How Birds Hatch Nest and Look after the Young Reading Answers

Jan 2, 2025

How Birds Hatch Nest and Look after the Young Reading Answers is an academic reading answers topic that has a total of 7 IELTS questions in total. In the questions set there are questions where you have to answer them with correct words.

Candidates should read the IELTS Reading passage such as How Birds Hatch Nest and Look after the Young Reading Answers thoroughly to understand, analyze and identify keywords, and answer the questions below. IELTS Reading practice papers feature topics such as How Birds Hatch Nest and Look after the Young Reading Answers. Candidates can use IELTS reading practice questions and answers to enhance their performance in the reading section.

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Section 1

HOW BIRDS HATCH NEST AND LOOK AFTER THE YOUNG

All 9000 species of birds have the same approach to motherhood. Every one lays eggs. No bird gives birth to live young. The large size of an egg makes it difficult for the female to retain more than a single one egg at a time - carrying eggs would make flying harder and require more energy. Bird eggs vary in size from the tiny 0.2 grams eggs of hummingbird to the enormous 9 kilogram eggs of the extinct elephant bird. And because the egg is such a protein-rich high-nutrition prize to all sorts Of predators, birds must find a secure place to hatch their eggs. Although birds' eggs appear to be fragile, they are in fact extremely robust. The oval shape applies the same rules of engineering as an arched bridge and the convex surface can withstand considerable pressure without breaking.

Finding a place to safely place and hatch their eggs and raise their young to the point of independence is a challenge birds have solved in many clever ways. They use artistry, intricate design and complex engineering. The diversity of nest architecture has no equal in the animal kingdom. In many species the male bird's skill at nest building is a sign of his suitability as a mate, so he invests huge effort in the task. He will continue to build new nests until a female is happy with the construction. Ovenbirds are some of the finest nest building craftsmen. In many species females will carefully peruse the design and quality Of the nest the male has build. If she likes it, she will move in. If not, the nest may be discarded or destroyed by the male. Some birds actively cooperate with other species. One ploy is to employ insects as ‘guard dogs'.

Birds employ the most astonishing strategies to conceal their young from predators. Many birds build isolated, inconspicuous nests, hidden away inside the vegetation to avoid detection by predators. Birds which never build their own nests lay their eggs in the nest of another species, leaving those parents to care for its young. The cuckoo is the best known brood parasite, an expert in the art of cruel deception. The mother removes one egg laid by the host mother, lays her own and flies off with the host egg in her bill. The whole process takes barely ten seconds.

Questions 14-20

Answer the following questions using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the above passage.

14. Name the birds which are known as the finest nest builders?

Answer: Ovenbirds

Supporting statement:“........Ovenbirds are some of the finest nest-building craftsmen.......”

Keywords: finest, building

Keyword Location: Para 2, Line 6-7

Explanation: In the passage it is mentioned that the finest nest-building birds are the ovenbirds out of all the birds given in the passage

15. Which is the other species than birds that birds employ as 'guard dogs'?

Answer: Insects

Supporting statement: “........One ploy is to employ insects as ‘guard dogs'.......”

Keywords: guard, employ

Keyword Location: Para 2, Line 10

Explanation: According to the passage insects is the species that the birds employ as guard dogs.

16. Name the best known brood parasite in birds?

Answer: Cuckoo Bird

Supporting statement: “........The cuckoo is the best known brood parasite, an expert in the art of cruel deception.......”

Keywords: Brood, parasite

Keyword Location:Para 3, Line 6

Explanation: The passage directly states that cuckoo is the best known brood parasite among birds. Hence, the statement is correct.

17. Name the extinct species of birds having the largest egg size?

Answer: Extinct elephantbird

Supporting statement: “........ the enormous 9 kilogram eggs of the extinct elephant bird.......”

Keywords: enormous, egg

Keyword Location:Para 1, Line 5

Explanation: The passage clearly states that the egg of an extinct elephant bird is the largest egg weighing almost 9 kilograms.

18. In what time does the Cuckoo executes its cruel deceptiveness?

Answer: 10 seconds

Supporting statement: “........The whole process takes barely ten seconds.......”

Keywords: ten, seconds

Keyword Location:Para 3, Line 7

Explanation: As mentioned in the passage the cuckoo is the best known brood parasite as the bird is an expert in the art of cruel deception. The mother bird removes an egg laid by the host mother replacing it with her own and flies off with the host egg in her bill. This whole process only takes ten seconds of her time.

19. Name the bird which has the egg weight of 0.2 grams?

Answer: Hummingbird

Supporting statement:“........Bird eggs vary in size from the tiny 0.2 grams eggs of hummingbird.......”

Keywords: eggs, grams

Keyword Location: Para 1, Line 4

Explanation: The egg of a Hummingbird is clearly the smallest egg in size out of all the bird species weighing only 0.2 grams.

20. To which shape are certain rules of engineering applicable in case of eggs?

Answer: Oval

Supporting statement: “........The oval shape applies the same rules of engineering as an arched bridge and the convex surface can withstand considerable pressure

without breaking........”

Keywords: shape, engineering

Keyword Location:Para 1, Line 8

Explanation: The passage explains that the oval shape of an egg may look fragile but in fact it has the same engineering structure as an arched bridge making it robust and also the convex surface which helps it to withstand great pressure making it unbreakable.

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