Amy Dawson, age 9, of Colorado Springs, Colo., for her question:
DO BIRDS HAVE SHARP SENSES?
Scientists tell us that reptiles were probably the ancestors of birds. Birds have so many of the same characteristics as reptiles that they are sometimes called "feathered reptiles.'' Feathers most likely developed from the scales on reptiles. The history of birds goes back about 140 million years to a crow like creature called the Archaeopteryx macura.
Birds vary a great deal in color, shape and size but all of their bodies are much alike structurally. There is a lot less difference between a hummingbird and an ostrich than there is between two reptiles, such as a snake and a turtle, or between two mammals, such as a dog and a bat.
About 9,000 different species of birds live in all parts of the world. Every one is hatched from an egg, has two legs and a beak and some of their bones are hollow.
Birds have the same senses that humans have. Especially sharp are their senses of hearing and sight.
A bird is quickly aware of the slightest movement in his vicinity. He doesn't have an outer ear, as do men and other mammals, but he has an eardrum, a middle ear and an inner ear. Birds can tell colors apart, but their senses of smell and taste are not well developed.
Many birds fly with great speed, and they can focus their eyes quickly by means of muscles that change the shape of the lenses of their eyes. Most birds have their eyes on the sides of their heads although the owl and a few other birds can look straight ahead as people do.
Some birds need only one hundredth as much light as humans need to see. Some owls, for example, can use a sensitive hearing ability along with sharp eyes to both locate and catch mice in almost total darkness.
Birds aren't as intelligent as some mammals, but they can learn a number of simple tricks and their small brains get them through daily routines without too much trouble. Most intelligent of all birds, many scientists say, is the clever crow. Scarecrows rarely work when the cunning corn stealing crow makes up his mind he wants a meal.
Most birds remain under 3,000 feet while flying. When migrating, birds almost always stay below the clouds. A record for the highest flying birds is the one held by the geese who each year fly over the Himalaya in Asia, climbing up to more than 29,000 feet. South American condors fly high occasionally, with some found at an altitude of 20,000 feet.