While it looks like this bird is about to take off and drill through solid rock, it’s really just trying to shake some excess moisture off after diving into the water. Malachite Kingfishers, so named for the green crest on their foreheads, will dive into the water to catch some delicious fish, but that often leaves them soaked all the way through their feathers.
Thankfully, they live in hot places like the African Sahara and similar areas. Their big bills let them snap up fish, but they can’t go for anything too big – they only grow to about five inches in length, so it’s not like they’re snagging bass.
No Pictures, Please
Even birds can get a little camera-shy, it seems. This bird – a Canada Jay – was just trying to enjoy a meal of some leftover bread when a wildlife photographer caught it in the act.
Who knows if the jay was trying to protect its identity or if it was just trying to figure out the best way to get home with such a feast in its beak? We just don't get a look at the bird's face in this picture. Such a shame, too – Canada Jays are cute little creatures that can go anywhere and do anything.
Mom Said It's My Turn in the Mud Pit
Lots of animals are the playful type, especially when they're young. Human children aren't the only ones who have far too much energy to burn off, and it looks like elephants go about it in similar ways. They go down to the dirtiest thing they can find and push each other around for a little while.
Elephants, in particular, do this because it helps them cool down after a day in the hot sun, and they don't even have to sit in the bathtub afterward, the lucky beasts. These two young elephant calves seem to be enjoying themselves.
It's in There Somewhere, We Swear
If you're trying to get a good picture of an armadillo, you have to be a little bit more eagle-eyed than the person who took this pic. We wouldn't have even known it was an armadillo if not for the description, but we guess we can see it.
The tell-tale plates that give an armadillo its unique method of protection are seen below the big mound of dirt and mud that is, we assume, the creature's head. Though it could also very well be the rear end of the armadillo. We think we see an ear on the right side, but who knows?
Working Hard for All of Us
The Eastern Red Bat, which we see in this pic, is a migratory tree rooster. Not like a male chicken, we mean they roost in trees. While it looks like this bat, we'll call him Hieronymus, is a big, big boy, in reality, they only get up to about four and a half inches at their full size.
Not very big, but they make up for it by doing something great for all of us – every night, these bats go out and eat about half their body weight in bugs. That's good work. It still might be only three to six grams of bugs, but how many bugs have you eaten lately? Yeah, that's what we thought.