Download birds pp

Birds/Aves
• 10,000 species
• 27 Orders – see back of book
GENERAL INFO
• Feathers ( contour, flight, down) - provide
insulation and enable flight; feathers are
modifications of a bird's epidermis (outer
skin)
• Modifies limbs – wings
Hollow bones
• weight
• Fused bones in pelvis, feet, hands, and head
• Lightweight bones (bones that are either
hollow or spongy/strutted)
• No teeth or maxillary bones of the jaw
(reduces anterior weight)
FLIGHT?
• Wishbone: furcula - a bone located in the
bird's chest that prevents compression of the
chest cavity during the downstroke of a
wingbeat.
• 50% weight – muscle
Endothermic
• warm blooded
• 105 degrees F
Amniotic egg
• hard shell
• Produce large, richly provisioned external
eggs
Heart
• 4 chambered heart – 100-1000 beats per
min.
• in general exhibit high metabolic rates
EATING?
• Fast – thrush blackberries – 45 min
– mouth ( enter )
– esophagus ( throat )
- crop ( wets )
– proventriculus ( acid )
– gizzard ( grinds with stones )
– small intestine ( energy )
– cloaca ( elimination ).
BREATHING?
• lung and 9 air sacs
• Oxygen in lungs during both inhalation and
exhalation
OTHER?
• Good vision
• Good hearing
• Good smell
Smart!
• Adept navigational abilities in many species
• Extraordinary communication and song
production
• Large brains???
UNIQUE
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feet
bills and beaks
nests
sexes
migration
courtship and territory
vocal
Classification
• bills - birds do not possess teeth or the
heavy jawbones seen in other vertebrates;
instead, birds have a pair of toothless
mandibles covered with a horny sheath of
keratin.