As well as being beautiful to look at birds are important pollinators, they are also the largest source of animal protein in the human diet (chicken). The domestic chicken is also the most common (numerous) species of bird on the planet. They can be pests or pets, ruin your car's paintwork or make you smile.

Check out www.snakeavoidance.com.au for upcoming dates and locations.

Don't wait for snake season to come around again, book now or book ahead.

You can also book Animal Ark for a PD day – for teaching the teachers. Attend our Wildlife/Snake Awareness Course to learn about our biting and stinging things.

What are the risks taking children into the bush or even the playground? Informative, practical reassurance and as always very hands on.

Birds are quite literally modern feathered dinosaurs having evolved from an earlier group of now long extinct-feathered dinosaurs. Their closest living relatives are actually the crocodilians.

Worldwide: Around 10,000 living species

Australian species: 828

• Cranberries are named after the Crane.
• Pedigree comes from French - pied de gru 'foot of a crane'
• Smallest: Bee hummingbird 5cm
• Largest: Ostrich 2.75m
• Odd bird facts: Wandering Albatross may not land for 10 years from its first flight until it is ready to breed. Sleeping whilst flying!
• Only bird with no wings: Kiwi
• Poisonous bird: Pitohui of New Guinea has toxins in its skin and feathers
• Bald eagles feathers (like many birds) weigh twice as much as its bones.

Many birds have scaled legs and toes to help to strengthen the feet and protect them from things like snakes that they may stomp on and kill. Some like the Snowy Owl have feathered feet to help keep the bird warm and others fleshy feet to help them cool off. In general birds feet are mostly all tendons and bones with few nerves, blood vessels or muscles.

The technical terms that describe all the typical toe arrangements are (in case you're wondering) Anisodactyl, Zygodactyl, Heterodactyl, Syndactyl and Pamprodactyl.

My favourite beak and probably favourite bird is the Toco Toucan.

Feathers come in many forms but essentially there are two types:

• Vaned feathers: those found on the exterior of the body
• Down feathers: those underneath the vaned feathers.

Here in Australia we are actively discouraged from feeding any native wildlife including birds. I think this is quite odd really - with so much habitat degradation every little you do by offering suitable foods must surely be a positive to wild bird populations.

One easy thing we can all do is simply plant native nectar, seed and nut bearing plants and don't buy a pet cat or if you have one keep it contained.

Plant and they will come!

The chicken egg is the most common egg in the world supplying important protein in the human diet and many a breakfast. Bird eggs are remarkably varied despite being all based on a near spherical carbon calcium construction. Most are white (that's the calcium) but others can be speckled or coloured for camouflage.

A few interesting variations are:

• Guillemot eggs – very conical so they rotate in the wind rather than blow off the cliff edges where the birds nest;
• Duck eggs – oily and waterproof;
• Cassowary eggs – heavily pitted;
• Japanese quail – needs to learn what colour and pattern her eggs are and then go find an area where the ground environment matches her eggs;
• Storm Petrel - eggs are very cold tolerant and may be left unattended for long periods;
• Biggest egg – the extinct elephant Bird or living Ostrich. Ostrich average 15cm.
• Smallest egg – vervain hummingbird of Jamaica. Egg under 1cm.

The Dodo became extinct within decades of the Dutch setting foot on the island in 1598. Pre-human arrival, the Dodo lived care free with no natural predators to speak of. The first ships to discover Mauritius brought with them feral cats and rats, which actively hunted these flightless birds or prey on eggs and fledglings. More sadly they were also very popular dinner meat for the sailors; they were about 1 metre in height and weighed up to 23kg! Being an easy to kill fresh food source on a long voyage, they possibly all vanished in less than 60 years.

A key difference between the Dodo and pigeons today is their skull. The Dodo's upper bill was nearly twice the size of its cranium and was very robust, doubling as a defence weapon. Their nostrils ran the length of their beaks but contained no septum.

The Dodo was not always flightless. The Dodo is thought to have become flightless over time due to the lack of natural predators and competing herbivores on the island of Mauritius – their diet was likely fallen fruit and other vegetation. History has shown that flightless birds are much more likely to suffer from human exploitation and the pests we bring with us. If you cannot fly you are easier to catch and eggs laid on the ground are more vulnerable for pests to get at.

Of the 45 bird species native to Mauritius when the first fleets arrived, only 21 have managed to survive. Let's hope our native Australian birds don't suffer the same fate as the Dodo!

By Keely