Phylum Chordata

Superclass Vertebrata

Class Aves

(Birds)

Class Aves• 10,000 living species,

inhabiting ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic.

• Birds range in size from the 2 in (Bee Hummingbird) to the 9 ft (Ostrich).

Characterized by:

• feathers, • wings• a beak with no teeth, • the laying of hard-shelled

eggs, • a high metabolic rate, • a four-chambered heart, and • a lightweight but strong

skeleton (hollow bones).

• Types of Dinosaur. – The fossil record indicates that birds emerged during the Jurassic

period, around 160 million years ago. Paleontologists regard birds as the only clade of dinosaurs to have survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event.

• All living species of birds have wings.• Wings are evolved forelimbs, and most bird species can

fly. • Flightless birds include ratites, penguins, and a number of

diverse endemic island species.

• Birds also have unique digestive and respiratory systems that are highly adapted for flight.

• Bird species manufacture and use tools, and many social species exhibit cultural transmission of knowledge across generations.

Flight

Flightless birds

• 40 species • The ostrich, emu,

cassowary, rhea, kiwi, and penguin.

Birds of Prey

Birds who Fish

Seed eating birds

Respiratory SystemDue to their high metabolic rate required for flight, birds have a high oxygen demand.

Digestive System– Crop - stores and softens

food after it is swallowed stomach covers food in chemical to begin breaking it down

– Stomach (proventriculus)– Gizzard - contains many

small stones bird has swallowed act like teeth to grind food up

– Cloaca – combination of the digestive and urinary systems

Eggs

• Eggs are usually laid in a nest and incubated by the parents. Most birds have an extended period of parental care after hatching

Social Behaviors• Long distance annual

migrations (some) or

perform shorter irregular movements (others). • Birds are social; they communicate using visual

signals and through calls and songs,– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjE0Kdfos4Y

• They participate in social behaviors, including – cooperative breeding,– hunting, – flocking,– mobbing of predators.

Socially monogamous, one breeding season at a time or sometimes for years, but rarely for life.

Other species have polygynous ("many females") or, rarely, polyandrous ("many males") breeding systems.

Ajax Bay Gentoo Penguins (pebble)

Blue footed boobie

Migration

Key to the Map(from Artic Refuge in the summer)

– 1) Northern Wheatear to Africa – 2) Bluethroat to southern Asia – 3) Eastern Yellow Wagtail to Indonesia – 4) Dunlin to Japan – 5) Wandering Tattler to Polynesia – 6) Bar-tailed Godwit to New Zealand – 7) Arctic Tern to Antarctica – 8) Sandhill Crane to western United States – 9) Brant to western Mexico – 10) Smith's Longspur to central United States – 11) American Golden Plover to southern South America – 12) Tundra Swan to Chesapeake Bay in eastern North America – 13) Semipalmated Sandpiper to northeastern South America

Birds of

Paradise

Examples

• BBC Life Episode 05 Birds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Dbtc7ffZaI&feature=related

• NATURE Hummingbirds: Magic in the air

• http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/hummingbirds-magic-in-the-air/video-full-episode/5475/

Homework due Friday 3/9

• Watch the following:• The Life of Birds: Fishing for a Living

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHPcQc_K8Ig

• Assignment:– Describe three of your favorite examples

tomorrow and why they were interesting to you. Bring to class tomorrow, I will collect it.