The Budgerigar is a tiny parrot found throughout Australia. It is about 19 cm in length and it weighs about 29 ___. Huge flocks of budgerigars may number in the thousands and darken the sky. An entire flock may rest in a eucalyptus tree, and the combined weight has broken branches!

At 54 cm (under 2 ft) tall 160 cm (over 5 ft) long, the clouded leopard is a little smaller than a grown man. Interestingly, it weighs in at a very light 16 - 25 ___ which is less than you! The clouded leopard lives in forests and eats birds, monkeys, squirrels, pigs, small deer and fish. The clouded leopard is extremely endangered as its habitat in South Eastern Asia and Indonesia is shrinking without control, their beautiful pelts (skins) are highly prized and sold on the black market and captive breeding has been very unsuccessful.

The Bourke's Parrot is one of the small "grass parrot" species and lives off of grass seeds and young shoots. At 19 cm long and 45 g in mass, these small birds are flourishing in southern and central Australia. Since they require as little as 10 ___ of water per day to survive, the Bourke's parrot is well suited to the surrounding areas. Naturalists believe that this bird's habitat (and numbers) will continue to increase.

Brown Bears live in the northern reaches of North America, Europe and Asia. They prefer mountain forest, tundra and coastal habitats. The second largest bear in the world, the brown bear can measure 2 - 3 meters long and range from 100 - 750 kg. Because the giant omnivores require huge territories (several square km each) to find food, they have become an endangered species. The speed of these huge animals is surprising. A brown bear can run at bursts of speed of up to 48 ___ per hour! (that's faster than you!!)

The Colobus Monkey is found in forests, swamps and the moist savanna of Central Africa. With a body length of less than 20 ___ and a tail that is 20 - 40 ___ long, their tails are longer than their bodies! The Colobus Monkey has 2 other bizarre features. The Colobus monkey has a small stub instead of a thumb and a stomach that is like a cow's! The Colobus’ stomach has three or four different regions and is always full of food.

The Vampire Bat is found in Central and South America. This tiny bat is smaller than your hand ( 7 - 9 cm) and weighs as little as 14 - 50 g. The vampire bat feeds on the blood of mammals, and sometimes domesticated birds. They usually bite cattle, horses or pigs but have also been known (very rare) to prey on humans. The vampire bat will take as little as 10 __ of blood for its meal. (your doctor takes more than that from your finger for a blood test!)
Draculin is a drug that we have developed from vampire bat saliva. Draculin is used to prevent strokes and heart attacks.

The African Wild Dog lives in packs (or super packs) of up to 100 members! They are the most successful hunters on the planet, making kills over 90% of the time (lions average about 15%). Wild Dogs use stamina to defeat their prey. The pack will start to chase a herd of gazelles or impalas. They will run just fast enough to keep up with their prey but the chase will never stop. After several ____, the prey gets tired of running and the wild dogs catch them and have their supper!

The yellow anaconda lives many ____ away from us, in swamps and marshes in South America. These snakes average 3 meters in length and will eat everything from fish to small rabbits. At 9.1 meters long, their cousin, the green anaconda may be the largest snake in the world.

With a wingspan of about a meter and a body length between 40 - 60 ___, barred owls are fairly large birds. In the wild, barred owls are on the increase. Barred owls easily nest in "second growth" forests so they have followed the logging industry westward and moved into new areas. Today, you will find barred owls in Washington and Oregon where they were never found before.

The Pygmy Hedgehog lives in Africa. Adults are about the size of your hand, 15 - 20 cm in length and weigh about the same as a large box of breakfast cereal! Which measurement below best describes the weight of an African Pygmy Hedgehog?

The Boa Constrictor (or common boa) is found throughout Central and South America. They often climb into trees to hunt and live. Common boas vary greatly in size and can be from 1 - 4 meters in length. The larger boas can weigh as much as 45 ___. Boas take a variety of prey including lizards, birds, rodents, monkeys and even wild pigs.

The Corn Snake is common in the Southeastern United States. These beautiful (and harmless) snakes are quickly becoming one of the most popular "captive snakes" as they can be bred for amazing colors and patterns. Corn snakes eat rats, mice and other small mammals. They are usually about 3 feet long ( 75 - 100 cm) and weigh around 0.9 ___.

American kestrels are the smallest falcons in North America. Male kestrels can be as small as 8 - 10 inches (20 - 25 ___). The female is a little bigger and can be 23 - 28 ___.

Lions are excellent hunters. Recent research showed that lions successfully caught dinner 1 out of every 6 times they hunted. Being able to run 50 - 60 kph helps, but what is truly amazing about this 500 pound beauty is that it can leap over 12 ___ to catch its prey. If you and 6 of your friends were to lie down in a straight line, a lion could jump over all of you!

Barn owls live all over the world. As their name suggests, they do like to make their homes in barns (as long as there are plenty of rodents around to eat!) Barn owls get to be about 35 cm tall (a little over a foot) and weigh between 550 ___ for males and 670 ___ for females.
Barn owls don't "hoot" like most owls. Instead barn owls often make a drawn-out screech and raspy hiss. They also make chuckling noises, purrs and twittering sounds.

The elephant's trunk is an amazing nose. It is used for everything from smelling to holding water. This amazing proboscis (nose) can weigh an amazing 182 ___ (that's about 400 pounds!)

The Bali mynah is nearly all white; the tips of its wings are highlighted in black with strikingly blue patches of skin that encircle its eyes. This beautiful bird can only be found on the northwestern tip of the Indonesian island of Bali. There are so few of these birds that during the breeding season the all of the Bali mynahs in the world congregate (get together) in a 3 square ___ area known as Bali Barat National Park.

Lions live large social groups called prides. A lion pride frequently has two males and several adult females (sisters). The sisters remain in the pride for life. Female lions are smaller than male lions, but their tales are usually the same length! A lion's tail can be about as long as or a little longer than your leg! One lion's tale was measured to be an incredible 124 ___ long!

The North American Bald Eagle is a fantastic bird with a wing span longer than your dad is tall! The Bald Eagle's nest, or aerie is made of sticks and can be enormous. The birds will use and add to the same nest year after year. These nests can reach 2.7 meters in diameter and can weigh as much as a ton! (900 ___)

The Chinese Goral is a small mountain goat. They are about 2 feet tall (50 - 78 cm) and 3 - 4 feet long (80 - 130 cm). Like their cousins, the North American Mountain Goat, the Chinese Goral lives on rocky slopes of mountains that are between 900 - 2500 ___ high.