The Diversity of Birds Flashcards
(22 cards)
Class Aves
How many species of Bird are there?
Ever fluid, but around 10,000
Comprises some 300 billion birds falling
into 40 orders, 237 families & 2,278 genera
All avian orders are completed by the term
‘formes’ which means “taking the form of”
Order Passeriformes
“sparrow-like”
More than 50% of all bird species
known as perching birds and “songbirds”
includes
- swallows
- wagtails
- wrens
- robins
- thrushes
- warblers
- tits
- nuthatches
- shrikes
- crows
- starlings
- sparrows
- finches
- buntings
Order Struthioniformes
“Ostrich-like”
Ostriches, emus, rheas, cassowaries & kiwis
Order Pelecaniformes
Pelecans, gannets and cormorants
Order Ciconiiformes
“stork-like”
Herons, storks & ibises
Order Anseriformes
“goose-like”
Ducks, geese and swans
Order Falconiformes
“sickle-like”
Falcons, Hawks, Eagles and Vultures
Order Galliformes
“chicken-like”
includes chickens, turkeys, pheasants, grouses, and some others
Order Gruiformes
“crane-like”
Includes cranes, coots and rails
Order Charadriiformes
“plover-like”
Ostercatchers, plovers, auks, terns and gulls
Order Columbiformes
“pigeon-like”
Pigeons and doves
Orders Strigiformes
“screech owl-like”
Owls
Order Coraciiformes
“crow-like”
Bee-Eaters, Kingfishers, and Hornbills
Order Piciformes
“woodpecker-like”
Woodpeckers, Honeyguides and Toucans
Anatomy and physiology
Highly conserved
Skeletal elements
fused
• Long bones air-filled
• Medullary bone
• No teeth but gizzard
grinds food instead
• Large flight muscles
• Air sacs as well as
lungs
• Most body weight
near centre of
gravity
• Feathers
• Calcified eggshells
body mass reduction
driven by need for flight
• Lost teeth
• Lost structural bone
• Lost skeletal elements
• Not viviparous but lay eggs
• Only one functional ovary at any one
time
• Massive diurnal fluctuation in fat
reserves
Skeleton
Digestive System
Respiratory System
Reproductive System
Anatomy of the Egg
