Birds

Welcome! You've joined the millions of people worldwide who enjoy watching birds!
Have you always wondered how experienced birders can confidently identify birds with just a glimpse? We'll help you learn the identification skills you need by describing the characteristics birders pay particular attention to in the field.
Wondering where to go to find birds? The best place to start birding is locally—in your own backyard or neighborhood park. But if you're yearning for parts unknown, we'll share with you some of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology staff's favorite birding spots in North America.
Looking for a way to use your birding observations to help birds? We invite you to become a participant in one of the Lab's many Citizen Science projects.

Horses

The horse (Equus ferus caballus)[2][3] is a hoofed (ungulate) mammal, a subspecies of one of seven extant species of the family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today. Humans began to domesticate horses around 4000 BC, and their domestication is believed to have been widespread by 3000 BC; by 2000 BC the use of domesticated horses had spread throughout the Eurasian continent. Although most horses today are domesticated, there are still endangered populations of the Przewalski's Horse, the only remaining true wild horse, as well as more common feral horses which live in the wild but are descended from domesticated There is an extensive, specialized vocabulary used to describe equine-related concepts, covering everything from anatomy to life stages, size, colors, markings, breeds, locomotion, and behavior. Horses are anatomically designed to use speed to escape predators, and have a well-developed sense of balance and a strong fight-or-flight instinct. Related to this need to flee from predators in the wild is an unusual trait: horses are able to sleep both standing up and lying down. Female horses, called mares, carry their young for approximately 11 months, and a young horse, called a foal, can stand and run shortly following birth. Most domesticated horses begin training under saddle or in harness between the ages of two and four. They reach full adult development by age five, and have an average lifespan of between 25 and 30 years.