Avian Families Flashcards
Charadriidae
Order: Charadiiformes
Lapwings and Plovers
Morphology: Small to medium-sized birds with compact bodies, short necks, and short bills. Plumage is mainly brown, white, gray, olive, and black, often white nape band, black breast band(s), and a dark tail band. Sexes are alike or nearly so.
Breeding Biology: Nests are scrapes with little or no lining, placed in the open or in thin vegetation. Clutch size is 2-5 eggs, which are cryptically colored (buff, brown, or gray marked with black. In monogamous species, both parents incubate egges and care for the precocial younng.
Habitat and Diet: These are terrestrial, wading birds. Diet is mainly animals taken from the
surface of wet sand, mud, or grass. They forage by repeated short runs with pauses to peck at prey
and may use “foot-trembling” to startle prey into movement.
Interesting Facts: Plovers have been known to use an anti-predator distraction display called
“false brooding,” in which the bird settles down as if to brood or incubate at a site (sometimes an
unused nest scrape) where there are no eggs or young present.
Haematopodidae
Order: Charadriiformes
Oystercatchers
Morphology: Large waders with a long, strong bill, which has tactile cells in the tip. Plumage is
black-and-white or completely black. Sexes are alike.
Breeding Biology: Lay 2-4 eggs in a nest scrape on the ground. Both sexes incubate and young
are precocial.
Habitat and Diet: Occur mainly on beaches, mudflats, and rocky seashores. Some species also
forage or nest in meadows or by inland lakes. Diet is mainly mollusks, crustaceans, annelid
worms, and insects. The bill is used to open mussels, dislodge limpets from intertidal rocks, or
probe for food on sandy or muddy shores.
Interesting Facts: Oystercatchers feed by catching shellfish unaware and jabbing their bill inside
opened shells, severing the muscle that clamps the shell shut. This is not without risks, as they
sometimes drown after a tightly rooted mussel clamps down on their bill and holds the bird in
place until the tide comes in.
Recurvirostridae
Order: Charadriiformes
Stilts and Avocets
Morphology: Medium-sized, wading birds with long legs, long necks, and long bills. Avocets
have a slender upcurved bill, while stilts have a straight, slender bill. The red legs of stilts are
exceptionally long in proportion to their body size. Plumage is mainly black and white. Sexes are
alike.
Breeding Biology: Avocets nest in colonies near water; open nests are placed on grass, sand,
mud, or shallow water and may be unlined or lined with dead plants. Stilts nest in colonies near or
in shallow water; nests are of mud and plants or in grass clumps with little nest material. Young
of both groups are precocial and cared for by both parents. Clutch is 3-4 buff or brownish eggs.
Habitat and Diet: Occur in wet habitats – marshes, mudflats, lakes, streams, flooded fields. Diet is
primarily insects and other invertebrates.
Interesting Facts: Stilts have the second longest legs in proportion to their bodies of any bird
species (only flamingos exceed them)!
Scolopacidae
Order: Charadriiformes
Sandpipers, Phalaropes, and Allies
Morphology: Small to medium-sized birds that have long legs and long, slender bills. The bill has
sensory pits at the tip with which the bird can detect and evaluate objects when probing in mud,
sand, or soil. Plumage is generally dull and cryptic, consisting of browns, grays, and streaked
patterning. Sexes are alike in plumage.
Breeding Biology: Nests are usually on the ground, often concealed by vegetation. Usually lay 4
cryptically colored eggs. In most species, both sexes incubate. Young are precocial.
Habitat and Diet: Occur mainly in aquatic and marine habitats, some in moist woodland,
grasslands, or swamps. Diet varies, but is mainly animal (generally small invertebrates).
Interesting Facts: The American Woodcock has a unique adaptation for foraging for worms –
they have a flexible portion of the upper mandible that allows the bill to be opened when
submerged in soil.
Laridae
Order: Charadriiformes
Skuas, Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers
Morphology: Medium to large birds with long wings, short legs, and webbed feet. They often
posses a large salt-excreting gland located in the orbit above the eye. Plumage is usually white,
gray and white, black and white, or brown. Gulls have a stout, somewhat hooked bill; skuas have
a more strongly hooked bill; terns have a slender and sharply pointed bill; and the bill of the
skimmers is uniquely modified, with the lower mandible blade-like and longer than the upper.
Breeding Biology: Nesting strategies vary, but many species are colonial nesters. Some species
use nest scrapes, while others build floating platform nests.
Habitat and Diet: Occur mainly in coastal areas, but may also reside in wetland or marsh habitats.
Diet is variable, ranging from omnivory in some species to a focus on marine organisms in others.
- *Interesting Facts:** When Black Skimmers hatch, their upper and lower mandibles are equal
lengths. By fledging the lower mandible is already nearly 1 cm longer than the upper!
Phasianidae
Order: Galliformes
Partridges, Grouse, Turkeys, and Old World Quail
Morphology: Medium to large birds that are “chicken-like” in appearance. The wings are short
and rounded, and the tail varies from short to long, with extreme development in the males of the
peafowl and some pheasants. The legs and feet are strong and many members have spurs on the
tarsus. Most are cryptically colored, patterned in black, gray, and brown, but among the true
pheasants, the males (and sometimes females) have reds, yellows, silvers, and other bright colors.
Breeding Biology: Nests are simple, usually on the ground. Clutch size is variable, from 2 to 12+.
In most species, males are polygamous, but males of monogamous species may help raise the
precocial young.
Habitat and Diet: Terrestrial birds that are distributed across a wide range of habitats. Diet is
mainly seeds, fruits, and other plant products and small animals.
Interesting Facts: Longevity of large species is up to 30 years in captivity, but much less in the
wild.
Odontophoridae
Order: Galliformes
New World Quail
Morphology: Small, compact birds that are generally short winged, necked, and tailed. The bills
are short, slightly curved, and serrated. The legs are short and powerful. Plumage is usually
brightly marked with brown, buff, yellow, reddish, gray, black, and white. The head is often
crested. Sexes differ in plumage in most species.
Breeding Biology: Nests are usually on the ground in a shallow depression lined with grass,
leaves, etc., usually concealed in grass, often next to a rock, log, or base of a tree or bush. Lay 4-
15 white or brown spotted eggs and young are precocial. These species are monogamous.
Habitat and Diet: Occupy primarily grassland or scrub habitats. Diet is mainly seeds and insects.
Interesting Facts: Although they are capable of short bursts of strong flight, quails prefer to walk,
and will run (or hide) from danger, flying off only as a last resort.
Rallidae
Order: Gruiformes
Rails, Gallinules, and Coots
Morphology: Small to medium-sized birds with short tails and stubby wings. Rails have laterally
compressed bodies and are marked with black, grays, and browns that range from rich rufous to
dusky olive to light buff. Coots, moorhens, and gallinules range in color from pale grayish
(juveniles) to purple or black. Coots are much plumper and more gregarious than other species.
Breeding Biology: Pairs form for only one season and interspecific brood parasitism is common.
Infanticide is also common among coots, which lay and hatch more eggs than they can
successfully rear. Chicks are semi-precocial and, in coots, compete for attention from their
parents.
Habitat and Diet: Found in wetland habitats in N. America, ranging from saltmarsh and
mangroves to mountain lakes. They are omnivorous, eating a wide variety of plant and animal
matter and they do not have a crop.
Interesting Facts: Rails are secretive and little known, often being heard more than they are seen.
Gruidae
Order:Gruiformes
Cranes
Morphology: Large, elegant wading birds with long necks and legs, and with wingspans ranging
from 6’-7’3”. Most species are predominantly pale gray or white, with patches of red on the face.
Breeding Biology: Form monogamous pair bonds, which can last for life (although re-pairing
does occur occasionally). They exhibit elaborate “dance” displays. Build platform nests and raise
one or two precocial chicks.
Habitat and Diet: Inhabit a variety of freshwater wetlands and uplands, including agricultural
tracts, but are typically restricted to open habitats. Diet consists of a wide variety of plant material
and small animals. They do not have a crop.
Interesting Facts: Gather in large flocks outside of the breeding season, which can reach up to
10,000 individuals!
Columbidae
Order: Columbiformes
Pigeons and Doves
Morphology: Small to large, plump birds with small heads. Short legs are covered with small,
reticulate scales. Fleshy cere at base of the bill. Plumage of N. American species is dominated by
tans and grays, but many species have scaling or barring on the wings and tail, and some exhibit
showy iridescent patches on the nape.
Breeding Biology: Invariably lay two eggs in a flimsy open cup nest. They are monogamous and
both parents raise the semi-altricial chicks.
Habitat and Diet: Commonly occur in open habitats, including fields, croplands, grasslands,
deserts, woodland edges, suburbs, and cities. Diet is primarily comprised of seeds and fruits.
They have a muscular gizzard and ingest grit to aid in digestion.
Interesting Facts: All have a large crop, the lining of which secretes a substance known as
“pigeon’s milk” that is used to nourish their nestlings. The extinct Dodo of Mauritius Island was a
large, flightless pigeon.
Fringillidae
Order: Passiformes
Finches
Morphology: Small to moderately large birds with strong, stubby beaks (which can be quite large
in some species). Plumage is primarily browns, but many have black and carotenoid-based bright
yellows and reds.
Breeding Biology: Lay 2-6 eggs in an open cup nest. They are monogamous and males will
defend females rather than territories.
Habitat and Diet: Commonly occur in forests, shrublands, or edge habitats. Diet consists mainly
of seeds still attached to the plant, but rarely insects or nectar.
Interesting Facts: House Finches were originally western birds before a small number were
released on Long Island, New York in the 1940s after an attempt to sell them as cage birds failed.
Passeridae
Order: Passeriformes
Old World Sparrows
Morphology: Small birds with a thick, pointed, conical bill, broad and mostly blunt wings, and a
relatively short tail. Plumage is various combinations of brown, chestnut, gray, and white, most
with some black areas (and also some with yellow).
Breeding Biology: House Sparrows lay 4-5 eggs. They are monogamous, but pair members often
engage in extra-pair copulations.
Habitat and Diet: House Sparrows are closely associated with people and their buildings. Habitat
is primarily open country, villages, and urban areas. Diet consists mostly of the seeds of cereals
and weeds, but they are opportunistic and adaptable.
Interesting Facts: Hundreds of House Sparrows were introduced into Brooklyn, New York
between 1851 and 1852. They are extremely intelligent and can perform complex tasks to obtain
food, such as opening automatic doors to enter supermarkets!
Sturnidae
Order: Passeriformes
Starlings
Morphology: Medium-sized birds with long legs. Wings are pointed in most species. Plumage
colors vary from black, brown, and gray to white, some with yellow, orange, or red areas, some
are crested. Beaks are straight, sharp, and often yellow or red. Sexes may be mono- or dimorphic.
Breeding Biology: Lay 2-9 bluish or blue-green eggs. Most build nests in holes or cavities.
Habitat and Diet: Commonly occur in open country, with many species closely associated with
human habitation. They feed mainly on the ground on insects, fruits, berries, and virtually any
other edible material.
Interesting Facts: European Starlings were intentionally introduced into New York’s Central Park
by a group that wanted all the birds mentioned by Shakespeare to live in N. America. It actually
took several tries to get a successful introduction, but now there are over 200 million!
Icteridae
Order: Passeriformes
Blackbirds
Morphology: Small to medium, often colorful, birds. Most species have black as a predominant
plumage color, often enlivened by yellow, orange, or red. All have long, straight, and pointed
bills. They often display considerable sexual dimorphism.
Breeding Biology: Most lay 4-5 eggs in an open cup nest. Highly variable mating systems,
ranging from polygyny to monogamy. Some cowbird species engage in brood parasitism.
Habitat and Diet: They inhabit a range of habitats, including scrub, swamp, forest, and savannah.
Diet changes throughout the year; they typically eat fruit and grains outside of the breeding
season and insects while breeding. Some are also highly nectivorous.
Interesting Facts: Most are territorial, but others form large colonies of up to 100,000 birds!
Pelecanidae
Order: Pelecaniformes
Pelicans
Morphology: Medium to large birds that have totipalmate feet, with all four toes joined by webs.
This makes for strong swimming ability, but awkward walking. Have a distensible pouch of bare
skin between the branches of the lower mandible.
Breeding Biology: Lay 1-3 eggs on bare ground or in a nest of sticks, reeds, or seaweed in trees
or dense herbaceous plants. Nearly all nest in colonies.
Habitat and Diet: Reside in coastal marine environments. Diet consists primarily of fish.
Interesting Facts: The Brown Pelican uses a plunge-diving method to hunt, where the bird dives
headfirst and catches unsuspecting fish in their pouch.
Ardeidae
Order: Pelecaniformes
Herons, Bitterns, and Allies
Morphology: Members range in size from the Least Bitterns, about a foot tall, to the Goliath
Heron of Africa, up to 5 feet tall. Herons have long, spear-shaped bills, powder down, a comblike
margin on the claw of the middle toe, and a modification of the vertebrae of the neck that
provides a spearing mechanism (and also allows the neck to fold into an S-shaped curve).
Breeding Biology: Most species nest in colonies, but a few are solitary. Nests are placed in trees
or on the ground.
Habitat and Diet: Occupy wetland habitats, primarily freshwater and brackish marshes with
dense, tall growths of aquatic vegetation. Diet is primarily aquatic animals.
Interesting Facts: Snowy Egrets were once hunted for their curved back plumes, used to adorn
women’s hats.
Threskiornithidae
Order: Pelecaniformes
Ibises and Spoonbills
Morphology: Large, long-legged, long-necked birds. Ibises have long, curved bills and spoonbills
have long bills with a broad, flattened, spoon-shaped tip.
Breeding Biology: Nest in colonies in trees, reeds, or grass.
Habitat and Diet: Occupy primarily freshwater wetland habitats (especially cattail and bulrush
marshes), rivers, and ponds. Diet consists mainly of invertebrates, but they sometimes eat small
fish, reptiles, and amphibians.
Interesting Facts: Some species feed in flocks of more than 1,000 birds.
Ciconiidae
Order: Ciconiiformes
Storks
Morphology: Large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds. They have long, stout bills that are
usually straight and sharp, but sometimes have a slight curve at the tip.
Breeding Biology: Lay 1-5 creamy white eggs. Highly colonial and build nests in trees.
Habitat and Diet: Colonies occupy freshwater and marine-estuarine forested habitats. Feeding
generally occurs in natural or artificial wetlands. Diet consists primarily of fish.
Interesting Facts: The Marabou Stork of Africa has attained heights of 5 feet!
Caprimulgidae
Order: Caprimulgiformes
Goatsuckers
Morphology: Medium-sized birds with long wings and short legs. Most have small feet, of little
use for walking, and long pointed wings. Plumage is cryptically colored to resemble bark or
leaves. Most have small, weak bills with a very large gape surrounded by long bristles.
Breeding Biology: Lay 1 or 2 patterned eggs directly on the bare ground. Both sexes incubate and
brood the young.
Habitat and Diet: Mostly active in the late evening and early morning, or at night. Occur mainly
in tropical and temperate regions and many oceanic islands; bracken is their preferred habitat.
Diet is predominantly moths and other large flying insects.
Interesting Facts: They are referred to as “goatsuckers” from the mistaken belief that they suck
milk from goats (the Latin for goatsucker is Caprimulgus).
Strigidae
Order: Strigiformes
Typical Owls
Morphology: Small to large birds with large, rounded heads and big eyes that are strengthened by a cylinder of bony plates that provides telescopic vision. Surrounding the eyes are large facial discs of feathers that concentrate sound and greatly increase hearing ability. Nearly all owls are cryptically colored, reducing discovery while they roost by day. Their dense plumage is soft, enabling silent flight. In some species, the outer, bony portions of the two ears are differently shaped, creating a stereophonic effect that enables them to locate precisely sounds made by prey.
Breeding Biology: Lay 1-14 eggs in a cavity, on the ground, or in the old nest of other birds. Eggs
are chalky-white and almost round. In many species, clutch size depends on food availability.
Habitat and Diet: Occupy a wide range of habitats, from dense forests to the Sonoran Desert. Diet
consists mainly of rodents and shrews, but some take birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, crabs,
earthworms, and/or insects. Some small species take moths and other insects in flight.
Interesting Facts: Owls must turn their heads just to look sideways and some species can rotate
their head 270 degrees to look behind them!
Tytonidae
Order: Strigiformes
Barn Owls
Morphology: Barn owls differ from typical owls (Strigidae) in a number of characters, among
them a longer and narrower skull, a furcula fused to the sternum, and legs that are longer than
those of most typical owls. Have a heart-shaped facial disc.
Breeding Biology: Lay 1-18 eggs with a first clutch average of 7. Cavity nesters that will often
nest in man-made structures, such as barn lofts or church steeples.
Habitat and Diet: The Barn Owl (Tyto alba) is the most widely distributed species of owl, and one
of the most widespread of all birds. It is found almost everywhere in the world outside polar and
desert regions. Diet consists mainly of rodents and shrews.
Phoenicopteridae
Order: Phoenicopteriformes
Flamingos
Morphology: Distinguished by their long necks with elongated vertebrae, long legs with webbed
feet, generally pink coloration, and specialized, filter-feeding bills, which are bent downward in
the middle. Males are larger than females, but the sexes are alike in their pink plumage.
Breeding Biology: Lay 1 white egg in a tall cone-shaped nest of mud.
Habitat and Diet: Mostly occupy large, shallow lagoons and lakes, some at extremely high
altitudes in the Andes of S. America. They filter-feed on brine shrimp and blue-green algae.
Interesting Facts: Similar to pigeons, flamingos produce a milk rich in fat and protein, which they
feed to young chicks. Flamingos gain their pink coloration from carotenoids in their food.
Turdidae
Order: Passeriformes
Thrushes
Morphology: Small to fairly large perching birds with a relatively slender, but not sharply
pointed, bill.
Breeding Biology: Lay 2-6 eggs, which vary from white to greenish or blue. The “true thrushes”
(Turdus) make open cup nests placed in a tree or bush, with some incorporating mud. The
bluebirds (Sialia) are cavity nesters, using holes in trees or man-made nest boxes.
Habitat and Diet: “True thrushes” occur in forest habitats (with the American Robin being found
also in man-made habitats). Bluebirds occur in savanna and woodland edge habitats. The diet of
both groups consists primarily of insects, worms, and fruit.
Interesting Facts: Arizona is one of the few places that all three bluebird species (Mountain,
Eastern, and Western) co-occur.
Procellariifomes
- Diomedeidae
- Procellariidae
- Hydrobatidae
Tube-nosed Swimmers
Morphology: Range in size from the 6-inch Least Storm-Petrel to the huge Wandering Albatross,
which has a wingspan of nearly 12 feet! All have tubular nostrils and a distinctly hooked bill. The
plumage is dense and waterproof, and beneath the outer feathering is a dense coat of down. A
large gland that concentrates and excretes salt in drops from the bill resides in the roof of the
orbit. Most species have long wings, held stiffly and used for soaring and planing over the waves,
but the storm-petrels flutter closer to the surface on shorter wings, and the diving petrels have
very short wings, which they use for locomotion underwater, as do small shearwaters. Plumage is
black, white, brown, or gray and little bright color is present except in the bill and feet of some
species.
Breeding Biology: Colonial nesters that lay a single egg and have long incubation and nestling
periods. They are generally monogamous and many species pair for life. Small species nest in
burrows, while large albatrosses and some petrels nest on the surface.
**Habitat and Diet:** Pelagic (open ocean) birds. Most species seek food from the surface layers of the ocean (fish, crustaceans, etc.).
Interesting Facts: Both parents and young squirt foul-smelling stomach oil at intruders of the nest.
Phalacrocoracidae
Order: Suliformes
Frigatebirds, Boobies, Cormorants, and Allies
Morphology: Medium to large seabirds. Plumage is primarily dark, but some species have black
and white plumage and a few are colorful. Many species have areas on the face that become
brightly colored during the breeding season.
Breeding Biology: Colonial nesters that lay 1-3 eggs on the bare ground among rocks.
Habitat and Diet: Occupy coastal regions, rather than open ocean. Diet consists primarily of fish
and other marine organisms.
Interesting Facts: Cormorants will often be seen drying their wings after diving into the water to
catch fish. Interestingly, this behavior has been retained in the flightless, Galapagos Cormorant.
Traditional Chinese and Japanese culture has included cormorant fishing – which is a method in
which fisherman use trained cormorants to catch fish.
Podicipedidae
Order: Podicipediformes
Grebes
Morphology: Medium-sized, foot-propelled diving birds with stocky bodies, slender necks, and
small heads. The toes are lobed and the tarsi are laterally compressed, thereby offering little
resistance when drawn forward through water. The legs are located far back on the body, making
it difficult for the birds to move on land but giving them a powerful forward thrust during dives.
The tail feathers are reduced, so grebes look tailless. In most species, the bill is slender and
pointed; but in some – for example the Pied-Billed Grebe – the bill is stouter, an adaptation to the
bird’s diet of hard-shelled crustaceans. The sexes have similar plumage and some species acquire
distinct breeding plumages.
Breeding Biology: Most species build floating platforms of aquatic weeds on which they mate
and lay their eggs. In most species, the young are handsomely striped in black and white.
Habitat and Diet: Habitat is freshwater lakes or ponds. Diet is fish, crustaceans, and aquatic
insects. Grebes eat their own feathers, which then trap fish bones in the stomach, holding the
bones for prolonged digestion or regurgitation.
Interesting Facts: Grebes carry their young on their back, even when diving!
Anatidae
Order: Anseriformes
Swans, Geese, Ducks
Morphology: Diverse group of mainly aquatic birds that have webbed feet. A thin layer of skin covers the flattened, blunt-tipped bill, which bears a nail at the tip of the maxilla and fine lamellae along the margins of the maxilla and mandible. Waterfowl have a dense coat of firm, waterproof feathers, in distinct tracts, with a layer of down beneath. Many of these species are dimorphic and colorful. Swans are large, long-necked birds with strong bills. Sexes are alike in plumage. Geese are large birds with long necks (but not as long as those of swans). Sexes are alike in plumage and lack iridescent colors. Bill form varies with diet, from those with lateral lamellae for straining microscopic food from mud and strong, broad bills for wrenching mollusks from rock moorings to narrow bills with sharp tooth-like serrations for capturing fish and short, blunt bills for grazing on field plants.
Breeding Biology: Swans create a bulky nest on the ground. The nest structure of waterfowl varies between species – with many nesting on the ground in an open cup and some (such as the Wood Duck) nesting in cavities.
Habitat and Diet: Vary in ecology from terrestrial grazers to deepwater divers and agile riders of
ocean surf and mountain streams. Swans do not dive and are herbivorous, foraging for water plants from the surface using their long necks to reach the bottom. Diet of waterfowl is variable with some species straining microscopic food out of mud and others capturing fish or grazing on plants. Geese are primarily herbivorous, but sometimes also eat small insects or fish.
Interesting Facts: Unlike most birds, male waterfowl (called “drakes”) have a penis shaped like a corkscrew! Ducks molt their entire set of flight feathers simultaneously, resulting in an annual period of flightlessness.
Picidae
Order: Piciformes
Puffbirds, Jacamars, Toucans, Woodpeckers, and Allies
Morphology: All are adapted for clinging to the bark of trees with their toes (which are zygodactyl) and have stiffened tail feathers that serve as a prop. They have straight, strong, chisel-tipped beaks used to drill into the bark of trees. The skull is thick and bony to withstand the pounding of the bill and the barbed tongue is often coated with a sticky secretion. Many species are patterned in black and white (though some are green or brown), often with red or yellow
crowns or flight feathers and frequent spots or bars. The sexes are alike in a few species, but in many the males have a red or yellow crown patch that the females lack.
Breeding Biology: Roost and nest in holes usually in trees and occasionally in earthen banks. One or both members of the pair excavate the nest holes and the cavity is lined with wood chips. Lay 2-9 eggs, which are incubated by both sexes during the day and the male at night.
Habitat and Diet: Habitat is wooded areas all over the world, with the Gila Woodpecker and Gilded Flicker primarily inhabiting the deserts of the Southwest US. Diet is primarily insects gained from probing on or in the bark of trees, but additionally they may catch flying insects on the wing, probe fallen branches on the ground, or eat fruit and nuts. Sapsuckers feed on sap from pits they excavate in tree trunks and branches. Acorn Woodpeckers store acorns in holes drilled in
tree bark or dead trees, including telephone poles, fence posts, and even buildings.
Interesting Facts: The Acorn Woodpecker has a complex social system where family groups hold
territories and the young often stay with their parents for several years to help them raise more
offspring.
