Biology of birds

Question 1

Unique features of birds

Answer 1

Feathers
warm blooded
respiration
bill
skeleton

Question 2

Feathers are made of

Answer 2

beta keratin

Question 3

Stiff feathers are

Answer 3

pennaceous

Question 4

fluffy feathers are

Answer 4

plumaceous

Question 5

base of feathers

Answer 5

calamus

Question 6

tail feathers attach to

Answer 6

pygostyle

Question 7

what is the pygostyle

Answer 7

fused claudel vertebrae

Question 8

undertail covers are called the

Answer 8

crissum

Question 9

six types of feathers

Answer 9

• Down
• Power down
• Semiplume
• Filoplume
• Bristle
• Flight

Question 10

Who has powder down feathers

Answer 10

ardeidae

Question 11

which feather keeps growing

Answer 11

powder down

Question 12

which feather is shaped like a feather duster

Answer 12

filoplume

Question 13

Gland with secretions for preening

Answer 13

uropygial

Question 14

birds that take dust bath

Answer 14

ruffed grouse
brown thrasher

Question 15

birds that skim over water to bathe

Answer 15

swallows
flycatchers

Question 16

birds that shower

Answer 16

woodpeckers

Question 17

feather tracts

Answer 17

pterylae

Question 18

spaces between pterlae

Answer 18

apteria

Question 19

waterfowl unique plumage

Answer 19

eclipse

Question 20

The moult from basic to alternate is the

Answer 20

pre-alternate moult

Question 21

the moult from alternate to basic is the

Answer 21

pre-basic moult

Question 22

Pigments come from

Answer 22

biochromes

Question 23

2 main sources of colour

Answer 23

pigmentation and diet

Question 24

melanin produced in

Answer 24

melanocytes

Question 25

colours of melanin

Answer 25

brown/black, earthones

Question 26

colours of eumelanin

Answer 26

dark colours, black/gray

Question 27

phototoxic biochrome

Answer 27

phaeomelanin

Question 28

where phaeomelanin is located

Answer 28

crissum

Question 29

birds with phaeomelanin

Answer 29

bohemian waxwing

Question 30

why white is better in snow

Answer 30

more insulation in empty follicle

Question 31

Rare pigment in owls and tropical birds

Answer 31

porphyrin

Question 32

why porphyrin is rare

Answer 32

worn down by light

Question 33

how iridescence works

Answer 33

coherent scattering

Question 34

structural colour like blue

Answer 34

schemochrome

Question 35

Types of wings

Answer 35

high speed high aspect ratio elliptical slotted high lift owls - elliptical with modifications

Question 36

adaptations for weight reduction

Answer 36

no bladder bones beak (no heavy jaw)

Question 37

where flight muscles attach

Answer 37

keel

Question 38

ribs of birds have

Answer 38

overlapping bones for strength by uncinate spur

Question 39

pectoral girdle is fused

Answer 39

clavicles, scapular and coracid

Question 40

pelvic girdle is fused

Answer 40

ilia, ischia, pubes and sunsacrum

Question 41

flight muscle

Answer 41

supracoracoideus and pectorals

Question 42

opening for tendon for flight

Answer 42

foramen triosseum

Question 43

Direct cost of producing lift

Answer 43

induced drag

Question 44

which feathers produce power stroke

Answer 44

primaries

Question 45

what acts like a bellows to move air

Answer 45

furcula

Question 46

what is the bill made of

Answer 46

keratin - rhamphotheca

Question 47

how upper mandible is moved

Answer 47

craniofascial hinge (quadrate bone)

Question 48

How birds detect invertebrates with bill

Answer 48

Herbst corpuscles

Question 49

How hummingbirds and woodpeckers retract tongue

Answer 49

hyoid apparatus

Question 50

birds with small gizzard

Answer 50

hummingbird

Question 51

birds with large gizzard

Answer 51

turkeys

Question 52

branch of intestine to aid digestion

Answer 52

caeca

Question 53

bird that can crack a cherry seed

Answer 53

evening grosbeak

Question 54

goldfinch specialized food

Answer 54

thistle

Question 55

how bluejays crack an acorn

Answer 55

hold with feet

Question 56

adaptations of woodpeckers

Answer 56

- less cerebral fluid - brain longer top to bottom - hyoid apparatus - spongey bones - chisel shaped bill - pectin airbags inside eyes - thicker nictitating membrane - extra bone in ear - reinforced tail

Question 57

woodpeckers that feed like flycatchers

Answer 57

redheaded

Question 58

Modifications of raptor eyes

Answer 58

more cones retinal fovea for pursuit

Question 59

which raptors perch and pounce

Answer 59

buteos

Question 60

maneuverable raptors

Answer 60

acciptors

Question 61

raptors that stoop to kill

Answer 61

falcons

Question 62

owl adaptations for nocturnal hunting

Answer 62

- larger eyes with more rods - motion parallax in head - can rotate neck 270 degrees - artery enters neck at 12th vertebrae - arteries joined to keep blood flow - fascial disc - asymmetrical ears - pile on wings

Question 63

boreal species of owl by niche partitioning

Answer 63

N. Hawk - day Boreal - night great gray - crepuscular

Question 64

birds that dive headfirst into water

Answer 64

kingfisher, tern, n. gannet

Question 65

bird that creates shade to attract fish

Answer 65

egret

Question 66

bird with yellow feet to attract fish

Answer 66

snowy egret

Question 67

bird with no external nares

Answer 67

n. gannet

Question 68

birds that hun fish co-operatively

Answer 68

white pelican

Question 69

birds with salt glands

Answer 69

puffin

Question 70

facultative scavengers

Answer 70

guls, eagles, raven, scarlet tanager

Question 71

adaptations of turkey vultures to scavenging

Answer 71

- keen sense of smell - no septum - v shaped wings with slotted primaries - high aspect ratio - low and slow flight

Question 72

birds that roost communally

Answer 72

american crow, northern gannet, turkey vulture

Question 73

reason for communal roosting

Answer 73

information transfer

Question 74

how owls thaw frozen food

Answer 74

sit on it

Question 75

bird with a food larder

Answer 75

n. shrike

Question 76

birds with food cache

Answer 76

acorn woodpecker

Question 77

bird with scatter hoarding

Answer 77

canada jay