bio ch 17 review... BIRDS!

down feathers

these small fluffy and soft feathers are hidden underneath a bird's contour feathers; their purpose is to insulate the bird; the best type of down is from the eider duck, eider down, a duck found in northern Canada, Greenland and Iceland.

function of bird bills

they are based upon shape

broad patch

this is a naked area on the chest of the bird that sits on the eggs, usually on females, she pulls her feathers of her chest so her skin can directly touch the eggs allowing for greater heat exchange, When holding a female bird in hand, you can blow a puff of air on their chest and the feathers will part to show their brood patch. This tells you that you have a breeding female in your hand.

courtship

this is the act or behavior of an animal in attracting a mate to reproduce, and certain animals that pair for life, courtship strengthens the bond between the male and female and declares to other individuals of the same species the bond between the two individuals; courtship can also initiate the female of the species to begin to produce her eggs.

incubation

this is the behavior that birds perform to keep their eggs warm, the chick in the egg is too small to have a high enough metabolism to give itself a warm body temperature so the parent must provide it with heat in order for it to survive.

yolk

this is the ever familiar central yellow portion of an egg and it is composed of a thinner-than-egg white protein, it also has fat in it; the chick develops on the top of the yolk from a place called the germinal spot.

crop

this is the first chamber in which food travels down from the mouth, it has 3 purposes -to store food and release it into the digestive tract for later -to moisten food -to begin digestion of starches (seed eaters only)

human fovea

this is the region of the inner eye that our eyes perceive as the center of our vision. Humans only have one fovea per eye. Both eyes always look in the same direction and we can only focus on one object at one time.

bill of a crow

(and seagulls) is an all-purpose bill, for grabbing, tearing of flesh, extracting objects

pectoralis minor

(supracoracoideus) this is a smaller muscle that brings the wing back to the power position, in hummingbirds this muscle is about the same size as a pectoralis major because both wing beats give them thrust equally and allow them to easily hover.

definition of nesting

structures that birds build to place their eggs in while they allow them to develop.

migration

Birds are not the only animals that migrate, mammals and even some insects migrate. The definition: it is the seasonal movement of birds (or other animals) from one region to another.

bird shoulder bones

Birds have three bones in their shoulder area per shoulder compared to the two bones that are found in other animals shoulders, this allows them to have a greater range of motion needed in powered flight.

4 types of nests (first 4 from notes)

SCRAPES - killdeer use their feet to make a shallow bowl-shaped scrape in which they lay their camouflaged eggs; these are the birds that act like they are injured when you get near their nest. CUPS - robins weave a nest out of grasses and hair that is bowl shaped and shaped like a deep soup bowl. CAVITIES - woodpeckers make their nests in dead trees by excavating the chamber and lining the hole with grass and feathers; bluebirds use old woodpecker nests and man-made boxes that act as artificial cavities BURROWS - bank swallows will dig a long tunnel through the soil in a riverbank and make a nest with the chamber several feet from the entrance; kingfishers will also nest in burrows on riverbanks

powder down feathers

these feathers grow continuously and their tips disintegrate into an extremely fine powder that helps to waterproof the bird's other feathers.

gizzard

The rear of the stomach which is a thick muscular gland that often contains keratinized tissue that act as milestones to grind the food.

the shell and its composition

The shell is made of a mesh of protein called collagen and the compound calcium carbonate, formula: CaCO3, it is the same substance of which coral and limestone are made of; the shell has tiny pores that allow for the passage of O2 and CO2 and some water vapor can also escape these pores. Remember there is a developing chick inside the egg that needs to "breathe" or exchange gases, it doesn't inhale or exhale.

salt gland description and location

Their salt gland is located directly above their beak between their eyes. The bird will expel super salty water out of their nostrils ridding their bodies of excess salt.

contour feathers

These are the feathers that give the bird its shape and streamline it making the bird aerodynamic or hydrodynamic in penguins.

game birds

Upland game birds - which includes the quails and turkeys; they have strong legs and are good runners and fliers one type is the waterfowl - these include the ever familiar ducks and geese; they have oily feathers, as well as a favorite challenge for hunters.

uric acid

Uric acid is 3,000 times more concentrated than urea allowing the bird to greatly conserve water. This allows birds to comparatively drink much less water than mammals allowing them to conserve weight needed for flying.

what makes up bird poop

When a bird goes to the bathroom i.e. poops, it actually is performing #1 and #2 at the same time. The lovely black material is the feces and the white pasty material is the bird equivalent of urea (human and mammal pee) called uric acid.

advantages to flocks

a large group of birds increases the safety of the individual birds; it minimizes the chance of being preyed upon by predators; large number of individuals can more easily confuse enemies trying to attack them. The same concept holds for schools of fish.

bill of a heron

acts like a set of tongs to grab prey out of the water or it will use it to stab fish

basic description of bird's respiratory system

air passes into air sacs behind the lungs, then it travels through the lungs, into another set of air sacs and then out of the body. A bird's lungs never have stale air in them allowing them to be much smaller and also allowing birds to fly at extreme altitudes that would kill mammals due to a lack of oxygen.

thin tube bills of hummingbirds

allow them to reach into flowers to reach deposits of nectar

salt gland function

allows them to drink sea water

songbird legs and how they grasp while resting

also called Passerines; these are the perching birds or the song birds, this includes the typical sparrow, or warbler, cardinals, blackbirds and many others. Passerines have a special feature where their leg tendons when relaxed cause their feet to grasp twigs or branches on which they stand without consciously flexing their muscles.

woodpecker bills

are for hammering and chiseling holes into wood to find insects and other beetle grubs

backbones of birds

are fused together to allow for a strong frame needed for flight muscle attachment.

hook bills of hawks and eagles

are made for tearing flesh

altrical bird young

baby birds (and any animal) that are born helpless, naked, and blind that need a parent to survive are called altricial young. Baby robins are called altricial.

hollow spaces in birds

besides their bones being hollow, birds also have hollow air sacs that reduce their overall weight, this makes some birds buoyant and it also helps with the respiratory system.

ability of birds to see color

birds can see in color; some birds like pigeons can see in the near UV range and can even detect polarized light possibly aiding them in navigation. Hummingbirds can see in the near UV range invisible to humans, which possibly helps them see nectar bearing flowers.

how birds navigate using the sun

birds can use the sun to navigate and help keep them going in the correct direction in areas where landmarks are scarce while they migrate in the daytime; note that they have the ability to adjust for the sun as it moves through the sky

birds heart

birds have a very large 4 chambered heart and it is larger in comparison to that of other animals heart sizes.

how birds navigate using the stars

birds have been put into experimental situations in indoor observatories, planetariums, that project night time stars on the ceiling. The birds, thinking that they are outdoors, try to fly in the direction of the little dipper (i.e. northwards); the scientists then turned the star projector in different directions and the birds actually will follow the change direction of the visual star field; this means they have some instinct that tells them directions by star patterns. Also note that birds use this to navigate at night time.

flight muscles

birds have large muscles that allow them to move their wings powerfully and for long periods of time.

birds navigating using landmarks

birds have the ability to memorize landmarks like mountains, cliff sides, and bodies of water; birds can simply remember where they were and where they are going.

bipedal

birds stand on two feet which leaves their other appendages, their wings, available for flying.

more courtship examples

bower birds - males will make a nest and then they will find blue objects and place them near the nest to persuade a female to mate with him. staging or dancing - Prairie chicken males will gather in open areas, these "stages" are places where they will display themselves by dancing to attract females. They dance by stomping their feet up and down while a group of females watches them. Native Americans imitate this dance during some of their rituals.

barbs

extensions of the rachis that make up the vein

hearing ability of birds

hearing of birds in general - Birds actually hear a narrower range of frequencies (pitches) than man is able to hear. Birds can actually hear fluctuations and repeating trills more perceptively than humans. Bird calls or songs are intensely more complex to a bird than us listening to the same song.

necessity of rapid digestion for a bird

how long it takes: A robin or thrush can eat berries, digest them and pass them to your freshly washed car in 30 minutes.

man's fovea in comparasion to bird's fovea

human eyes have approximately 200,000 vision cells in their fovea while hawks and vultures have around 1 million to 1.5 million cells packed into their foveas. This give them 8 times the acuity of a man. An American Kestrel can see a mouse at almost a mile away.

hovering

hummingbirds point their wings upwards and flap their wings in a figure-eight type pattern; the wing beat is similar to the way people tread water, the down flap and the return flap have equal thrust in holding the bird in the air.

Bird's Metabolism

hyper-metabolism - birds have a very high metabolism which means they are voracious eaters.

birds kidney and efficiency

i asked mr. muller and he said it goes along with the "uric acid" definition.

bird RBC

in mammals, the RBC's are non-nucleated, in birds the red blood cells have a nucleus. Draw a simple picture of one on the Egg/Feather/RBC handout in the box on the handout

gliding

is gracefully falling over a long distance; the bird coasts downward without flapping its wings.

territoriality

is the act of a bird (animal) when they defend an area of land and the sky above that area of land

birds normal body temp range

some birds because of their high metabolism, have very high body temperatures. Typical body temperature range from 102 degrees to 108 degrees F

ways birds navigate using the magnetic field

some birds can actually detect the Earth's magnetic field and use it to tell the direction much like having an internal compass. Pigeons have this ability. Experiments have shown when placing a magnet near a pigeons head and it interferes with their ability to navigate.

albumen

is the scientific name for egg white, it is a thick clear fluid that is composed of proteins, the developing chick uses these proteins to grow.

scooping bill of a pelican

is to catch fish

bill of a flamingo

is used to strain out its prey of tiny shrimp out of the mud it sucks into its mouth

broad bill of a cardinal

is wedge shaped which is ideal for crushing seeds, the edge of a cardinal's bill can crush seeds that require 72,000 g (almost 160 lbs.) of pressure to open and the little bird weighs less than 100 grams

soaring

is when a bird maintains or increases its altitude without flapping its wings, it can do this by gliding into air currents; rising air currents from air going over a large hill or ridge, or updrafts from heat rising from a warm field.

alula

it is a feather (or up to 3) that that is found on the front of the wrist of the wing, it acts like a flap on an airplane wing, and it allows the bird to fly at very slow speeds without stalling, that is falling out of the sky.

germinal spot

it is a small dot found on the yolk that always faces up where the chick develops

who preforms courtship

it is usually the male, male birds are often more colorful than females, this makes them more noticeable; the females are usually duller and this helps them not to be as noticeable when they are on or near the nest. This helps them to protect the eggs as they sit on them.

examples of courtship

male wrens will sing to attract females to their territories and then they will take them on a "tour" of multiple nests that they have made earlier to "bribe" a female to use a nest in their territory.p

hollow long bones of birds

many bird's bones are hollow and filled with air instead of bone marrow, they also have reinforcing struts in them to strengthen them; certain water-diving birds have solid bones that makes the birds heavier so that they sink easier when they dive underwater.

feathers purpose

most bird's legs are naked and scale-covered but, feathers cover the whole body of most birds except the heads of a few vultures, besides being simply a covering, feathers have several other purposes.

what some birds can do with their syrnix

some birds have two or a split syrinx that allows them to create complex songs and some can even harmonize with themselves.

reasons for migration

one reason is to escape harsh conditions; winter is rough and water sources like lakes, rivers, and ponds freeze and food supplies dwindle because plants can't grow in the winter in some places. Birds will go where the food is available and conditions aren't as harsh. The second reason for migration are for birds to go to their breeding grounds; in the spring and summer, birds migrate back to the area where they were born and raised as babies and have their own babies; these regions become rich with food and other resources during this time.

owls hearing

owls can hear sounds 100 times below our quietest sound perception. Owl's ears openings are shaped asymmetrically that allows them to "see" by sounds; a lone mouse shuffling through leaf litter on the forest floor, the owl can pounce on the mouse catching it in utter darkness using the sound of the rustling of the little rodent through the leaves - it doesn't have to see it to catch it!

intestine

relatively small to reduce weight and food absorption

ways birds advertise territory

similar to courtship, birds will sit on a noticeable perch that is in or on the borders of their territory; they will sing their songs or make a call to let other creatures know they are there; the birds will act aggressively and attack other birds that they feel are threatening themselves, their young, their mate or even their resources like food or water.

precocial bird young

some baby birds when they are born are able to walk and run immediately after they hatch from the egg, they are born with a downy fuzz on them, and they are able to see and immediately begin looking for food on their own, these birds are called precocial. Ducks, ostriches and chickens are termed precocial.

air sacs

the air sacs serve as a way for a bird to cool it during the rigors of flight and they provide buoyancy for swimming birds to help them bob like a cork on the surface of the water.

powdered flight and wingstrokes

the bird flaps its wings to move forward, the down-flap is the one that moves most birds forward (providing thrust), the upwards return flap simply puts the wing back into a power position for the down-flap; the bird's wing shape allows it to have lift and to stay in the air.

bird skeleton

the bird skeleton is very lightweight, most birds bones are hollow to reduce their weight.

cloaca

the cloaca is the end all for three systems of the bird, the digestive, excretory, and reproductive systems.

bird eyesight

the eyesight of birds is the best of any class of animals in the animal kingdom. Eyesight is probably their most important sense because of flight. They simply need to be able to see perfectly to maneuver safely while flying.

why females are dull in color

the females are usually duller and this helps them not to be as noticeable when they are on or near the nest. This helps them to protect the eggs as they sit on them.

pectoralis major

the major flight muscle responsible for the down-flap or power stroke of the bird's wing beat, this muscle also holds a gliding wing in place.

syrinx definition

the name of the bird's voice box

the keel

the name of their sternum bone, sometimes called the keel bone, is a large flat extension of the sternum that allows for the attachment of their large flight muscles.

chalaza

the yolk "floats" in the albumen and the chalaza keeps the yolk centered in the egg and it keeps it from touching the shell

birds heart in comparasion to other animals

their heart is four chambered and very large in comparison of other animals, probably because of high metabolisms, bird's bodies need blood quickly carried around their bodies to satisfy their tissues of nutrition and oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange requirements

bird skull

their skulls are light and have hollow spaces in them, no living bird has teeth which reduces the weight of the skull also.

tail feathers

these act as an airplane's rudder and elevator; this allows the bird to turn, tip up, and tip down.

flyways

these are aerial routes which migrating birds follow; when birds migrate, they will use the same aerial paths as their parents used and they will lead their offspring thus teaching them the way to get to their wintering grounds and back again to the breeding areas.

flock

these are large groups of birds that migrate and move from one region to another; flocks occur when birds migrate but they break up into smaller groups during breeding season and overwintering.

bristle feathers

these are like hairs, but still feathers, they lack barbs, they are used for the sense of touch, kind of like a cat's whiskers; some birds use these to help them catch insects as they fly around with their mouth held open and when a bug is near and touches one of the bristles, the bird snaps its mouth shut catching the bug.

flight feathers

these are the actual feathers that allow a bird to fly, they are found on the trailing (back) edge of the bird's wing; the flight feathers are called primaries and secondaries.

barbules and hooks

these are tiny microscopic structures that hold the barbs of the vane together.

flightless birds

these birds have two (actually three) main groups we will be concerned with. penguins - the familiar black and white birds of the cold regions (not always) of the earth that seem to "fly" through the water as they swim. ratites- These birds are large, big boned and are great runners; they include the rhea, the emu, the ostrich, and the cassowary; these birds are tall, strong legged that lack a keel bone on their sternum.

advantages of territoriality for a bird

when birds protect the area around their nests and where they live, they're protecting food and water sources, nesting sites and nesting materials; they are defending the energy they invested into their offspring and themselves and their mates. Mockingbirds are famous for their bravery and will often "mob" hawks when they are in their territory.