Exam 2 Flashcards

Question

What are the purposes of hearing?

Answer 1

Territorial Defense Mate Choice Navigation Prey-finding

Answer 2

External: lack an elaborate external pinnae like mammalian ears, but may have specialized auricular feathers. Middle: Birds only have one hearing bone, the columnella (stapes), which connects the tympanum (eardrum) to the inner ear. Inner: pressure-sensitive, fluid system consisting of semicircular canals (organs of balance), and cochlea with hair cells.

Answer 3

Aside from owls, birds don’t have exceptional hearing (hear best between 1-5kHz) Pigeons, chickens, and guinea fowl can hear low/high frequency sounds extremely well. Songbirds tend to hear high-frequency sounds better and low-frequency less well

Answer 4

Specialized sensory cells in the semicircular canals of inner ear allow excellent sense of balance and body position that is crucial for flight Sensory hairs at the base of semicircular canals detect movements of statoliths (small, calcium carbonate crystals) floating in fluid. Variation in the pressure of the crystals on hair cells enable birds to sense vertical, horizontal, or rotary acceleration.

Answer 5

Sensory hairs at the base of semicircular canals detect movements of statoliths (small, calcium carbonate crystals) floating in fluid. Variation in the pressure of the crystals on hair cells enable birds to sense vertical, horizontal, or rotary acceleration.

Answer 6

is the perception of physical forces on the body.

Answer 7

are cells specialized for tactile response and are located at the end of sheather nerve fibers. Tactile corpuscles provide bird with proprioception, information about the orientation of the body and its parts within space.

Answer 8

is largest and most elaborate of tactile corpuscles. They are sensory nerve endings found concentrated in feather follicles (esp. bristle feathers and filoplumes), wing joints, sensitive bill tips, and woodpecker tongues.

Answer 9

Birds CAN taste and smell, but to a lesser extent than mammals. # Taste buds (chemosensory cells): Chickens: 24 Pigeons: 37 Humans: 10,000

Answer 10

Birds have big brains relative to their body mass.

Answer 11

Forebrain: behavioral instincts, sensory, learned intelligence Midbrain: vision, muscular control, physiological controls Hindbrain (medulla): links spinal cord and peripheral nervous system to major control centers of brain

Answer 12

Spatial orientation Cognitive memory

Answer 13

Seed-caching birds have exceptional memory Cache thousands of seeds for future use Corvidae: Crows, Jays, Nutcrackers Sittidae: Nuthatches Paridae: Chickadees and Titmice (Large hippocampus=Extraordinary Spatial Memory)

Answer 14

Acquisition and processing of information from the environment Using: The senses (perception) Learning Memory Decision Making

Answer 15

1. Longer incubation 2. Cooperative breeding 3. Excellent social skills 4. Long lived 5. Play behavior

Answer 16

Reasoning, behavior innovation, Insight learning

Answer 17

Vocalizations provide species-specific social and sexual signals and function in many aspects of the lives of birds.

Answer 18

Frequency (Pitch) and Amplitude (Energy or Loudness

Answer 19

Waveform: a picture of the sound pressure waves (amplitude/time). Sonogram: a picture of the different frequency components of the sound over time (kHz/time).

Answer 20

Song usually refers to loud, long vocal displays of territorial or courting male birds. Made up of: Notes Syllables Phrases Trills

Answer 21

Call often connotes short and simple vocalizations, given by either sex

Answer 22

Forest-dwelling birds tend to produce simpler sounds, since reverberations off forest vegetation mask/degrade sounds. Open-field birds tend to produce complex buzzy songs, since simple, sustained tones can be distorted by strong changes in temperature and wind.

Answer 23

Territorial ownership Attraction of mates Broadcast of personal characteristics: Health, sex, age, parring status Warning of potential dangers Maintenance of social contact

Answer 24

A bird’s signature varies from others in song pitch, phrase structure, composition and syntax. Syntax is the ordering of notes and phrases.

Answer 25

Unique vocal organ to birds Produces loud, complex sounds, including two songs simultaneously. Y-Shaped, located deep in body cavity behind the heart, near junction of trachea and two primary bronchi (at entrance to lungs).

Answer 26

is the process by which an individual develops a song with acoustic structure that is determined (in part) by the songs of other individuals in its social environment.

Answer 27

Learning guides vocal development in four main groups: Oscine songbirds Parrots Hummingbirds Suboscine bellbirds

Answer 28

“Open-ended” learners like Mockingbirds and other mimids can add new vocalizations to their repertoires throughout their lives. “Age-limited” learners acquire songs mainly during a critical learning period at an early age.

Answer 29

Four Stages: 1)Critical learning period Early period in which information is stored Usually lasts one year or less: ●White-crowned sparrows 10-50 days ●Male Chaffinches 10-12 months, until testosterone levels rise in spring ●A bird isolated from its model song during this time will never develop a normal song. ●Songs will resemble a “babbling” subsong 2)Silent period Young bird stores syllables memorized during critical learning period Can last up to eight months (Swamp Sparrows store syllables for 240 days) No practice or rehearsal during this period 3)Subsong period Young bird starts to practice by listening to itself (analogous to infant babbling) Starts to match vocalizations to memorized syllables Within +/- month develops into plastic song with rudimentary final structure 4)Song crystallization Young birds transform plastic song into real song by perfecting syllables and organizing them into correct patterns and timing. But also will develop “individual signature”

Answer 30

a genetically inherited cognitive bias to learn sounds with particular species-typical features

Answer 31

Birds that learn their songs exhibit much great geographic variations in song

Answer 32

Suboscine - no learned component

Answer 33

Vocal mimicry occurs is a broad auditory template evolves that allows birds to learn the songs of other species (or objects). Roughly 20% of passerine songbirds practice vocal mimicry. Most species are “open-ended” learners. Repertoires of 150+ songs which can change from year-to-year and increase with age. Common mimics: Northern Mockingbird Common Starling Marsh Wren Australian lyrebirds Bowerbirds

Answer 34

Female song is widespread among birds, especially tropical species with pairs that reside throughout the year in the same territory. Song can function in territorial defense and mate attraction. One of most prominent examples of female song behavior is duetting, in which two individuals sing a single song that involves coordinated vocal participation

Answer 35

Alarm and begging calls evolve by natural selection. Songs and Song Repertoires evolve through sexual selection in two ways: Male-to-male competition Mate Choice Male-to-male competition: territorial songs signal to potential rivals that a male is prepared to protect his space and any associated females Mate choice: Male song is first step toward courtship and pair formation. ●Females respond directly via calls or posturing

Answer 36

Best model resulted in an 83 % predictability rate of male pairing status -Unpaired males had significantly higher song rates than paired males -Unpaired males’ songs were significantly higher in frequency than paired males’ songs Results -Unpaired males had significantly higher song rates than paired males -Unpaired males’ songs were significantly higher in frequency than paired males’ songs -Increased song rates and higher frequencies in unpaired male Cerulean Warblers are comparable to that of other wood warbler species

Answer 37

physiological clocks that control avian annual calendars by synchronizing a bird’s internal state with its seasonal environment

Answer 38

Breeding, Migration Foraging Molting Amount of rest

Answer 39

Food and mate

Answer 40

migratory restlessness No No

Answer 41

Increasing (Spring) or shortening (Fall) day length stimulates restlessness, hyperphagia, fat deposition, and weight increase. Extrinsic weather also plays a role: ●Warming temperatures in higher latitudes=Northward movements of migrants in spring ●Other factors affecting migration include: daily weather, lowering of barometric pressure creating favorable tailwinds.

Answer 42

a predictable, cyclic behavior that takes advantage of predictable, seasonal opportunities such as climate and food availability. NOT the same as nomadic wandering or irruptions tied to unpredictable, aseasonal opportunities (e.g Red Crossbills attracted to insect infestation, and then will breed where food is abundant). Local: Tropical Hummingbirds migrating up and down mountain slopes at different times of year Long-Distance: Bar-tailed Godwits migrating non-stop from Alaska to New Zealand

Answer 43

are routes that follow topographies of coasts, mountain ranges, major river valleys, and deserts.

Answer 44

Radar: A system that sends out radio waves that reflect off of objects. This allows detection of aircraft, precipitation, missiles,etc. Radar Ornithology: Radar beams also bounce off of birds, bats, and insects. Military-grade Doppler can detect an individual bird, so total numbers of migrants in the night sky can be determined.

Answer 45

Must fly at times of day and at heights that are: -Least costly -Safest -Most Rapid Usually choose altitudes below 800 meters, but waterfowl have been spotted @ 9,000 m. Fallouts occur when 1000’s of birds land after crossing large bodies of water, deserts, or encounter headwinds. (Examples: Texas and Louisiana coasts after crossing Gulf of Mexico) Depending on species, migration can be by day, night, or both.

Answer 46

Benefits: Predictable climates Predictable food sources Large expanses of temperate-zone habitats for low-density breeding (thus reduced predation) Use of less energy in winter Costs: Weather events Building/Structure/Window Collisions Possible habitat loss Global Transmission of Diseases to other birds, livestock, humans (Avian Influenza, West Nile Virus)

Answer 47

High quality stopover sites with plenty of food are critical for successful migration. Songbirds typically fly several hundred km overnight and then pause for 1-3 days of rest and refueling. Most Arctic shorebirds have 3-4 strategic stopovers, from N. America to tip of S. America Preserving habitat is critical for successful migrations. Important Bird Areas are a worldwide network of protected stopover sites found in >200 countries

Answer 48

-Visual Landmarks Pigeons routinely follow highways, railways, rivers even if not the most direct route home. Ducks will follow coastlines but are reluctant to cross large bodies of water unless they have tailwinds. Thus, coasts and corridors can act as funnels, since birds are reluctant to cross large bodies of water or desert without tailwinds. -Sun/Stars On sunny days, Common Starlings housed in circular cages (with the sun visible) focused their attention toward the northeast, the correct direction for spring migration. On cloudy days, the starlings showed no directional tendency. Indigo Buntings are a North American, night-time migrant (Eastern U.S. to Central America). In a state of Zugunruhe, buntings were placed in a circular cage under a planetarium night sky. The buntings oriented themselves ______ under a simulated spring night sky. …and _____ under a simulated winter night sky. -Olfactory Cues Pigeons seem able to detect trace gases in atmosphere. Volatile hydrocarbon compounds are resistant to wind disruption and thus provide reliable sources of information, especially in urban environments. Young pigeons screened from prevailing winds and odors don’t navigate as well as those exposed. -Earth’s Magnetic Field A 1974 experiment showed pigeons DO use magnetic fields for orientation, especially on cloudy days. Pigeons fitted with disruptive magnets could not orient properly on cloudy days. How does Geomagnetism Work? -Specialized photopigments called Cryptochromes in birds retinas are sensitive to magnetic direction. -Cells in hippocampus and neurons in brain stem are sensitive to magnetism. -Inner ear also contains magnetic iron compounds.

Answer 49

Specialized photopigments called Cryptochromes in birds retinas are sensitive to magnetic direction. -Cells in hippocampus and neurons in brain stem are sensitive to magnetism. -Inner ear also contains magnetic iron compounds.

Answer 50

Both nexperienced, young migrant birds become lost more often than experienced adults. Most global navigation by young birds is done with adult in the lead.

Answer 51

Nocturnal, long-distance

Answer 52

Many birds out perform many mammals cognitively Bird brains are constructed differently than mammalian brains, but still enable higher cognitive abilities. Many birds have more pallial neurons in their forebrains than primates with brains 3x the size Through intelligence tests, birds have exhibited: Object memory and mental time travel Delay of gratification Reasoning Insight Learning Behavioral Innovation

Answer 53

The full range of sound it makes typically 5-14 in most birds

Exam 2 Flashcards

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