Birds Flashcards
Altricial young
-born naked
- generally immobile
-blind
- unable to regulate their body temperature
- reliant on their parents for food
Precocial young
-hatch with eyes open
-fluffy coating of feathers
- mobile
- long incubation period to be born in an advanced state
Mobbing
An individual or a group of prey birds attacking or harassing a predator to protect their nests
Sexual dimorphism
The systematic difference in form between individuals of different sex in the same species.
Different size, colour, horns….
Crepuscular
Those animals are active or hunt close to sunset or sunrise, when it is still dark but not completely dark (dawn)
IBA’s of Botswana
1 Okavango Delta
2 Linyanti March
3 Chobe
4 Lake Ngami
5 Makgadikgadi Pan
6 Central Kalahari
7 Tswapong Hills
8 Kgalakgadi Transfrontier
9 South-east Botswana
10 Mannyelanong Hill
11 Phakalane sewage lagoons
12 Bokaa Dam
Flagship bird
Okavango
Linyanti swamp
Chobe
Lake Ngami
Makgadikgadi
Central kalahari
Tswapong Hills
Kgalagadi transfrontier
South-east
Mannyelalong Hills
Phakalane sewage lagoons
Bokaa Dam
Okavango Delta: wattled crane
Linyanti Swamp: slaty egret
Chobe: bateleur
Lake Ngami: black-winged pratincole
Makgadigkadi: lesser flamingo
Central kalahari: Burchell‘s sandgrouse
Tswapong hills: Verreaux‘s eagle
Kgalagadi transfrontier: kori bustard
South-east: Shortclawed Lark
Mannyelalong Hills: Cape Griffon Vulture
Phakalane sewage lagoons: Maccoa Duck
Bokaa Dam: Southern Pochard
Nest types and examples
PLATFORM NEST
simple, flat platform of sticks or twigs on convenient branches of trees,sometimes lined with softer material (e.g. doves)
Darters, herons. Storks, doves, some birds of prey
CUP NESTS
-woven out of fine material
- outside often lined with material to camouflage (e.g. flycatchers use lichen)
-many passerines
-usually off- ground
-altricial chicks
Robins, bulbuls, batises and flycatcher
WOVEN BALL NETS
-often above or near water
- male weavers build the nests
-different entrance locations and designs
-chicks altricial
Weaver birds, e.g. southern masked weaver
MUD NESTS
-under overhangs
- using clay
-altricial chicks
Swallows and martins
HOLE NESTS
- in trees (excavated or already existing), river banks, termite mounds, in the ground
- eggs well hidden, white or pale to be seen in the dark
-altricial chicks
woodpeckers (trees)
river banks (bee-eaters and kingfisher) or termite mounds
grey-rumped swallows and carmine bee-eater (ground)
SCRAPE OR GROUND NESTS
-eggs laid directly on surface
- usually well camouflaged
lapwings, plovers
FLOATING NEST
-collection of reeds and grasses built a platform
-eggs are well camouflaged
-precocial
Grebes ( Haubentaucher), coots (Blesshühber)
Digestive system of birds
- CROP sores and and softens foot by keeping it in a moist environment.
- Food proceeds to PREVENTRICULUS
- VENTRICULUS/GIZZARD
horny plates and muscular contractions lead to machanical breakdown of food (compensate lack of teeth)
many birds swallow coarse sand or small stones to help crush food
stone and sand particles remain in gizzard, seldom pass through
-DUODENUM and INTESTINES where food is absorbed - waste passes through the CLOAK ( they don’t have separate organs to excrete urine and faeces) and out of the VENT
Types of migration
Annual movement of birds along a predictable pat to maximise feeding and breeding opportunities.
ALTITUDINAL MIGRATION
In ZA birds move higher into the mountains during summer and back to lower regions during winter (not in Botswana because of less altitude variation)
Bush blackcap, Drakensberg rock jumper
INTRA-AFRICAN MIGRANTS
-tropical Africa for winter and Southern Africa for summer
- breeding or non- breeding
Kingfishers, bee-eaters (excluding European bee- eater)
PALAEARCTIC MIGRANTS
-bird come from western Palaearctic (Europe, much of Asia)
- long-distance migrants
- have longer wings compared to their body size
Black kites, Stepp buzzards, barn swallows
Adaption of birds that allow to fly
Birds skeleton and beak is hollow, that reduces weight.
Lungs are connected with several air sacs for storing air and helping to prevent overheating during strenuous flights.
Streamlined body form.
Wings and tails are adapted to the specific type of flights.
Short, broad wings and long broad tails allow manoeuvring through small gaps in forests (goshawk). Long, broad wings maximise the surface for soaring on thermal updrafts ( vultures)
Adaption of sight in birds
-Massive eye size compared to their head and body—> images are formed onto the retina are larger and greater detailed
-coloured oil droplets work as filter—> more sensitive to certain colours in the spectrum
-higher density of rod and cone—> better vision
-images are processes much faster—> in pursuit of pray analyse visual stimulus much quicker
-can see in ultraviolet spectrum/ more detail in colours—>
determine ripeness of fruits, see urine trails, flowers ready for pollination
Identify a bird you do not know
Size
Shape
Bills
Legs
Plumage colour
Habitat
Habits
Flight patterns
Voice
Fastest flying
Fasted running
Heaviest
Heaviest flying
Longest wingspan
Longest migration
Fastest flying: Peregrine falcon 300km/h
Fastest running: ostrich 95km/h
Heaviest: ostrich 150 kg
Heaviest flying: Kori bustard 12,5 kg
Longest wingspan: wandering albatross 3,6m
Longest migration: arctic tern 16000 km
Migration routes and how they find their way
Routes are predictable, few long distance water crossings ( no thermal updraft over water!),
important stop-over points for feeding an replenishing their diminishing reserves.
Magnetite in the brain acts as compass ??
Birds use sun and stars to navigate.
Land marks are also important
SWAINSON’s SPURFOWL
m>f
Black maxilla and black feed, red throat
Vegetation, arthropodes
Open grassland
Pairs or small family’s
occasionally thrilling alarm call
