Mouse Bird: Looks like a mouse, acts like a mouse and makes farmers nervous like a mouse (7 photos)

There are flying rats - pigeons. There are bats - chiropterans. And there are mouse birds - our today's heroes. No, this is not name-calling or a metaphor. Yes, that's their species name. What else would you call a bird that looks like a mouse, behaves like a mouse, and makes farmers nervous like a mouse?





This miracle was registered in feathers in Africa. The bird looks the same as its namesake rodent - nondescript. Monotonous gray-brown color, long tail (twice as long as the carcass), tenacious paws - just like a mouse, only with feathers.



This bird is so mousy that it doesn’t even like to fly. She does this exclusively for short, sprint distances. Instead, the bird moves in short dashes, covering its butt in the bushes. No predator will go after them in the intricacies of the branches: by the time you fish out this little thing, you will scratch your whole face. Actually, birds, mice, and mouse-birds use this.





Thanks to their strong legs, mouse birds can also imitate bats. The birds sleep peacefully, hanging their heads down.

Most of the day is devoted to food. And the mouse bird eats everything and a lot: insects, berries, fruits, unopened buds and young foliage. Whoever came up with the expression “eats like a bird” had no idea that birds are able to eat from a third to a half of their body weight per day.



Being a bird-mouse guy is very convenient: he gave you a bouquet and took you to dinner!

And it would be nice if the mouse birds were terrorizing the African flora and fauna one by one. So, after all, birds are found exclusively in large, friendly groups. So the invasion of mouse birds is one of the many nightmares of local farmers: what they don’t eat, they bite off, leaving horns and legs of the crop.



However, in addition to harm, there is also benefit from them: they are the most accurate weather forecasters. Locals know: if suddenly the feathered brethren threw away their treats and hid somewhere, you should follow their example - soon it will rain. It’s clear that mouse birds help predict weather twists not out of the kindness of their hearts. In the rain, their feathers on their wings get wet, and the birds can freeze to death. Considering the difference in night and day temperatures of 30 degrees, the prospect is real.



Our voracious friends do not appear on the lists of rare or endangered species—the mass entertainers reproduce very actively. Yes, not at the same rate as rodents. It takes 1.5 months to raise 2-4 chicks, not 20 days. But mouse birds live much longer than mammals - up to 10 years.



The babies themselves will be ready to plan a new generation of chicks only a year after hatching. For reference: most mice already die during this time.

What does this story teach us? Everything is possible in this life! Be a bird and behave like a mouse, while eating and not getting fat. The main thing is to be yourself!