Happy Halloween!

Thriller playing in the background would be suitable considering the holiday, but oh well! The Mannequin bird never fails to make me smile. This guy has to be one of the grooviest little animals out there.

I was thinking it'd be cool being a bird on Halloween; no teeth = no cavities from so much sugar. Then I remembered this from Series B of QI and decided it probably wouldn't be such a great idea after-all...

"Birds do not like chocolate. It is poisonous, and birds have only 20-30 taste buds, so they could not taste it anyway. A Smartie would kill a small songbird. Chocolate is also poisonous to humans, but the lethal dose is very high (22 pounds). Humans have 9-10,000 taste buds, but new ones grow every five days." (QI - Series B, Episode 2)

Sucks to be a bird then, I guess. Though most of them do have the awesome ability to fly, so I guess it's not all bad, right?

Fun Feathery Facts:
1. The earliest known bird is thought to be the fossil specimen, Aurornis xui.
2. Feathers didn't originate in birds; it is now believed that proto-feathers originated in dinosaurs, and were probably present in Velociraptors... Jurassic Park probably wouldn't have been as terrifying as if they'd known that back-in-the-days.
3. Some birds, such as the Hooded Pitohuis (Pitohui dichrous), are known to be toxic to touch or eat; they produce these toxins from food in their diet.

Toxic and appropriately coloured for this frightful day; the Hooded Pitohuis (Pitohui dichrous). He'd look really cool perched a-top some pumpkins (I wouldn't eat them afterwards, minds) - image from Top5's

4. All birds lay eggs; no living bird species is known to give birth to live young.
5. There is some debate over which bird has made the longest recorded flight, depending upon whether you go by days spent airborne or distance covered. This year, three Alpine Swifts are reported to have spent a non-stop total of 200 days airborne, whilst a female Godwit in 2007 reportedly flew non-stop from Alaska to New Zealand, a journey of 7145 miles (11,500km).
6. The Peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) has the fastest dive speed of any bird at a speed of around 200 mph (320 km/h). In 2005, one particular falcon was recorded diving at a top speed of 242 mph (389 km/h).
7. Owls are excellent hunters and can fly more slowly than other birds, and do so almost silently thanks to noise muffling feathers in their wings. Their eyes are large relative to their small skull, but cannot be moved in any direction. Instead, owls can rotate their head 270° to look around.
8. The Potoo (Nyctibius spp.) is another nocturnal bird which relies heavily on their fantastic camouflage. In the day, they sit on tree stumps to avoid detection. They're also pretty comical looking, don't you think? 

"But I don't wanna go to school!" - image from fanpop.

9. The smallest known bird, the Bee Hummingbird (Mellisuga helenae), also produces the smallest eggs of any bird species. The eggs are no bigger than peas, and are lay in a tiny cup-shaped 1 inch (2.5 cm) nest. 
10. Whilst most nocturnal birds have evolved brilliant eyesight, the Kiwi might as well be blind. What it lacks in sight, however, it makes up for in it's ability to smell. Whilst most birds have little or no sense of smell, the kiwi bird's is highly developed. 

Taken from imgur.