Why do some birds hop and others walk?
351620
The shape of their feet and the way they feed.  A sea gull will have webbed feet for swimming but are also carrion feeders which mean they have to walk on shore.  A sparrow has clawed feet and must hop from branch to branch.
299853
Because they are fowl
19027
I think the scientific explanation is that this is a behavior trait that is hard-wired into their brains through the wonders of natural selection.  When animals are born (including people), their brains (and actually their entire physical bodies) are pre-programmed to do certain things.  They eat when they're hungry.  They "feel" hunger when they haven't eaten in a while.  They run when they're scared.  They feel scared when they see, smell, hear, or feel certain types of things.  Their hearts beat.  Their eyes blink.  They sleep when they're tired.  Having these characteristics gave them the ability to survive as a species and be around today to be observed by us.  Animals who had hearts that didn't "know" to beat automatically didn't last long.\n\nSo flying south for the winter is an instinct that allowed birds to survive.  The many birds who lacked that instinct had more difficulty surviving.
755713
No, you don't tend to wonder these things when you know why.\n  \nIt's to do with the air currents.  By flying in a V formation the birds behind save up to 30% of energy.  When the leading bird gets tired he drops out and goes to the end of the formation and one of the birds next in sequence takes his place, so they still maintain the V formation.  This process continues until all the birds come to rest.\nIf a bird gets injured and needs to land to earth, two other birds will also break away and stay with the injured bird until he gets well or until he dies, before resuming their flight.
776602
i watched a tv program on this about birds that swarm and its all to do with a few factors ie all the birds are equal distance apart for flying purposes . no bird wants to be on the outside of the swarm or flock due to predator that target such swarms "falcons". so if you can visualise a bird has to have a zone around it to fly and it don't want to be on the edge.when the bird  near it moves to the centre of the swarm to stop being on the edge.the new bird that's exposed whether it be from the side above or below that bird will then move to gain cover in the swarm.hence the shapes you get and the sudden change in direction of the swarm you see in the sky.there is a a computer graphic program that runs this formula but i don't were to tell you to go for this.
699136
Once birds get up in the air, they use two main flying techniques to stay up there.\n\nSoaring: When birds soar, they take advantage air currents to help hold them up. Three kinds of air currents are especially helpful to soaring birds. \n\nThermal air currents develop in places where the air is warmer in one spot than an adjoining area, such as a paved road alongside a snowy field. Even on a very cold day, the sun will heat the pavement at least a few degrees more than the snow. This slightly warmer air is slightly lighter than the colder air, and rises. This rising air current can lift very light objects, like feathers and hollow bones. The birds that most often take advantage of thermals (like the hawks that fly along coastlines) usually have very wide wings and tail. This makes the area of their wings very large compared to their body weight. \nUpdrafts, also called obstruction currents, develop when wind hits an obstruction, like a cliff or a building. The rushing air has to go somewhere, so it goes up, and can carry a bird up with it. Birds who fly on updrafts (like the many hawks that migrate along Hawk Mountain, Pennsylvania) also have very wide wings and tail. \nWind moving toward a bird with spread wings can hold the bird up, thanks to the airfoil shape of the wings. Birds that fly on moving air currents often have long, narrow wings, such as gulls and albatrosses. \n  \n \nFlapping: When birds flap, the stroke of their downbeat moves the wing tips forward and downward. The wingtips make a loop at the bottom of the downstroke, and as the wings move up, the wing tips move upward and backward. In the downstroke, the pressure is higher below the wing than above, causing lift. And as they move forward, the rush of air on their airfoil wings causes more lift. But because flapping birds have smaller wings than soaring birds, they must move forward faster to stay in the air. Most songbirds must fly at least 11 miles per hour to stay up. One scientist calculated that for an ostrich to stay aloft, it would have to take off and maintain a minimum speed of 100 miles per hour. Birds who use their wings to flap more than soar often have smaller wings than soaring birds.
127140
That is a good question. Some birds and some insects use the magnetic field of the earth to give them clues for navigation, along with landmarks, and polarization of light etc. My guess is that at first they might be a little confused, but they use multiple clues, so they would soon adjust and learn the new pattern. \n\nAfter all, it flips fairly often on earth's time scale.  Apparently on average it flips every 300,000 years, and  the last flip was 780,000 years ago, so we are a bit overdue at the moment. Obviously, the birds have survived through lots of flips, and movements of the earth and landmarks etc. So they will probably survive the next flip too, but not necessarily without some confusion.
471754
Scientists don't have all the answers, but current theory says migrating birds have a "map and compass" system. The map gives them location and the compass provides direction. They may use observation and memory, and hard-wired (instinctual) information for the map. There are believed to be 5 basic navigation mechanisms: steering by the sun; steering by stars; biological-magnetic map (for location; is sensitive to magnetic disturbances); magnetic map (for direction); and odor map (for short distances). See the ref. for details.
146851
Some go airborne, some are transported by animals on their fur or in their droppings, some plants tumble away from their roots when the seeds are ready, and some just fall to the ground or into water and float away.
146865
Chickens have Talons to dig or scratch for food, but they don't have the same strong gripping talons that say, a hawk would have... Their talons work like hands to keep their balance..
807683
Depends on the bird. Some settle down for the night alone, or on a nest. I assume you're talking about big flocks of birds like blackbirds and crows. Some of them look for a spot to roost together because of safety in numbers. They may fly all over at dusk to round up everybody and then fly to whereever they decide is a safe spot to spend the night.
677812
I've heard of attacks by mockingbirds and bluejays and have seen both of these birds swoop on other potential predators such as cats. They only do it when they feel their nest (with eggs or nestlings) is threatened. The solution is just to stay away from the nest.
292689
On extremely cold days many birds will roost to conserve heat. If they take to the air they expose their underwings and bodies, and the short insulating feathers under the flight feathers are exposed to the cold air, so they no longer provide adequate insulation.
1081328
why do birds suddenly appear..everytime you are near...\nyou probably have bread or they are after worms\nhope you get good answer\np.s. i wouldnt get too close they aim for your head when they need the toilet!  lol
610952
Birds hear a lot better than we do, and worms moving around in soil make noise that is distinctive. OR, maybe they have Xray vision! :-)
594900
Generally, as with most animals, they can sense weather patterns and climate changes.  When something is out of the everyday pattern, their behavior changes.  As far as hurricanes: you usually see the birds leave waayyy before most of the people do.\n\nSo yeah, they fly away before it even hits land.
150113
Most hummingbird's feet and legs are so small that they cannot walk or even hop; hummingbirds mostly use their legs and feet for perching (but the toes and claws are very long, and are used for perching). Hummingbirds are almost helpless on the ground.