10 Soaring Facts about Birds

From an anthrax-eating vulture to a poop-throwing Fieldfare thrush, learn about the crazy, wonderful world of birds with these top 10 colorful bird facts. 1. Vultures have stomach acid so corrosive that they can digest carcesses infected with anthrax. 2. To make them more lightweight, most birds do not have bladders to store urine. 3. The song of a European wren is made of more than 700 different notes a minute and can be heard 1,650 feet (500 m) away. 4. In the continental U.S. alone, cats kill between 1.4 billion and 3.7 billion birds annually. 5. Flamingos pair for a lifetime. Some stay with their mates for 50 years or more. 6. The 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill dumped more than 210 million gallons of oil into the ocean and killed over 800,000 birds. 7. The Sooty Tern spends more time in the air than any other bird. It takes off over the ocean and flies for at least 3 years without settling on water or land.