more useless facts 2

[ashley_morris22]

more useless facts

The only 2 animals that can see behind itself without turning it's head are the rabbit and the parrot.

A zebra is white with black stripes.

A whip makes a cracking sound because its tip moves faster than the speed of sound.

"Almost" is the longest word in the English language with all the letters in alphabetical order.

Snails produce a colorless, sticky discharge that forms a protective carpet under them as they travel along. The discharge is so effective that they can crawl along the edge of a razor without cutting themselves.

The word "listen" contains the same letters as the word "silent".

A hippopotamus can run faster than a man.

The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is uncopyrightable.

Electricity doesn't move through a wire but through a field around the wire.

Hummingbirds are the only animal that can fly backwards.

It is impossible to lick your elbow.

All the planets in the solar system rotate anticlockwise, except Venus. It is the only planet that rotates clockwise.

Names of the three wise monkeys are: Mizaru (See no evil), Mikazaru (Hear no evil), and Mazaru (Speak no evil).

A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.

India never invaded any country in her last 10000 years of history.

Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is the fear of long words.

Phobatrivaphobia is a fear of trivia about phobias.

Sanskrit is the mother of all higher languages. Sanskrit is the most precise and therefore suitable language for the computer software - a report in Forbes magazine.

India invented the Number System. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta.

Chess (Shataranja or AshtaPada) was invented in India.

Twenty-Four-Karat Gold is not pure gold; there is a small amount of copper in it. Absolutely pure gold is so soft that it can be molded with the hands.

 

[ashley_morris22]

The word "queue" is the only word in the English language that is still pronounced the same way when the last four letters are removed.
Beetles taste like apples, wasps like pine nuts, and worms like fried bacon.

Of all the words in the English language, the word 'set' has the most definitions!

What is called a "French kiss" in the English speaking world is known as an "English kiss" in France.

"Almost" is the longest word in the English language with all the letters in alphabetical order.

"Rhythm" is the longest English word without a vowel.

In 1386, a pig in France was executed by public hanging for the murder of a child

A cockroach can live several weeks with its head cut off!

Human thigh bones are stronger than concrete.

You can't kill yourself by holding your breath

There is a city called Rome on every continent.

It's against the law to have a pet dog in Iceland!

Your heart beats over 100,000 times a day!

Horatio Nelson, one of England's most illustrious admirals was throughout his life, never able to find a cure for his sea-sickness.

The skeleton of Jeremy Bentham is present at all important meetings of the University of London

Right handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people

Your ribs move about 5 million times a year, everytime you breathe!

The elephant is the only mammal that can't jump!

One quarter of the bones in your body, are in your feet!

Like fingerprints, everyone's tongue print is different!

The first known transfusion of blood was performed as early as 1667, when Jean-Baptiste, transfused two pints of blood from a sheep to a young man

Fingernails grow nearly 4 times faster than toenails!

Most dust particles in your house are made from dead skin!

The present population of 5 billion plus people of the world is predicted to become 15 billion by 2080.

Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
Adolf Hitler was a vegetarian, and had only ONE testicle.
Honey is the only food that does not spoil. Honey found in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs has been tasted by archaeologists and found edible.

Months that begin on a Sunday will always have a "Friday the 13th."
Coca-Cola would be green if colouring weren’t added to it.

On average a hedgehog's heart beats 300 times a minute.

More people are killed each year from bees than from snakes.

The average lead pencil will draw a line 35 miles long or write approximately 50,000 English words.

More people are allergic to cow's milk than any other food.

Camels have three eyelids to protect themselves from blowing sand.

The placement of a donkey's eyes in its' heads enables it to see all four feet at all times!

The six official languages of the United Nations are: English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish.

Earth is the only planet not named after a god.

It's against the law to burp, or sneeze in a church in Nebraska, USA.

You're born with 300 bones, but by the time you become an adult, you only have 206.

Some worms will eat themselves if they can't find any food!

Dolphins sleep with one eye open!

It is impossible to sneeze with your eyes open

The worlds oldest piece of chewing gum is 9000 years old!

The longest recorded flight of a chicken is 13 seconds

Queen Elizabeth I regarded herself as a paragon of cleanliness. She declared that she bathed once every three months, whether she needed it or not

Slugs have 4 noses.

Owls are the only birds who can see the colour blue.

A man named Charles Osborne had the hiccups for 69 years!

A giraffe can clean its ears with its 21-inch tongue!

The average person laughs 10 times a day!

An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain


---------------------------------------------------
One of these amazing, but useless facts is false. Do you know which one?

 

[ashley_morris22]

Billiards great, Henry Lewis once sank 46 balls in a row.

Golf-great Billy Casper turned golf pro during the Korean War while serving in the Navy. Casper was assigned to operate and build golf driving ranges for the Navy in the San Diego area.

Four men in the history of boxing have been knocked out in the first eleven seconds of the first round.

Mark McGwire's record-setting 70 home runs in the 1998 season traveled a total of 29,598 feet, enough to fly over Mount Everest.

Prior to 1900, prize fights lasted up to 100 rounds.

Not all Golf Balls have 360 dimples. There are some as high as 420. Thereare also all different kinds of dimple patterns.

Golf was banned in England in 1457 because it was considered a distraction from the serious pursuit of archery.

The Iditarod dog sled race - from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska - commemorates an emergency operation in 1925 to get medical supplies to Nome following a diphtheria epidemic.

In July 1934 Babe Ruth paid a fan $20 dollars for the return of the baseball he hit for his 700th career home run.

In 1969 a brief battle broke out between Honduras and El Salvador. Although tensions had been rough between the two countries, the reason for the war was El Salvador's victory over Honduras in the World Cup Soccer playoffs. Gunfire was exchanged for about 30 minutes before reason could prevail.

Horse racing is one of the most dangerous sports. Between 2 and 3 jockeys are killed each year. That's about how many baseball players have died in baseball's entire professional history.

Bulgaria was the only soccer team in the 1994 World Cup in which all 11 players' last names ended with the letters "OV."

Gene Sarazen, a golfer from several generations ago, set the record for the fastest golf drive: 120 mph.

Michael Sangster, who played in the 1960s, had tennis' fastest serve, once clocked at 154 mph.

In 1964 for the 10th time in his major-league baseball career, Mickey Mantle hit home runs from both the left and ride sides of the plate in the same game - setting a new baseball record.

Since 1896, the beginning of the modern Olympics, only Greece and Australia have participated in every Games.

Australian Rules football was originally designed to give cricketers something to play during the off season.

Baseball cards have been around since 1886. Modern cards, with high-resolution color photographs on the front and player statistics on the back, date from 1953. The photos are taken in the spring, with and without team caps, just in case the player is traded to another team.

Because of fears that the Japanese, who had attacked Pearl Harbor less than a month earlier, might attach California, the Rose Bowl game of 1942 between Oregon State and Duke University was moved east to Duke's hometown in Durham, North Carolina. It didn't, however, help the home team. Oregon won, 20-16.

Racehorses have been known to wear out new shoes in one race.

The home team must provide the referee with 36 footballs for each National Football League game.

Olympic Badminton rules say that the birdie has to have exactly fourteen feathers.

Many Japanese golfers carry "hole-in-one" insurance, because it is traditional in Japan to share one's good luck by sending gifts to all your friends when you get an "ace." The price for what the Japanese term an "albatross" can often reach $10,000.

Will Clark, professional baseball player, is a direct descendant of William Clark of Lewis and Clark.

The 1990 New York Yankee pitching staff set an all-time record with the fewest complete games, three.

Rick and Paul Reuschel of the 1975 Chicago Cubs combine to pitch a shutout, the first time brothers do this.

At 101, Larry Lewis ran the 100 yard dash in 17.8 seconds setting a new world record for runners 100 years old or older.

The silhouette on the Major League Baseball logo is Harmon Killebrew.

Superfly Jimmy Snuka was the first E.C.W. World Champ.

Honey is used as a center for golf balls and in antifreeze mixtures

 

[Magpie]

Right handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people

There was a thing in the paper the other day, wish i knew what day so I could look it up, but there is a quite phenomonal number of left hander killed each year using devices made for right handers.

 

[ashley_morris22]

There was a thing in the paper the other day, wish i knew what day so I could look it up, but there is a quite phenomonal number of left hander killed each year using devices made for right handers

thats because there fustuated, didnt you watch the simpsons

 

[ashley_morris22]

now for some laws

Theaters in Glendale, California can show horror films only on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday.

You can't plow a cotton field with an elephant in North Carolina.

In Lehigh, Nebraska it's against the law to sell donut holes.

Under the law of Mississippi, there’s no such thing as a female Peeping Tom.

Anti-modem laws restrict Internet access in the country of Burma. Illegal possession of a modem can lead to a prison term.

Lawn darts are illegal in Canada.

In Idaho a citizen is forbidden by law to give another citizen a box of candy that weighs more than 50 pounds.

Every citizen of Kentucky is required by law to take a bath at least once a year.

It is against the law to whale hunt in Oklahoma. (Think about it...)

A Venetian law decrees that all gondolas must be painted black. The only exceptions are gondolas belonging to high public officials.

In the state of Queensland, Australia, it is still constitutional law that all pubs (hotel/bar) must have a railing outside for patrons to tie up their horse.

According to law, no store is allowed to sell a toothbrush on the Sabbath in Providence, Rhode Island. Yet these same stores are allowed to sell toothpaste and mouthwash on Sundays.

Before the enactment of the 1978 law that made it mandatory for dog owners in New York City to clean up after their pets, approximately 40 million pounds of dog excrement were deposited on the streets every year.

Chewing gum is outlawed in Singapore because it is a means of "tainting an environment free of dirt."

The handkerchief had been used by the Romans, who ordinarily wore two handkerchiefs: one on the left wrist and one tucked in at the waist or around the neck. In the fifteenth century, the handkerchief was for a time allowed only to the nobility; special laws were made to enforce this. The classical heritage was rediscovered during the Renaissance.

For hundreds of years, the Chinese zealously guarded the secret of sericulture; imperial law decreed death by torture to those who disclosed how to make silk.

An old law in Bellingham, Washington, made it illegal for a woman to take more than 3 steps backwards while dancing.

By law, information collected in a U.S. census must remain confidential for 72 years.

Candy made from pieces of barrel cactus was outlawed in the U.S. in 1952 to protect the species.

A slander case in Thailand was once settled by a witness who said nothing at all. According to the memoirs of Justice Gerald Sparrow, a 20th century British barrister who served as a judge in Bangkok, the case involved two rival Chinese merchants. Pu Lin and Swee Ho. Pu Lin had stated sneeringly at a party that Swee Ho's new wife, Li Bua, was merely a decoration to show how rich her husband was. Swee Ho, he said, could no longer "please the ladies." Swee Ho sued for slander, claiming Li Bua was his wife in every sense - and he won his case, along with substantial damages, without a word of evidence being taken. Swee Ho's lawyer simply put the blushing bride in the witness box. She had decorative, gold-painted fingernails, to be sure, but she was also quite obviously pregnant.

In Breton, Alabama, there is a law on the town's books against riding down the street in a motorboat.

Connecticut and Rhode Island never ratified the 18th Amendment: Prohibition.

A few years back, a Chinese soap hit it big with consumers in Asia. It was claimed in ads that users would lose weight with Seaweed Defat Scented Soap simply by washing with it. The soap was sold in violation to the Japanese Pharmaceutical Affairs Law and was banned. Reportedly, the craze for the soap was so great that Japanese tourists from China and Hong Kong brought back large quantities. The product was also in violation of customs regulations. In June and July 1999 alone, over 10,000 bars were seized.

In most American states, a wedding ring is exempt by law from inclusion among the assets in a bankruptcy estate. This means that a wedding ring cannot be seized by creditors, no matter how much the bankrupt person owes.

In New York State, it is still illegal to shoot a rabbit from a moving trolley car.

Vermont, Alaska, Hawaii, and Maine are the four states in the U.S. that do not allow billboards.

Wetaskiwin, Alberta from 1917: "It's against the law to tie a male horse next to a female horse on Main Street."

Women were banned by royal decree from using hotel swimming pools in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, in 1979.

In Riverside, California, there is an old law on the city's books which makes it illegal to kiss unless both people wipe their lips with rose water.

In Saudi Arabia, a woman reportedly may divorce her husband if he does not keep her supplied with coffee.

 

[ashley_morris22]

In San Salvador, drunk drivers can be punished by death before a firing squad.

In Pennsylvania, Ministers are forbidden from performing marriages when either the bride or groom is drunk.

In seventeenth-century Japan, no citizen was allowed to leave the country on penalty of death. Anyone caught coming or going without permission was executed on the spot.

In Somalia, Africa, it's been decreed illegal to carry old chewing gum stuck on the tip of your nose.

In some smaller towns in the state of Arizona, it is illegal to wear suspenders.

In South America, it would be rude not to ask a man about his wife and children. In most Arab countries, it would be rude to do so.

Being rude to a telephone operator in Prussia was once a crime. In 1908, a respected citizen was reprimanded by the government after becoming exasperated with an operator and saying "My dear girl!"

In Thailand, the left hand is considered unclean, so you should not eat with it. Also, pointing with one finger is considered rude and is only done when pointing to objects or animals, never humans.

In Pakistan, it is rude to show the soles of your feet or point a foot when you are sitting on the floor.

It was once against the law to slam your car door in a city in Switzerland.

During the reign of Catherine I of Russia, the rules for parties stipulated that no man was to get drunk before 9 o'clock and ladies weren't to get drunk at any hour.

In 1845 Boston had an ordinance banning bathing unless you had a doctor's prescription.

Hypnotism is banned by public schools in San Diego.

Texas is the only state that permits residents to cast absentee ballots from space. The first to exercise this right to vote while in orbit was astronaut David Wolf, who cast his vote for Houston mayor via e-mail from the Russian space station Mir in November 1997.

No building in DC may be taller than 13 floors. This is so that no matter where in the city you are, you can see the monument to our first president, Washington.

In Michigan it's illegal to place a skunk inside your bosses desk.

In Kentucky, it is illegal to carry ice cream in your back pocket.

During the time that the atomic bomb was being hatched by the United States at Alamogordo, New Mexico, applicants for routine jobs like janitors, were disqualified if they could read. Illiteracy was a job requirement. The reason: the authorities did not want their trash or other papers read.

It's illegal in Alabama to wear a fake mustache that causes laughter in church.

In parts of Alaska, it's illegal to feed alcohol to a moose.

You're subject to fines and/or imprisonment for making "ugly faces" at dogs in Oklahoma.

In Utah, birds have the right of way on all highways.

Christmas was once illegal in England.

In Turkey, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, anyone caught drinking coffee was put to death.

It is illegal to hunt camels in the state of Arizona.

In Italy, it is illegal to make coffins out of anything except nutshells or wood.

"To prevent violence," it was at one time customary at certain phases of the moon to chain and flog inmates of England's notorious Bedlam Hospital.

In Milan, Italy, when an operator dialed a wrong number, the phone company fined the operator.

In Hartford Connecticut, it is illegal for a husband to kiss his wife on Sundays.

In December 1997, the state of Nevada (USA) became the first state to pass legislation categorizing Y2K data disasters as "acts of God"— protecting the state from lawsuits that may potentially be brought against it by residents in the year 2000.

 

[ashley_morris22]

A local ordinance in Atwoodville, Connecticut prohibits people from playing Scrabble while waiting for a politician to speak.

The state legislature in North Dakota has rejected a proposal to erect signs specifically warning motorists not to throw human waste onto the road side. Maintenance workers report at least 20 incidents of road crews being "sprayed with urine after rupturing urine-filled plastic bottles that became swollen in the hot sun." Opponents of the measure say they're afraid the signs would discourage tourism.

Found on Axius Sno-Off Automobile Windshield cover: "Caution: Never drive with the cover on your windshield."

Found a box of Tampax Tampons: "Remove used tampon before inserting a new one."

Found on a box of Kellogg's Pop-Tarts: "Warning: Pastry Filling May Be Hot When Heated"

Found on the instruction sheet of a Conair Pro Style 1600 hair dryer: "WARNING: Do not use in shower. Never use while sleeping."

Found on Bat Man The Animated Series Armor Set Halloween costume box: "PARENT: Please exercise caution, mask and chest plate are not protective; cape does not enable wearer to fly."

Found in a television set's owner's manual: "Do not pour liquids into your television set."

Found on the handle of a hammer: "Caution: Do not use this hammer to strike any solid object."

Found on a butane lighter: "Warning: Flame may cause fire."

In most places, when a drawbridge is open, the only land vehicle that can claim priority over boats is a truck hauling the US mail. This option is seldom if ever exercised, of course.

In 1388, English Parliament banned waste disposal in public waterways and ditches.

In 1996, Christmas caroling was banned at two major malls in Pensacola, Florida. Apparently, shoppers and merchants complained the carolers were too loud and took up too much space.

In Atlanta, Georgia, it is illegal to tie a giraffe to a telephone pole or street lamp.

The ship, the Queen Elizabeth 2, should always be written as QE2. QEII is the actual queen.

Quebec and Newfoundland are the only two provinces which do not allow personalized license plates.

A Chilean man who has been stopped from voting in three elections because officials keep insisting he is dead said he was tired of arguing and would never try to vote again. "I'm tired of complaining without any success. I think this is the last time I am going to bother," said Ernesto Alvear, 74. For the third time in an election, Alvear was told by officials in the port city of Valparaiso that he could not vote because, officially, he had been dead for almost 10 years. The mix-up was due to the death of another man with the same name, forcing Alvear to provide skeptical officials with documents proving he is alive.

During World War I, the punishment for homosexuality in the French army was execution.

During World War II, bakers in the United States were ordered to stop selling sliced bread for the duration of the war on January 18, 1943. Only whole loaves were made available to the public. It was never explained how this action helped the war effort.

In Sweden, when leaving someone's home, wait until you get to the doorway to step outside before putting on your coat. To do so earlier suggests you are eager to leave. When entering or departing a Russian home, it is considered very bad form to shake hands across the threshold.

In Germany, shaking hands with the other hand in a pocket is considered impolite. In Mali, men shake hands with women only if women offer their hand first. The handshake is often done with the left hand touching the other person's elbow as well.

During the time of Peter the Great, any Russian man who wore a beard was required to pay a special tax.

At the first professional baseball game, the umpire was fined 6 cents for swearing.

To pass U.S. Army basic training young female recruits must do 17 pushups in two minutes. Males must do 40 pushups in two minutes.

In Hartford, Connecticut, you may not, under any circumstances, cross the street walking on your hands.

Mailing an entire building has been illegal in the U.S. since 1916 when a man mailed a 40,000-ton brick house across Utah to avoid high freight rates.

Snoring is prohibited in Massachusetts unless all bedroom windows are closed and securely locked. It is also illegal to go to bed without first having a full bath.

Women in Florida may be fined for falling asleep under a hair dryer, as can the salon owner.

It is legal in North Dakota to shoot an Indian on horseback, provided you are in a covered wagon.

The mummified hand of a notary public, chopped off for falsely certifying a document, has been on display in the city hall of Munster, Germany, as a warning to other notaries for 400 years.

 

[ashley_morris22]

The curtain or veil used by some Hindus and Moslems to seclude or hide their women from strangers is called a "purdah."

Margaret Sanger was jailed for a month, in 1917, in a workhouse for founding a clinic that dispensed contraceptives.

In the Middle Ages, the highest court in France ordered the execution of a cow for injuring a human.

A girl, in the Vacococha tribe of Peru, to prepare her for marriage at the age of 12, is placed in a basket in the hut of her prospective in-laws and must remain suspened over an open fire night and day for 3 months.

The Spanish Inquisition once condemned the entire Netherlands to death for heresy.

During the eighteenth century, books that were considered offensive were sometimes punished by being whipped.

In the marriage ceremony of the ancient Inca Indians of Peru, the couple was considered officially wed when they took off their sandals and handed them to each other.

In 1968, a convention of beggars in Dacca, India, passed a resolution demanding that the minimum amount of alms be fixed at 15 paisa (three cents).

Because of heavy traffic congestion, Julius Caesar banned all wheeled vehicles from Rome during daylight hours.

Talking on a cellular phone while driving is against the law in Israel.

In Milan, Italy, there is a law on the books that requires a smile on the face of all citizens at all times. Exemptions include time spent visiting patients in hospitals or attending funerals. Otherwise, the fine is $100 if they are seen in public without a smile on their face.

The minimum age set in the U.S. Constitution for the President of the United States is 35.

In Athens, Greece, a driver's license can be taken away by law if the driver is deemed either "unbathed" or "poorly dressed".

Impotence is grounds for divorce in 24 U.S. states.

The murder rate in the Unted States is 200 times greater than in Japan. In Japan no private citizen can buy a handgun legally.

The movie 'Cleopatra', starring Elizabeth Taylor, was banned from Egypt in 1963 because she was a Jewish convert.

Golf was banned in England in 1457 because it was considered a distraction from the serious pursuit of archery.

It is illegal to marry the spouse of a grandparent in Maine, Maryland, South Carolina, and Washington, DC.

The son of a lowly bookie, Peter O'Toole attended a Catholic school where the nuns beat him to correct his left-handedness

 

[inthegrass]

fact, you have way to much time on your hands.
cheers.

 

[alexr]

There was a thing in the paper the other day, wish i knew what day so I could look it up, but there is a quite phenomonal number of left hander killed each year using devices made for right handers.

Over 2500 left handed people are killed each year from using products made for right handed people. (thanks for giving me something to do - other than work lol.)

http://www.corsinet.com/trivia/m-triv.html

Here are some other items from that page (don't blaim me for the double-ups I just copied and pasted the slab of text)

A human head remains conscious for about 15 to 20 seconds after it is been decapitated.

Over 2500 left handed people are killed each year from using products made for right handed people.

In 1845, President Andrew Jackson's pet parrot was removed from his funeral for swearing.

When Thomas Edison died in 1941; Henry Ford captured his last dying breath in a bottle.

A dentist invented the Electric Chair.

Ancient Egyptians shaved off their eyebrows to mourn the death of their cats.

Nutmeg is extremely poisonous if injected intravenously - it can kill you.

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in Orange County, California. Number one is heart disease.

Only one in two billion people will live to be 116 or older.

When Mahatma Gandhi died, an autopsy revealed that his small intestine contained five gold Krugerrands. (not verified)

A body decomposes four times as fast in water than on land.

Dr. Alice Chase, who wrote 'Nutrition for Health', died of malnutrition. (not verified)

The tiny poison arrow frog has enough poison to kill over 2200 people!

On average, people fear spiders more than they do dying. However, statistically you are more likely to be killed by a champagne cork than by the bite of a poisonous spider.

Cockroaches can live for nine days without their heads, at which point they die of starvation.

In Erwin, Tennessee an elephant was once hanged for murder.

About 100 people choke to death on ballpoint pens each year.

In the Spanish Pyrenees, when a beekeeper dies, each of his bees is splashed with a drop of Black Ink.

On average, right-handed people live 9 years longer than their left-handed counterparts.

A murder is committed in the US every 23 minutes, which makes about 22852 murders each year.

A human head remains conscious for about 15 to 20 seconds after it is been decapitated.

In 1992, approximately 750 deaths occurred in the United States due to workplace violence.

In the United States, poisoning is the fourth leading cause of death among children.

Influenza caused over twenty-one million deaths in 1918.

Each year in America there are about 300,000 deaths that can be attributed to obesity.

Diabetes is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S., accounting for about 180,000 deaths per year.

The leading cause of deaths for children between the ages of 1 and 4 are motor vehicle crashes.

Over the last 50 years in the United States, approximately 9,000 people have died as a result of tornadoes, 5,000 as the result of floods, and 4,000 as the result of hurricanes.

When a person dies, hearing is generally the last sense to go. The first sense lost is usually sight. Then follows taste, smell, and touch.

 

[ashley_morris22]

fact, you have way to much time on your hands.
cheers.

true

 

[nathanbrisvegas]

lol some of those laws crack me up

 

[Guest]

sooo much reading. Some of the stuff i read was funny (i'll read the rest later)

 

[Amanda]

A human head remains conscious for about 15 to 20 seconds after it is been decapitated.

Ummmm.... Who discovered this fact? Did they just sit there and go "SOMEONE START COUNTING, he's lost his head!"

 

[Hickson]

The only 2 animals that can see behind itself without turning it's head are the rabbit and the parrot.

That's crap. Lots of birds can see behind themselves. Those that can see completely include things like stilts and other waders.

A giraffe can clean its ears with its 21-inch tongue!

The tongue is only 18 inches long and doesn't reach their ears. They do, however, use it to clean out their nose.

Owls are the only birds who can see the colour blue.

Although I have no proof or evidence to dispute that statement. I find it unlikely that parrots would not be able to see a colour that features so prominently in the plumage of so many species. Equally, I find it hard to imagine that a nocturnal bird - usually dressed in drab or sombre colours - would be the only birds to see a colour that no other birds could see.

Since 1896, the beginning of the modern Olympics, only Greece and Australia have participated in every Games.

Not correct. France and Great Britain have also competed at all the modern Olympics, and I suspect there may be others. In fact, France and Great Britain are the Only countries to have won medals at every modern Olympiad.



Hix

 

[Parko]

Hix'y do you think the colour of a birds plumage has any relation to what colours it can see itself? I have thought it to be simply an evolutionary thing, for example as you stated parrots, they are often brightly coloured but when in a rainforest canopy become near invisible with patches of blue blending into the sky above them, red orange green etc blending into the foliage. A good example also being snakes, some species have red yet we are told snakes cant see red, the red serves a defensive purpose for the snake but the snake cant see it. Fish are also another good example. Not trying to blow holes in your theory, just trying to tear it to shreds lol It makes a simple fella like me feel good to argue with more intelligent people.

 

[craig.a.c]

In France it is against the law to name a pig Nepolean.

 

[Hickson]

Parko,

Some very good arguments. Many animals do exhibit colours for the reasons you mentioned, however, parrots don't usually need to camouflage themselves because they live high in the trees and can escape fairly quickly if threatened. This actually applies to most flying birds - some of the most colourful birds are the finches, tanagers and hummingbirds, all small birds that would make a great snack for a predator. So why then would the world's largest parrot (with an enormous and powerful beak) need to camouflage itself completely in blue? For those who don't know parrots, I'm referring here to the Hyacinth Macaw.

On the retina are two types of cell structures named rods and cones. Rods pick up light intensity and aid in resolution. Cones detect colour.

Owls and other nocturnal birds have many more rods than cones, because they need them in the dim light. Diurnal birds, especially parrots, have far more cones than rods. That's why I would assume parrots can see blue. Further more, as many parrots have UV patterns on their feathers, it's thought that parrots can also see into the UV spectrum. The cones have different chemicals in them that allow them to 'see' certain colours - if you lack some of these chemicals then you are effectively colourblind for the colour it detects (this is how it works in humans too.)

If colour in diurnal birds is for camouflage, then why are many species dimorphic (male and female have different colours/patterns eg. Peacock, pheasants, Eclectus parrot)?

For an interesting (if slightly technical) read on the subject, look at this paper by Nigel Harcourt-Brown http://pcwww.liv.ac.uk/~timn/Skin and Feather Colouration and Pigmentation.doc

There's also some other interesting bird adaptations mentioned in it. And the suggestion that colourblind mammals developed colours as camouflage so birds wouldn't see them.

Like I said Parko - you put up some good logical arguments, but not good enough to "tear me to shreds"! However, your arguments and examples show that you're thinking, and that's the most important thing.



Hix

 

[ashley_morris22]

Quote: › Owls are the only birds who can see the colour blue.


Although I have no proof or evidence to dispute that statement. I find it unlikely that parrots would not be able to see a colour that features so prominently in the plumage of so many species. Equally, I find it hard to imagine that a nocturnal bird - usually dressed in drab or sombre colours - would be the only birds to see a colour that no other birds could see.

most birds see in a black light sort of colour, that y when u have a avorie with lots of budgie's in it of all colours that manly only the yellows and greens will mate. blues very little and whites's almost never