Birds Test Module 2

the major anatomical and physiological adaptations for flight

1)skeleton

anisodactyl feet

3 toes pointing forward and one rear pointing toes

toe arrangement in birds

most birds have anisodactyl feet

melanins

most widespread pigment coloration sen in birds, responsible for all black coloration and for most brown, rufous, grey and buff colors seen in birdsm skin color in birds too

pamprodactyl

all toes point forward

shaft

base of feather under skin up to the center feather vane

basics of feather maitennce

bathing can happen daily, dust bath when water is not avaiable feather preening; using their bills heads or feet to preen an dmanpulate feathers

the fact tha tbirds are walking on their toes rather than or equivalent feet

birds foot is the equivalent of human toes

structural colors

colors produced by the physical interaction of light waves with the structure of the feather that causes light to be scattered

porphvrins

common pigments (cholorphyll and heme) brown and rufous colors of feathers

advantages and disadvantages of flight

energy needed is tremendous; birds must be lighter weight (limited in size), small birds must eat a lot more relative to their size than large birds)

functions of feathers

flight, insulation, food collection, sensory reception, social signaling, camoflouge, sound collection in some species

filoplume feathers

hairlike feathers scattered throughout the plumage of the bird not easily visible

the need for torpor in humming birds

helps them conserve energy because they must survive the ngiht without food intake

feather use by humans

insulation for warmth, fashion, fishing lures, fletching arrows, writing instrucments and feather meal

the keel bone and the coracoid bone

keel provides location for attachment for the large breast muscles needed to power through flight; coracoid bone; elongaged and strengthened into struts that prevent the collapse of the skeletal system during the powerful downstroke of flight

semiplume

large rachis with loose pumulacaeous vanes, provide insulation, but often specialized display feathers for attracting mates

eontour feathers

major externally visable feathers covering the body;

feather pigments

melanins, carotenoids, porphyrins, psittacofulvins

barbules

microfilament projections from the side of the barbs

afterfeather

miniature version of the full-sized feather (gives bird a shaggy appearance)

torpor

nightime hibernation basically

flight muscles

pectoralis major and minor muscles - connected by a tendon that forms a rope and pulley system; on a downstroke, pectorals minor relaxes and pectorals major contracts, pulling wing down and forward, creating forward propulsion, downward stroke is most energy demanding and vice versa

psittacofulvins

pigments that are responsible for the red orange pink and yellow colors

concept of lift and anatomical structure of the wings that create lift

provided naturally by the shape of the birds win in flight; front of the wing is the thickest portion of the wing, as the wing bones and most of the musclature are located here; back of wing is thing and light weight as it only consists of a isngle thin layer of the ends of the primary, secondary and tertiary feathers; wing also gently curves downward so the back of the wing is lower than the front

the term molting

replacing old feathers with new feathers

types of feathers

retrices, eontour, semiplume, down, filoplume, bristle

syndactyl

same as anisodactyl but with 2 toes fused from base partway up their length; webbed feet to facilitate swimming

cartenoids

second most prevalent family of pigments found in birds, responsible for most of the red, orange and yellow colors of plumage

general feather structure

shaft barbs barbules and barbicels afterfeather

down feathers

soft, fluffy feathers that are underneath the contour feathers adn not visible externally

methods birds use to get into the air

springing into the air with legs providing inital thrust and velocity followed by wing flapping; for larget birds flight must be initiated by running along the ground or no water to generate enough speed to create the lift necessay for takeoff. flight can also be initated by large birds by taking off from an elevated position

retrices

tail feathers

two examples of economical flight hovering

taking advantage of the thermals by soaring into the sky in a circular motion looking for the next meal; dynamic soaring extract life energy without flapping wings by repeating a cycle of 180 degree turns at two different elevations above a large body of water; fluing in formation can save energy if birds are positioned correctly to take advantage of it

barbs

the lateral branches/ filaments that project from each side of the rachis

barbicels

tiny hooklets that help form a feather that is smooth and well held together meet the demands of flight

reasons bird migrate

to avoid severe seasons

zygodactyl

two outside toes pointed backwards and middle toes pointing forward

bristle feathers

typically located near the eyes and bill and may serve as eyelashes