No wonder Earth is full of beautiful birds that can leave you stunned. But there are some other birds too that are not appealing or say have a weird or ugly appearance. In today’s article, we are going to talk about weird birds, not only because of their appearance but their traits. Here is the list of the 10 weirdest birds in the world.
Weirdest Birds in the World
1. Helmeted Hornbill
This strange-looking bird is native to the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Thailand, Borneo, and Myanmar. Do you know, what they feed? The strangler figs. Interestingly, they only produce one child in a year. Strange, isn’t it? If you look at this bird carefully, you will feel like it’s a child of a rooster and a toucan. This is because it has the features of both, like a long beak, a massive casque on the top of its head, a throat patch et cetera.
Can you believe that its throat patch is so massive that it contributes to 10% of its total weight? Unfortunately, this bird is near extinction as it is commonly targeted by hunters. Do you know why they are a victim of heavy hunting? Their casques are used to carve ornaments and jewelry pieces.
Image Source: Wikimedia
2. Rufous Potoo
This cute little creature with scary eyes is native to South America. Rufous Potoo is distantly connected to the family of frogmouth and nightjar. They have very wide mouths and that is one of their distinctive features. And there is a possibility that you may find them cartoonish. Interestingly, they don’t lay their eggs in the nests, but rather in the branches, so that the predators can’t see them. They have another excellent quality of getting blended in the dead leaves. That is to say, they are pretty good at camouflaging themselves.
Image Source: Wikimedia
3. Marabou Stork
This bird is so weird that you will take your eyes away. Marabou Stark is a big bird with hollow leg bones and toes. This bird is bald and you know the most weird-looking thing? It’s the big air sacs, that the males have around their necks. These ugly baby animals have red-colored pouches. You’ll be surprised to know that this air sac is used by the Marabou to woo the females. This air sac is connected to their left nostril and it is used by these birds to make loud noises, among other things. They have a wingspan of over 8.5 feet.
Image Source: Wikimedia
4. Magnificent Frigatebird
This bird is quite unique and one of the most popular black birds in Florida. It comes from the family of blackbirds. They have giant beaks and the most weird thing about them is the gigantic gular pouches. These pouches are only found in males. Just like the Marabou, this pouch is used by them to woo their mates. No doubt that these birds are quite appealing but their behaviour is not that great. They are kind of dominating and they push the small birds to regurgitate their food so that they can feed on it.
5. Kakapo
Interestingly, this bird is a flightless bird species and one of the dumbest animals in the world. They are native to New Zealand. But do you know, out of all the parrot species, this one is the most hefty? No wonder, they have really strong senses, however, they are a victim of poor eyesight and live a nocturnal life. They are critically endangered birds as per the IUCN list. There are multiple initiatives taken by the government of the country to save this species, and it has raised the population of this bird from 51 in 1995 to 149 to date.
6. Tufted Puffin
The bird species is native to the cold waters of the North Pacific, this bird is the largest of all the Puffin species. It is a surface diving seabird. The most interesting feature about them is that they have golden plumes that can only be seen during the mating season. Their style of nesting is also quite different, as they make their nests on the edges of the cliffs. They have a scary and strange trait of holding around 20 fish in their mouth at once. Being that, they are often considered a skilled hunter. This is how they bring food for their young chicks; once they mature, they go underwater to feed on fish.
Image Source: Wikimedia
7. Hoatzin
This bird is also known as a skunk bird. Do you know why? Because of its peculiar smell. It has a very different plumage. The weirdest thing about this bird is that it eats like a cow. Yes, you read that right. This bird is a herbivore and feeds on plants and leaves, and it chews the same as a cow chews. Its peculiar smell plays a significant role by pushing away the predators and that includes humans as well.
8. Kagu
This tropical bird is native to New Caledonia. New Caledonia is made from a group of islands in the South Pacific and it is a territory under the French authority. Kagu is a flightless bird and its appearance is somewhat similar to a heron and cockatoo, even though these are not even distantly related. Do you know what is the strange thing about this bird? It’s the wings. Its wings are larger than its actual body. Just because it is a flightless bird, it does not mean that its wings don’t serve any purpose these wings are quite useful. The Parent Kagus flap their wings in front of their predators so that they are distracted and do not attack their newborns.
9. Burrowing Owl
It is very common for owls to live in trees and popular owls in Illinois. But do you know what is so different about the burrowing owls? They don’t live on trees, rather they acquire the ground burrows of small animals like squirrels and occupy that. They are native to America. A strange thing about them is that they hiss like a rattlesnake to protect themselves from predators. Moreover, being omnivores they feed on rodents, insects, and bugs. It is also listed as one of the desert birds in the world.
10. Southern Cassowary
Southern Cassowary is the largest bird in the entire genus of Cassowary. You would never like to see this bird, especially in the wild. It falls under the category of giant birds and is native to Oceania and Australia. This bird is very protective of his territory. If triggered, they can even kill humans with their huge claws. They are well known for their speed as they can cover a distance of 30 miles in an hour. It is one of the weirdest birds in the world considering the looks.
These are the weirdest birds in the world. Kindly share and post your comments.
