Most swans are white. They are found in the Northern Hemisphere. This means they are found in Europe, Asia and North America. However, the black swan is black with a red beak. It lives in Australia. The black necked swan has white flight feathers, and black outer feathers. It lives in South America. They also have a small area of skin between the eyes and beak that has no feathers. This area can be different colors, such as yellow (for example, on a Bewick's swan) or orange (for example, on a mute swan).
Wild swans migrate. They spend the cold part of the year eating and getting fat in one place and move to a warmer place to lay eggs and raise chicks, called cygnets.
The coscoroba swan is different to the other swans. Some scientists think it is more like a duck or a goose. It is the smaller than the other swans. This swan lives in South America.
Bewick's swans used to spend a lot of time in Ireland and Britain and the Netherlands, but scientists say they have been moving east into Germany. They spend less time in their winter feeding grounds than they did in 1970. Scientists say they are following the changes in temperature in Europe. The scientists found that individual swans do not change where they like to go during their own lifetimes. Instead, different generations of swans go to different places from their parents and grandparents.
Pupa
A pupa (plural: pupae or pupas) is part of becoming an adult for some insects, like some butterflies, moths, beetles, flies, and bees. The pupal stage comes after being a larva; the next stage is adulthood.
The pupa stage of a butterfly, called a chrysalis (plural "chrysalids"), is a well-known example of a pupa because they are often found in the open.
Paul
Paul might mean:
Goose
Goose (plural geese, genus Anser) is a genus containing 11 species within the swan subfamily.
This family also includes the swans, which are mostly larger than geese, and the ducks, which are smaller and have short necks.
Geese are famously gregarious: they like to stick together. They can be moved in large herds because of this feature of their behaviour. Both as chicks and as adults, geese show collective animal behaviour. Geese migrate in groups in the spring and fall, flying together in a V-shape.
A male goose is called a "gander" and a baby goose is called a "gosling". A group of geese is called a "gaggle".
Ovary
Ovaries (Singular: Ovary) are organs found in female organisms. Ovaries are part of the reproductive system needed to reproduce sexually.
Most vertebrates have ovaries. Usually animals have two ovaries. Birds usually have only one working ovary; snakes have one ovary in front of the other. The ovaries are similar to testicles in men.
Ovaries are shaped like eggs and are around 3 cm by 1.5 cm by 1.5 cm. The ovary is found in the side walls of the pelvis.
Each ovary is attached to the Fallopian tube. Usually each ovary takes turns releasing eggs every month.
Ovaries have two purposes:
During menstruation, an ovum is released from the ovary and enters one of the Fallopian tubes. There, the ovum can be fertilised. Ovaries have a certain number of eggs in them, so when eggs stop being released, this is the start of the menopause. During this time, female hormones stop being produced.
Axe
An axe (or ax) is an ancient tool. It is used to shape, split and cut wood.
The hand axe was probably the first tool in the Stone Age. It did not have a handle.
In the past, axes were used as weapons by soldiers. Today, axes are usually related to woodcutters and firemen.
Axes are simple machines. They are in the category of wedges. They are usually made of some sort of metal, mainly steel or iron. They can have a metal or wooden handle.
Rhinoceros
A rhinoceros (rhino for short) is any animal in the family Rhinocerotidae. They are in the order Perissodactyla, or odd-toed ungulates. There are five living species. Two of these species are native to Africa. Three of these species are also native to Southern parts of Asia.
All five rhinoceros species are native to Africa or Asia. The two species in Africa are the White rhinoceros and the Black rhinoceros. The three species in Asia (including islands of Indonesia) are the Javan rhinoceros, Sumatran rhinoceros, and Indian rhinoceros.
The rhinoceros is a herbivore. Its favourite food is plants, branches and bushes (if it is a browser species), or grass (if it is a grazer species).
Rhinoceroses have a large horn on the nose. Their horns are not like those of other horned mammals: the rhinoceros' horn is made of keratin packed together very tightly.
The rhinoceroses can weigh up to and be up to tall.
Only the white rhinoceros is not in critical danger of becoming extinct. They are protected, but hunted mainly by poachers, for their horns. The horns are used in Asian medicine, similar to elephants and tigers, and for dagger handles in Yemen and Oman. Loss of habitat is also a danger to rhinos. Governments have made logging their habitat and poaching illegal.
Alcoholic proof
Alcoholic proof is a measure of how much ethanol there is in an alcoholic drink. It is commonly used the world over, on the basis that 100 degrees proof is the equivalent of 50 % alcohol by volume (ABV or Alc/Vol). In the United States, it is double the percentage of ABV.
This system was introduced in the 18th century. The British claim that this term has a nautical background. Every evening, sailors would line up for their daily quota of grog/rum. This had to first be proved to be as strong as promised and not watered down. The spirit was tested with gunpowder: a mixture of water and alcohol "proved" itself when it could be poured on a small amount of gunpowder and still light up the wet powder. If the powder did not ignite, the mixture had too much water in it and the grog was considered below proof. It might have happened earlier, as the Americans claim that this definition came about in the 17th century when European traders began making a large quantity of distilled spirits and wine available to American Indians. The very same process led to the nickname "firewater", this time given by Native Americans. There is no record of the finite strength of the distilled spirits in the context of its sale to or consumption by Native Americans.
A "proven" solution was defined as 100 degrees proof (100°). People have found out that this takes 57.15% ethanol. This value is still used as the British definition. A simpler ratio to remember is "seven to four": 70° proof is 40% alcohol by volume.
A hydrometer can be used to measure the precise proof of a spirit. This test has gone through many formal changes.
The European Union member nations have broadly adopted the recommendation of the International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML) which measures percentage of alcohol by volume at 20 °C.
In Britain, this replaced the Sikes hydrometer system (based on proof spirit) which was used since 1816, although officially the "Customs and Excise Act of 1952" defined "spirits of proof strength" (or proof spirits):
Previously, Clarke's hydrometer had been used since the 1740s when Customs and Excise and London brewers and distillers began to use Clarke's hydrometer.
In the definition of the United States, the proof number is twice the percentage of the alcohol content measured by volume at a temperature of 60°F (15.5°C). Therefore, "80 proof" is 40% alcohol by volume (most of the other 60% is water). If a 150 proof beverage is mixed half-and-half with water, the drink is 75 proof.
US Federal regulation (CFR 27 5.37 Alcohol Content) requires that liquor labels state the percentage alcohol by volume (sometimes abbreviated ABV). The regulations permit (but do not require) a statement of the degrees proof as long as it is right next to the percentage alcohol by volume.