2,000 species of termites can be found around the world. Termite colonies, which can include thousands of individuals, often live in large dirt mounds. When a female termite hits breeding age, she may emerge from her colony and find a mate. The pair then creates a burrow in the ground and the female (called a queen) begins to produce eggs—a lot of them. In fact this female generates around 30,000 eggs a day! Once her offspring hatch, they become part of her colony. As the female produces more and more eggs, she begins to grow. Over time she can become the length of an adult human’s index finger. That’s a hundred times bigger than any of the termites that surround her. Eventually the queen gets so large that she can barely move. Luckily members of the queen’s community are there to wait on her, um, antenna and foot. TERMITE TOWERS Many of the offspring that hatch from the queen’s eggs become worker termites. They help the queen by keeping her clean, feeding her plant fibers, and looking after newly laid eggs. These insects may also double as construction workers, carrying up soil from underground to create the colony’s mound. Some termite mounds can reach over 17 feet in height. Sounds like the termite queen and her workers really know how to go big! Watch an amazing video about termites. Text by Andrea Silen, NGS Staff
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Reaching up to 13 feet (4 meters) long and weighing as many as 1,300 pounds (600 kilograms), West Indian manatees look more like small cars than people. Despite their large size, manatees are graceful swimmers. Although they usually move along in slow motion, they can also cruise, or swim at a steady pace, at five miles (eight kilometers) an hour. In short bursts they can even top 15 miles (24 kilometers) an hour! While cruising, manatees push themselves forward by moving their strong tails up and down. They steer with the help of their flexible flippers. When in shallow water, manatees use their flippers to walk, slowly placing one in front of the other. Like whales and dolphins, manatees are mammals. Although they live in water, they have to surface frequently to breathe air. While swimming, manatees take in air every three or four minutes. When they are resting, they can stay underwater for up to 15 minutes. Manatees are gentle animals. They rarely fight, and they have no natural enemies. Subsisting on water plants and plants that grow at the water’s edge, a manatee takes in up to 1 pound (0.5 kilogram) of food for every 10 pounds (5 kilograms) it weighs.
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Kangaroos possess powerful hind legs, a long, strong tail, and small front legs. Kangaroos belong to the animal family Macropus, literally „big foot.“ Thanks to their large feet, kangaroos can leap some 30 feet (9 meters) in a single bound, and travel more than 30 miles (48 kilometers) per hour. Kangaroos use their strong tails for balance while jumping. They are the tallest of all marsupials, standing over 6 feet (2 meters) tall. Kangaroos live in Eastern Australia. They live in small groups called troops or herds (“mobs” by Australians), typically made up of 50 or more animals. If threatened, kangaroos pound the ground with their strong feet in warning. Fighting kangaroos kick opponents, and sometimes bite. Female kangaroos sport a pouch on their belly, made by a fold in the skin, to cradle baby kangaroos called joeys. Newborn joeys are just one inch long (2.5 centimeters) at birth, or about the size of a grape. After birth, joeys travel, unassisted, through their mom’s thick fur to the comfort and safety of the pouch. A newborn joey can’t suckle or swallow, so the kangaroo mom uses her muscles to pump milk down its throat. At around 4 months, the joey emerges from the pouch for short trips and to graze on grass and small shrubs. At 10 months, the joey is mature enough to leave the pouch for good. Besides humans and wild dogs called dingoes, kangaroos face few natural predators. Heat, drought, and hunger due to vanishing habitat are the biggest dangers kangaroos face.
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If you were to check in one morning on a group of ring-tailed lemurs, you’d likely see them sitting on the ground, facing the sun with their arms outspread. Ring-tailed lemurs often spend hours soaking up the warmth of the sun. And they do it in a group, since they’re social animals. In a troop, or group, of ring-tailed lemurs, which typically numbers between 15 and 20 individuals, females rule. If a squabble breaks out between a male and a female, the female lemur always wins the argument. Lemur troops establish territories, which they defend against other troops. The male lemurs tend to hang back during battles. Male ring-tailed lemurs come and go from one troop to another, while females stay with the one in which they were born. As the troop moves from feeding site to feeding site, the core group of females settles into the best feeding spot (generally a good tree) and eats first. The males wait for them to finish or feed in a less desired tree nearby. The same goes for often hard-to-find water which collects in tree hollows. Some female lemurs are dominant over the other females and higher-ranking males strut around with their heads and tails held high, while the lower-ranked lemurs keep their tails and heads down.
Legal Terms of Use Privacy Policy Your California Privacy Rights Children’s Online

Legal Terms of Use Privacy Policy Your California Privacy Rights Children’s Online