Grebes live in freshwater (lakes or rivers). Some species of grebe will go to saltwater (sea/ocean) when they are migrating. This is when birds fly to live in a different place in summer or winter. Grebes only migrate if they live in North America, Europe or Asia. Grebes in South America, Africa and Asia do not migrate. They are found in every continent on earth.
Funeral director
A Funeral Director also called a mortician or undertaker is a person who has the job of organizing a funeral. This often includes embalming and burial or cremation of the dead, as well as the planning and arrangement of the actual funeral ceremony. They place the body into a coffin or casket. If people are going to come and look at the body before burial, the funeral director will have the body dressed, and made up with cosmetics to make it look better.
Mangrove
Mangroves are trees or shrubs that grow in salty water in hot places like the tropics. Mangroves make a special saltwater woodland or shrubland habitat, called a "mangrove swamp", "mangrove forest", "mangrove" or "mangal". Mangroves grow on 1/3 of tropical shores. They are also found in sub-tropical Africa, Asia, and the southwest Pacific. Their twisted, tangled roots collect sediment. Over time, the sediment may become islands, or extend the shoreline.
Mangroves live right in the sea, or at the sea edge. Their seeds fall from the tree and grow roots as soon as they touch any kind of soil. During low tide, they may fall in soil rather than water and start growing where they fall. If the water level is high, they may be carried far away from where they fell. Mangrove trees are often the beginning of what will one day be a small island. As soil and other things collect in their roots, little bodies of land are formed – just the right place for other island vegetation to grow. This is an example of seed dispersal by water.
Mangroves have special root-like structures. They are aerial roots or "pneumatophores". These stick up out of the soil, and are covered in lenticels. They take in oxygen through their pores. These "breathing tubes" may reach heights of up to 30 cm, and in some species, over 3 m. Smaller roots with air passages move oxygen from the air to parts of the plant underwater. For more information please visit a geography site https://www.kidsgeog.com THANK YOU Mangrove
Mangrove roots give clear water to the coral reefs which often surround them. They trap dirt and clean water by filtering land runoff and removing pollutants. The tree also protects the shoreline (and, through this, the coral reefs) from being eroded by storm waves. Mangrove thickets are a good place for many coral-reef fish, shrimp, and crabs to grow.
Mangroves are a group of about 80 different salt-tolerant species of trees. They can live along the intertidal zones of tropical and sub-tropical coastlines. Their roots stand the ebb and flow of tides. The roots slow the flow of the tidal waters. This lets sediment settle and build up as nutrient-rich mud. The habitat is a valuable shelter and breeding site for fish. It stabilises coastlines, and reduces erosion from storm surges and tsunamis.
Great crested grebe
The great crested grebe is a water bird. It is a member of the grebe family. Its scientific name is "Podiceps cristatus".
The great crested grebe is a medium sized bird. It is 46–51 cm long. Its wingspan (both wings open) is 59–73 cm long.
The bird is white, brown and black, and it has orange crest feathers on its head. It has a long, sharp pink bill. Baby great crested grebe have black and white stripes on their heads.
The great crested grebe is found in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. It is the biggest grebe in Europe. It lives in freshwater lakes. It eats crustaceans (for example, crabs), insects and small frogs. It dives into the water to find food.
The bird has an interesting mating ritual. This means two birds (male and female) do a "dance" in the water before they mate. Grebes dance every time the pair meets, and the dance varies according to the circumstance. Returning to the nest is different from meeting out on the water, for instance. Most dances end in a bout of head-shaking.
The great crested grebe makes a nest from plants. The nest floats on top of the water. A pair of grebes will usually have two eggs. When the babies are born, they cannot swim. Their parents teach them to swim and dive. Sometimes the babies will sit on their parents backs while the parents swim in the water.
The bird nearly became extinct in the United Kingdom in the 19th century. This is because people wanted to use their orange head feathers. People wanted to put the feathers on their hats and clothes. The RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) stopped this. There are now many great crested grebe in the United Kingdom, where their conservation status is "green" ("least concern").
Swift
The swift is a bird in the family Apodidae. It is in the order Apodiformes with treeswifts and hummingbirds. The swift is very good at flying. It spends all of its time in the air.
The scientific name for the swift ("apus") comes from the Ancient Greek word απους, "apous" which means "without feet". This is because swifts have very small, weak feet. Swifts use their feet to hold on to vertical places (for example, the wall of a house, or a cliff). Swifts do not want to land on the ground. It is often thought that if they land on ground, they cannot fly up again, but that is not true. They can take off but with difficulty.
Swifts are small birds. They can fly very well and very fast. Some swifts can fly at 514m per second. If a swift needs to fly very fast, it can fly at 60m per second for a short amount of time. When catching insects, they fly in a series of swoops, changing direction rapidly as they pursue the prey.
Swifts have long, curved wings. The wings are in the shape of a sickle or boomerang. They have a forked tail. This means it looks like a V shape.
Swifts can be seen all over the world. They like to live in warmer places and they migrate every year. For example, Swifts fly to Europe in the spring and summer. When it gets cold at the start of autumn, the Swifts fly to Africa where it is warmer.
Swifts make their nests in a corner between two walls. For example, near the roof of a house, or in an area between rocks in a cave. They use mud and saliva (spit) to make a cup-shaped nest.
There are some swifts which only use saliva to make their nests. These swifts are in the genus "Aerodramus". In Asia, people take the nests and use them to make bird's nest soup. This soup is very popular in China.
Wangaratta, Victoria
Wangaratta is a city of almost 17,000 people in the northeast of Victoria, Australia. It is about from Melbourne along the Hume Highway. The city of Benalla is to the south west, and Albury and Wodonga to the north east. The Ovens and King Rivers which flow from the Victorian Alps meet at Wangaratta. It is in the local government area of the Rural City of Wangaratta.
Gold was found in the area during the 1850s. A Post Office opened on 1 February 1843, as Ovens, and moved to the town and was renamed Wangaratta in 1854. The Ovens office, and the Kilmore office which opened the same day, were the fifth and sixth to open in the Port Phillip District (Victoria). They were also the first two inland offices.
The small town of Glenrowan about 10 km away is known as the site of the final shootout that led to the capture of Australia's most famous bushranger, Ned Kelly.
Chiltern, Victoria
Chiltern is a town in the north east of Victoria, Australia. It is between Wangaratta and Wodonga, in the Shire of Indigo. In 2006 there were 1063 people living in Chiltern. The town is close to the Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park. Chiltern was once on the main road between Melbourne and Sydney but is now by-passed by the Hume Freeway a few kilometres to the east.