Birds all the way down

oh man there's some WACK birds out there not many people know about

Sungrebe: this bird has a pouch for its chicks in its armpits

the Tristan Thrush (same genus as your american robin) is endemic to the islands of Tristan da Cunha and predates on seabirds. they will eat albatross eggs, hunt petrel chicks, and even feed off the blood of penguins

everyone knows the dodo but not many know their cousin the Rodrigues Solitaire. the top left drawing is the only known illustration based off an eyewitness and they had bony clubs on their wings for combat. this was sadly not effective against europeans.

The Magpie Goose is not a true goose, but an early offshoot of the Anseriformes that split off before the K-Pg extinction. they have a duck-like head but their feet are only partially webbed and they graze both on land and in water

Musk Ducks are widespread in southern australia and are named for the musky odor they produce during mating season, the males also grow a large wattle. musk ducks are the only duck known to mimic human speech, there’s a musk duck named ripper that’s been filmed mimicking several times but he’s best known for saying “you bloody fool”

Eurypygiformes is an entire order of birds only represented by two living species on opposite sides of the globe and are two of my favourite birds: the Central American Sunbittern and the Kagu of New Caledonia

Oilbirds are the only flying nocturnal bird that is primarily a frugivore, they’re called oilbirds because of their fatty chicks that used to be rendered for oil and they are one of the few birds to evolve echolocation

one of worst best genre of birds is “flabby neck phallus”, off the top of my head: Marabou Stork

Long-wattled Umbrellabird

Australian Bustard (photos don’t do them justice you need to see them on video)