O you shaggy-headed banyan tree standing on the bank of the pond,
have you forgotten the little child,
like the birds that have nested in your branches and left you?

Do you not remember how he sat at the window
and wondered at the tangle of your roots that plunged underground?

The women would come to fill their jars in the pond,
and your huge black shadow would wriggle
on the water like sleep struggling to wake up.

Sunlight danced on the ripple like
restless tiny shuttles weaving golden tapestry.

Two ducks swam by the woody margin above their shadows,
and the child would sit still and think.

He longed to be the wind and blow through your rustling branches,
to be your shadow and legthen with the day on the water,
to be a bird and perch on your topmost twig,
andto float like those ducks among the weeds and shadows.
Note: The poem is from ‘The Crescent Moon’ by Tagore

2. Cheetahs are the fastest land animal and can reach speeds up to 72mph.

3. Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.

4. Lions cannot roar until they reach the age of two.

5. An adult lion’s roar is so loud, it can be heard up to five miles away.

6. A lion feeds once every three to four days.

7. Between 1902 and 1907, the same tiger killed 434 people in India.

8. A white tiger can only be born when both parents carry the gene for white colouring.

9. Some wild tigers can eat up to 40 pounds of meat at a time, and not eat again for several days.

10. The female lion does more than 90% of the hunting while the male simply prefers to rest.

11. A cheetah does not roar like a lion – it purrs like a cat (meow).

12. A cheetah can run 76 kilometers per hour (46 miles per hour) – that’s really fast! The fastest human beings runs only about 30 kilometers per hour (18 miles per hour).

 3. Over 100 million birds die annually by crashing into glass windows in the United States.

4. Kiwis are the only known bird to have nostrils located at the tip of their beak.

5. In the United States birds and planes collided more than 22,000 times between the years of 1990 and 1998.

6. In the Middle Ages, peacocks and swans were sometimes served at Christmas dinners.

7. In order to scare away predators, Giant petrels, a type of seabird, throw up all over the intruder.

8. The Arctic Tern, which is a small bird, can fly a round trip from the Arctic to the Antarctic and back. This can be as long as twenty thousand miles per year. This is the longest migration for a bird.

9. The American Kestrel hawk weighs only four ounces.

10. Storks were a symbol of fertility in Europe and were considered to bring good luck.

11. Some birds have been know to put ants into their feathers because the ants squirt formic acid, which kills parasites.

12. Pigeons can see ultraviolet lights.

13. In 1681, the last dodo bird died.

14. Flamingos are able to fly at a speed of approximately 55 kilometers an hour. In one night they can travel about 600 km.

15. Blue Jays can imitate the calls of hawks.

16. Birds do not sweat, as they do not have sweat glands.

17. A seagull can drink salt water because it has special glands that filter out the salt.

18. A peregrine falcon can reach speeds up to 200 miles per hour.

19. Baby robins eat 14 feet of earthworms every day!

20. The scarlet tanager, a songbird native to Illinois, can eat as many as 2,100 gypsy-moth caterpillars in one hour.

21. The oldest bird on record was Cocky, a cockatoo, who died in the London Zoo at the age of 82.

22. The highest flight by a bird was by a Ruppell’s vulture at 37,000 feet. The bird hit a plane at this height.

23. The fastest bird in the world is the Peregrine Falcon, which can reach speeds in excess of two hundred miles per hour.

24. There are an estimated 2,500 collisions between birds and planes each year in the US.

25. The flying fox of Africa has a wingspan of fifty inches!

26. Birds save energy by flying in a “V” formation.

27. The largest bird egg ever laid was laid millions of years ago by the Madagascar, or the elephant bird.

28. Wild Flamingos are pink because they consume vast quantities of algae and brine shrimp.

29. Whooping cranes are born with blue eyes that change to bright gold by the time they six months old.

30. Blue jays often forget where they hide winter supplies of food.

31. Sometimes birds show anger towards humans by taking out its feelings on other birds nearby, because they are too afraid to attack humans.

31. The Egyptian vulture uses stones to smash ostrich eggs.

32. Vultures can soar for hours without one beat of their wings.

33. The dipper bird builds nests behind waterfalls for protection.

34. When two lovebirds appear to be kissing, they are actually grooming each other with their bills to keep clean and neat.

35. The fastest bird is the peregrine falcon. It can fly at a speed of 168-217 miles per hour.

36. A woodpecker can peck twenty times a second.

37. There are about 100 billion birds in the world, and about 6 billion of them make their homes in the United States.

2. Benjamin Franklin wanted the national bird to be a turkey.

3. A spooked turkey can run at speeds up to 20 miles per hour. They can also burst into flight approaching speeds between 50-55 mph in a matter of seconds. So close, yet so far

4. A wild turkey has excellent vision and hearing. Their field of vision is about 270 degrees. This is the main reason they continue to elude some hunters.

5. Gobbling starts before sunrise and can continue through most of the morning.

6. Turkeys fly to the ground at first light and feed until mid-morning. Feeding resumes in mid-afternoon.

7. Turkeys spend the night in trees. They fly to their roosts around sunset.

8. Minnesota led the United States in turkey production in 2001. Forty-three million turkeys were produced.

9. Turkey eggs hatch in 28 days.

10. The fleshy growth under a turkey’s throat is called a wattle.

11. Turkeys have a long, red, fleshy area called a snood that grows from the forehead over the bill.

12. The caruncle is a red-pink fleshy growth on the head and upper neck of the turkey.

13. Israelis eat the most turkeys…..28 pounds per person.

14. The costume that “Big Bird” wears on Sesame Street is rumored to be made of turkey feathers.

15. Turkey skins are tanned and used to make cowboy boots and belts.
Most turkey feathers are composted.

16. Turkeys have been bred to have white feathers. White feathers have no spots under the skin when plucked.

17. Turkeys will have 3,500 feathers at maturity.

18. For their first meal on the moon, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin ate roast turkey in foil packets.

19. White meat has fewer calories and less fat than dark meat.

20. Turkey is low in fat and high in protein.

21. According to the 2002 census, there were 8,436 turkey farms in the United States.

22. 50 percent of U.S. consumers eat turkey at least once per week.

23. Eating turkey does not cause you to feel sleepy after your Thanksgiving dinner. Carbohydrates in your Thanksgiving dinner are the likely cause of your sleepiness.

24. The five most popular ways to serve leftover turkey is as a sandwich, in stew, chili or soup, casseroles and as a burger.

25. Since 1947, the National Turkey Federation has presented a live turkey and two dressed turkeys to the President. The President does not eat the live turkey. He “pardons” it and allows it to live out its days on a historical farm.

26. June is National Turkey Lover’s Month.

27. Turkey breeding has caused turkey breasts to grow so large that the turkeys fall over.

28. In England, 200 years ago, turkeys were walked to market in herds. They wore booties to protect their feet. Turkeys were also walked to market in the United States.

29. Wild turkeys were almost wiped out in the early 1900’s. Today there are wild turkeys in every state except Alaska.

30. Turkeys have heart attacks. The United States Air Force was doing test runs and breaking the sound barrier. Nearby turkeys dropped dead with heart attacks.

31. Commercially raised turkeys cannot fly.

32. Turkeys are related to pheasants.

33. A domesticated male turkey can reach a weight of 30 pounds within 18 weeks after hatching.

34. 2.74 billion pounds of turkey were processed in the United States in 1994.

35. Turkeys do not see well at night.

36. A large group of turkeys is called a flock.

37. Turkeys can see in color.

38. Turkeys don’t really have ears like ours, but they have very good hearing.

39. The ballroom dance the “turkey trot” was named for the short, jerky steps that turkeys take.

40. A 16 week old turkey is called a fryer. A five to seven month old turkey is called a young roaster and a yearling is a year old. Any turkey 15 months or older is called mature.

41. Illinois produced 2.9 million turkeys in 2003 and ranked 15th in turkey production in the United States.

42. Minnesota, North Carolina, Arkansas, Virginia, Missouri and Virginia are the leading producers of turkey in 2003. These states produced 75% of all the turkeys raised in 2003.

43. Gobbling turkeys can be heard a mile away on a quiet day.
Male turkeys gobble. Hens do not. They make a clicking noise.

44. Nineteen million turkeys are eaten each Easter.

45. Twenty-two million turkeys are eaten each Christmas.

46. Forty-five million turkeys are eaten each Thanksgiving.

47. United States turkey growers raised 270 million turkeys in 2003.

48. It takes 75-80 pounds of feed to raise a 30 pound tom turkey.

49. Turkey eggs are tan with brown specks and are larger than chicken eggs.

50. Most of the turkeys raised for commercial production are White Hollands.

51. Baby turkeys are called poults and are tan and brown.

52. Turkey feathers were used by Native Americans to stabilize arrows.

53. Turkeys lived almost ten million years ago.

54. Turkeys can see movement almost a hundred yards away.

55. Six hundred seventy-five million pounds of turkey are eaten each Thanksgiving in the United States.

56. Turkeys’ heads change colors when they become excited.

57. Tom turkeys have beards. This is black, hairlike feathers on their breast. Hens sometimes have beards, too.

 58. Wild turkeys can fly for short distances up to 55 miles per hour.

59. The turkey was domesticated in Mexico and brought to Europe in the 16th century.

60. The female turkey is called a hen.

61. The male turkey is called a tom.

62. The wild turkey is native to Northern Mexico and the Eastern United States.

63. A 15 pound turkey usually has about 70 percent white meat and 30 percent dark meat.

64. The heaviest turkey ever raised was 86 pounds, about the size of a large dog.

65. In 2003, the average American ate 17.4 pounds of turkey.

66. Turkeys can drown if they look up when it is raining.

67. Turkeys have heart attacks. When the Air Force was conducting test runs and breaking the sound barrier, fields of turkeys would drop dead.

68. The best time to see a turkey is on a warm clear day or in a light rain.

69. The bright skin that hangs from a turkey’s neck is called a “wattle.”

70. Turkeys are able to adapt to a wide variety of habitats. However, most turkeys are found in hardwood forests with grassy areas.

71. Turkeys have a wingspan of approximately 4.5 feet.

72. The turkey was once nominated to be the official bird of the United States.

73. The thing that hangs from the top of the beak of a turkey is called the snood.

74. Wild turkeys spend the night in trees. They especially like oak trees.

75. Wild turkeys can run 20 miles per hour.

2. Parrots have a wide range of articulations. Wild parrots do not imitate. Only pets will mimic people and noises they hear. The African gray parrots are the best mimics.

3. Parrots are hole nesters. They build their nests in holes in trees, termite mounts, rock cavities, or ground tunnels. A few exceptions will build stick nests.

4. More than 90 percent of the parrots imported into the United States are probably wild caught.

5. It is thought that two million parrots alone are legally or illegally traded each year.

 
6. More than 1.8 million parrots legally entered the international trade from 1982-1988 of which 80 percent were imported into the United States.

7.  Recent figures suggest that 40 percent of these species are threatened primarily by habitat destruction, 17 percent primarily by trade, 36 percent by a combination of the two causes and 7 percent by other factors.

8. At least 30 percent of the 140 parrot species found in the Western Hemisphere are now threatened with extinction.

9. An additional 25,000 parrots die of suffocation, starvation, inhumane treatment while being transported to the Texas border.

10.  An estimated 25,000 wild parrots, caught or plucked from their nests in Mexico, are smuggled across the Texas border each year.

11. It is estimated in the year 2000 there were 60 million birds in 6.13 million homes.

12. In 1990 there were 11 million pet birds living in 5.1 million households in the US by 1996 the number of pet birds had grown to 40 million while the number of homes remained fairly consistent at 5.9 million.

13. In the wild, Macaws and Cockatoos can fly 500 miles per day in search of food!  Some parrot vocalizations can be heard for up to 1 mile!

14. Wild parrots live in the forest of tropical zones including South America, Australia, and New Guinea. A few live in Africa and mainland Asia.

15. Larger parrots such as the macaws and cockatoos live more than 75 years. Smaller parrots live 10 to 15 years.

16. Parrots have large heads and short necks.

17. Some American parrots are mostly blue or yellow.

18. Most parrots are predominantly green, especially the ones from South America.

19. Parrots weigh from just a few ounces to 3½ pounds.

20. Parrots range in size from the pygmy of the South Pacific which is only 3½ inches long

to the hyacinth macaw which is about 10 inches long. Much of its length is in its long tail.

21. Parrots are divided into groups such as cockatoos, lories, lovebirds, macaws, and parakeets.

22. Three hundred and twenty-eight different species of parrots live on the Earth.

23. There are 315 species of parrot in the world.

24. Parrots cannot eat chocolate because it is poisonous to their body.

25. Every year, approximately 250,000 parrots are imported to the United States to satisfy a demand for exotic birds as pets.

2. Three years after a person quits smoking, there chance of having a heart attack is the same as someone who has never smoked before.

3. The human heart weighs less than a pound.

4. The human heart can create enough pressure that it could squirt blood at a distance of thirty feet.

5. The first open heart surgery was performed by Dr. Daniel Hall Williams in 1893.

6. Scientists have discovered that the longer the ring finger is in boys the less chance they have of having a heart attack.

7. The right lung of a human is larger than the left one. This is because of the space and placement of the heart.

8. The human heart beat roughly 35 million times a year.

9. Olive oil can help in lowering cholesterol levels and decreasing the risk of heart complications.

10. In a lifetime, the heart pumps about one million barrels of blood.

11. In 1967 the first successful heart transplant was performed in Cape Town, Sout hAfrica.

12. People that suffer from gum disease are twice as likely to have a stroke or heart attack.

13. Most heart attacks occur between the hours of 8 and 9 AM.

14. The human heart beast roughly 35 million times a year.

15. At one time it was thought that the heart controlled a person’s emotions.

16. Every day 2,700 people die of heart disease.

17. During a typical human life span, the human heart will beat approximately 2.5 billion times.

18. In one day your heart beats 100,000 times.

19. For humans the normal pulse is 70 heartbeats per minute.

2. There are approximately 9,000 taste buds on the tongue.

3. Your tongue has 3,000 taste buds.

4. 85% of the population can curl their tongue into a tube.

3. Approximately 25% of all scald burns to children are from hot tap water and is associated with more deaths than with any other liquid.

4. Forty-one percent of women apply body and hand moisturizer at least three times a day.

5. Every hour one billion cells in the body must be replaced.

6. The world record for the number of body piercing on one individual is 702, which is held by Canadian Brent Moffat.

7. The small intestine in the human body is about 2 inches around, and 22 feet long.

8. The human body makes anywhere from 1 to 3 pints of saliva every 24 hours.

9. The human body has approximately 37,000 miles of capillaries.

10. The aorta, which is largest artery located in the body, is about the diameter of a garden hose.

11. The adult human body requires about 88 pounds of oxygen daily.

12. It is very common for babies in New Zealand to sleep on sheepskins. This is to help them gain weight faster, and retain their body heat.

13. An average woman has 17 square feet of skin. When a women is in her ninth month of pregnancy she has 18.5 square feet of skin.

14. The width of your arm span stretched out is the length of your whole body.

15. 41% of women apply body or hand moisturizer a minimum three times a day.

16. A human’s small intestine is 6 meters long.

17. There are as many hairs per square inch on your body as a chimpanzee. You don’t see all

of them because most are too fine and light to be noticed.

18. Every hour one billion cells in the body must be replaced.

19. Dead cells in the body ultimately go to the kidneys for excretion.

20. By walking an extra 20 minutes every day, an average person will burn off seven pounds of body fat in an year.

21. The human body is 75% water.

2. Some people drink the urine of pregnant women to build up their immune system.

3. The first known contraceptive was crocodile dung, used by Egyptians in 2000 B.C.

4. Every day, over 1,300 babies are born prematurely in the USA.

5. During pregnancy, the average woman’s uterus expands up to five hundred times its normal size.

6. Changing a cat’s litter box can be dangerous to pregnant women, as cat feces sometimes carry a parasite that can cause harm to the developing baby.

7. A pregnant woman’s dental health can affect her unborn child.

8. May babies are on average 200 grams heavier than babies born in other months.

9. When a woman is pregnant, her senses are all heightened.

10. Studies show that couples that smoke during the time of conception have a higher chance of having a girl compared to couples that do not smoke.

-more Facts on( 40 Random Facts About Pregnancy)

2. The human brain has about 100,000,000,000 (100 billion) neurons.

3. From all the oxygen that a human breathes, twenty percent goes to the brain.

4. People who ride on roller coasters have a higher chance of having a blood clot in the brain.

5. Once a human reaches the age of 35, he/she will start losing approximately 7,000 brain cells a day. The cells will never be replaced.

6. It is not possible to tickle yourself. The cerebellum, a part of the brain, warns the rest of the brain that you are about to tickle yourself. Since your brain knows this, it ignores the resulting sensation.

7. A woman from Berlin Germany has had 3,110 gallstones taken out of her gall bladder.

8. In America, the most common mental illness is Anxiety Disorders.

9. Your brain is 80% water.

10. Your brain is move active and thinks more at night than during the day.