How long do birds live for?

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asked Apr 13, 2024 in Birds by vdog55 (3,220 points)
How long do birds live for?

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answered Nov 27, 2024 by Jamie (68,360 points)
Birds live for a few years to as long as 20 to 25 years and some birds can live as long as 70 to 80 and even 100 years depending on the bird.

Small birds such as songbirds and garden birds live on average of 2 years to 5 years.

Large birds like Hawks live 8 years to 20 years, eagle birds live 20 to 25 years, and seabirds live from 30 years to 50 years.

Parrot birds can live 70 to 80 years and some parrots have lived over 100 years.

Other birds such as barn swallow birds live 16 years, European goldfinch birds live 27 years and common raven birds live 69 years.

Wild turkeys live around 15 years.

Sandhill cranes and bald eagle birds can live more than 35 years and Atlantic puffins Canada Geese and some large seagulls can live more than 30 years.

Albatrosses, terns and penguins can live 30 to 50 years.

Birds don't fly at night because most birds are diurnal, which means the birds are active during the day and sleep at night.

Birds eyes are not suited well for nighttime and birds also need to sleep and recover from the daytime activities.

Birds don't fall out of trees when they sleep because birds have several adaptations and ways that help the bird stay upright and avoid falling out of trees during sleep.

Common adaptations and ways birds avoid falling out of trees include.

Limited rapid eye movement sleep.

Birds can restrict REM sleep to only part of the birds brain at a time, which helps the bird remain in an upright position.

Birds also have an extra balance sensing organ between their hips which helps the bird stay upright.

And birds also have feet that automatically lock.

Once a bird lands on a branch the muscles in the birds leg automatically tighten, which forces the birds tendons in their feet to contract.

As a result it causes the birds toes to pull inward and creates a tight grip around the branch so the bird doesn't fall.

Some birds do sleep by laying down in their nest and other birds sleep standing, perched, tucked under a wing, floating or even upside down.

Birds can stand on one leg while they sleep, can perch on a branch or windowsill and even tuck their head under a wing while sleeping.

Some birds such as ducks can sleep while they float on water and some birds can sleep upside down.

While birds do sometimes sleep laying down it's not the same way as humans lay down to sleep.

Some birds sleep with their eyes closed and some birds sleep with one of their eyes open.

The bird that can sleep with one eye open are Mallard birds.

Mallard birds are birds that sleep in groups and often sleep with one eye open if they're on the outside of the group.

The open eye of the Mallard bird is directed away from the other birds.

Other birds that can sleep with one eye open are Geese, chickens and Oystercatchers.

Oystercatcher birds have an eye blinking strategy that is called "peeking" which allows the bird to sleep while also periodically opening one of their eyes to monitor their surroundings.

Chickens also often sleep with one eye open.

Oystercatcher birds are a group of waders that form the family Haematopodidae, which have a single genus, Haematopus.

Oystercatcher birds are found on coasts worldwide apart from the polar regions and some tropical regions of Africa and South East Asia.

The oystercatcher bird is a boldly patterned shorebird that has red-yellow eyes and a vivid red-orange bill, American Oystercatchers survive almost exclusively on shellfish—clams, oysters, and other saltwater molluscs.

Because of the oystercatchers specialized diet, oystercatchers live only in a narrow ecological zone of saltmarshes and barrier beaches.

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