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Animal Themes
Birds
Grasslands

Mousebirds

Mousebirds
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 4 to 6
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   6.47

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    assistance, notorious, scrubby, universal, social, hence, species, running, versatile, imagine, hopping, savannahs, superb, vocal, household, capable

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Mousebirds   
1     Can you imagine if your two outermost toes had the flexibility of pointing both forward and backward? If that were the case, we would be able to stand on or hang upside down a high bar. Of course, we don't have such magical toes. But, mousebirds do.
 
2     Mousebirds are also called colies. There are six different species of mousebirds, and all of them live in Africa. They measure no more than 14 inches long, with their tails making up two-thirds of their body length. Mousebirds have dull feathers in brown or gray. Although they can fly, they prefer running or hopping around. As they move swiftly through open woodlands or scrubby savannahs, their long tails and feather coats often make us mistake them as rodents. Hence, they get this rather unpleasant name. Mousebirds feed on fruits, seeds, nectar, and leaves. With the assistance of their versatile toes, mousebirds are superb acrobats capable of getting food in any position.
 
3     Mousebirds are very social and vocal animals. We can often find a flock of up to 20 mousebirds hanging out together. To make sure that the flock stays closely together, they keep on whistling and calling each other. When the flock decides to drop by a garden or a field to look for food, they can cause some serious damage! With their flowerbeds ruined and seeds picked clean, gardeners and farmers have a universal dislike of mousebirds. Well, this should not come as a surprise. Mousebirds simply look and act like the notorious household pest that they are named after!
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