All 4 Graded Readings

Researchers find most 'instagrammable' bird

PRINT ALL READINGS (PDF)

Bird Photos - Level 0

We put many photos online. Researchers looked at what bird photos people "liked". They did research on the photo-sharing app Instagram. They wanted to know: "What makes a great bird photo?". They found the most 'instagrammable' bird is the frogmouth. This is a nocturnal bird that lives in India and Australia.

The researchers looked at 30,000 bird photos. They used a programme to find which photos got the most "likes". The frogmouth was top because of its large eyes. Most birds' eyes are on the sides of their head, but the frogmouth's eyes are in the centre. This makes it look human, cute and cuddly.

SPEED READING

Speed 1    |     Speed 2    |     Speed 3

MORE

11 online activities    |    8-page printable   (PDF)

Bird Photos - Level 1

We put photos online of everything we eat, buy and do. There is now a study about what kinds of bird photos we like. Researchers in Germany looked at the bird photos people "liked" on the photo-sharing social networking service Instagram. They looked into the question: "What makes a great bird photo?" They tried to find the most 'instagrammable' bird. The answer is the frogmouth. This is a nocturnal bird that lives in India, Southeast Asia and Australia.

The researchers looked at 30,000 bird photos from nine popular photography accounts. They used a programme to find which photos got the most "likes". A bird expert said the frogmouth was the most liked because of its large eyes. He said that most birds' eyes are on the sides of their head, but the frogmouth's eyes are in the centre. This makes it look "humanlike". A photographer said any bird or animal with big eyes looks "cute and cuddly".

SPEED READING

Speed 1    |     Speed 2    |     Speed 3

MORE

11 online activities    |    8-page printable   (PDF)

Bird Photos - Level 2

Slowest

We put photos online of everything, from our breakfast to the new shoes we buy. Researchers have published a study about what kinds of bird photos we like on the social media site Instagram. This is a photo-sharing social networking service where uploaded images are viewable for just 24 hours. The researchers are from a university in Germany. They looked into the question: "What makes a great bird photo?" They tried to find the most 'instagrammable' bird. They found that the frogmouth is the best. This is a nocturnal bird that lives in India, Southeast Asia and Australia.

The researchers looked at nearly 30,000 bird photos from nine popular photography accounts. They created an algorithm to find which photos got the most "likes". Bird expert Tim Snyder said the frogmouth was the most liked because of its large eyes and wide beak. He said that most birds' eyes are positioned on the sides of their head, but the frogmouth's eyes are more in the centre of its face. This makes it look more "humanlike". A wildlife photographer said: "Anything cute and cuddly [creates] something in human nature - and particularly anything with big eyes."

SPEED READING

Speed 1    |     Speed 2    |     Speed 3

MORE

11 online activities    |    8-page printable   (PDF)

Bird Photos - Level 3

It seems we share photos online of everything these days, from what we eat for breakfast to the new shoes we have bought. Researchers have recently published a study about what kinds of bird photos we like on the social media site Instagram. This is a photo and video-sharing social networking service on which uploaded images are viewable for just 24 hours. The researchers are from the University of Konstanz in Germany. They looked into the question: "What makes a great bird photo?" They tried to find the most 'instagrammable' bird. They discovered that the frogmouth is our favourite. This is a nocturnal bird that is found from India, across Southeast Asia to Australia.

The researchers analysed nearly 30,000 bird photos from nine popular bird photography Instagram accounts. They created a special computer algorithm to find which photos attracted the most "likes" on the photo-sharing platform. Ornithologist Tim Snyder suggested the frogmouth was the most liked bird because of its large eyes and wide beak. He said that while most birds' eyes are positioned on the sides of their head, the frogmouth's eyes are more in the centre of its face, which makes the bird appear more "humanlike". Wildlife photographer Graeme Purdy told the BBC: "Anything cute and cuddly evokes something in human nature - and particularly anything with big eyes."

SPEED READING

Speed 1    |     Speed 2    |     Speed 3

MORE

25 online activities    |    27-page printable    |    2-page mini-lesson

MY e-BOOK
ESL resource book with copiable worksheets and handouts - 1,000 Ideas and Activities for Language Teachers / English teachers
See a sample

This useful resource has hundreds of ideas, activity templates, reproducible activities for …

  • warm-ups
  • pre-reading and listening
  • while-reading and listening
  • post-reading and listening
  • using headlines
  • working with words
  • moving from text to speech
  • role plays,
  • task-based activities
  • discussions and debates
and a whole lot more.




More Listening

Online Activities

Help Support This Web Site

  • Please consider helping Breaking News English.com

Sean Banville's Book

Thank You