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Birds – Class AVES

Explore the diverse class AVES, their unique characteristics, adaptations for flight, feather anatomy, breeding habits, and importance to ecosystems and humans. Learn about bird orders, species, behaviors, and evolution from reptiles.

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Birds – Class AVES

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  1. Birds – Class AVES (Some classification schemes include Birds in the Class Reptilia) Several existing powerpoints were used to create this presentation – including the following sites: facstaff.uwa.edu/jmccall/BY321/Birds2.ppt dwww.occc.edu/biologylabs/.../Zoology

  2. Bird Classification • 30 orders! • 10,000 species • Ex; Robins, owls, eagles, pelicans, hummingbirds, ducks, peacocks, ostriches, etc!!!!

  3. Most of birds’ adaptations relate to flight video

  4. Bird Characteristics • Inhabit most places of the globe • Endothermic “warm blooded” –lots of energy needed to keep body temp high – requires lots of food! • Diet is dependent on beak shape and habitat • 4 Chambers to Heart (2 Atria, 2 Ventricles) • Air sacs & lungs • Locomotion – Flying, Swimming, Running • Pectoral appendages = wings • Pelvic appendages = feet

  5. Feathers = modified scales made of keratin • Sexual reproduction with internal fertilization Oviparous - Amniotic egg with calcium carbonate shell (In many species both parents care for young) • Uric Acid excretion (white “paste”) • Thin, hollow bones; some bones fused for extra strength • Scales on legs, toothless, horny beak • MANY Behavior Adaptations – Courtship rituals, Food gathering, Caring for young, Cooling themselves off (no sweat glands), GREAT problem solvers (especially Crows!)

  6. Feathers(Modified Scales) Used in many ways • Flight • Regulation of body temperature (thermoregulation) • Protection of the body • Attraction of mates • Identification of species

  7. Types of Feathers • Contour feathers (flight feathers) • Down feathers (soft & fluffy – cover body of nestlings, undercoat in adults) • Filoplume (pin feathers) • Bristles (nasal area)

  8. Feather AnatomyOwl feathers are moreopen at the margins than otherbirds so they can fly silently tocatch their prey

  9. Preening • A bird spends part of each day making minor repairs to tears in its feathers • Feathers are re-zipped • Preen gland at base of tail secretes oil • video Before After

  10. Examples of types of Bird Feet

  11. Skeleton helps with flight Long neck, keeled and enlarged sternum (flight muscles attach to it) bones have air spaces (lighter!)

  12. Skull • Most bones fused • Much lighter than reptile or mammal skull

  13. Digestive System • Crop • Stores Food • Proventriculus • Secretes Enzymes • Gizzard • Grinds food • Cloaca • Eliminates Waste • Cloaca used in reproduction and excretion too!

  14. Examples of Types of Beaks

  15. Respiration -Air sacs and Lungs Birds have relatively small lungs plus air sacs. The air sacs permit a unidirectional flow of air through the lungs.. Therefore, in bird lungs, more oxygen is available to diffuse into the blood than in mammals Birds also have a vocal organ called a syrinx at the end of the trachea and attached to an air sac. 

  16. Circulation Very efficient! Birds, like mammals, have a 4-chambered heart (2 atria & 2 ventricles), with complete separation of oxygenated and de-oxygenated blood.

  17. Excretion – • Uric acid is excreted as a white paste – conserves water • No bladder to store liquid waste

  18. Reproduction • Male produces sperm in testes • Female only has one ovary • After mating, eggs are covered with Calcium Carbonate shell • Amniotic ggs are laid two days after mating • Eggs are incubated (chicken 21 days)

  19. Elaborate Courtship Ritualsvideo1; Video 2

  20. Nests vary according to species

  21. Chicks Altricial • No feathers • Cannot walk or see • Cannot feed themselves Precocial • Down feathers • Can walk and see • Can feed themselves

  22. Bird Brains • Great vision and hearing • Poor sense of smell and taste • Complex problem solversvideo

  23. Vision • Up to 8 times keener than human vision • 350 degree field of view • Each eye moves independently (increases field of view)

  24. Benefits of Birds to Man • Eat insects, rodents and weeds • Spread seeds for flowers and trees • Food • Sport • Pets

  25. Gee Whiz! • Fastest Animal on Earth! • Peregrine Falcon (->200 mph) video • Some birds migrate 25.000 miles! (Arctic Tern))

  26. Evolution • Birds evolved from reptiles • Few fossils due to lack of preservation of feathers or thin, hollow bones • Several different fossil species have been studied – here are 3 your book mentions: • Sinosauropteryx, Caudipteryx, and Archaeopteryx

  27. Archaeopteryx • Possible link between birds & reptiles • Large skull with reptile like teeth • Bones not hollow • Claws on forelimbs • Long tail • Strong legs & rounded wings for gliding • Feathers • Furculum - fused collarbone or wishbone

  28. Cornell Ornithology Bird CamBerry College's EaglesCam

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