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Vertebrates Quiz 1 > Birds 2 > Flashcards

Birds 2 Flashcards

1
Q

3 points of bird metabolism

A

high basal metabolic rate (songbirds highest)
rate increases 10x during flight
flight still more energetically efficient than walking same distance

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2
Q

What has a higher metabolic rate, big or small birds?

A

smaller birds

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3
Q

Why are birds, particularly passerines, more susceptable to dieing of shock?

A

higher oxygen consumption than most other animals

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4
Q

What are 4 points of birds and air/lungs?

A

lung tissue is denser and more efficient
one-way flow of air over lungs so always oxygenated (efficiency)
Conchae warm up and clean air on intake and retain moisture on exhalation
air sacs occupy up to 20% of body cavity

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5
Q

What is Conchae?

A

hollow area on bill that warms and cleans are on intake and retains moisture on exhale

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6
Q

How many chambers are in a bird heart?

A

4

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7
Q

What are what are 3 features of bird hearts?

A

largest hearts relative to body size of vertebrates
efficient blood pumping
high blood pressure (subject to heart failure in times of shock)

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8
Q

Describe part one of digestion for birds

A

enters mouth - horny tongue, few salivary glands
short pharynx
esophagus - long and elastic

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9
Q

Describe part 2 of digestion for birds

A

crop - storage chamber

stomach - proventriculus has enzymes and connects crop to gizzard where food is ground

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10
Q

Describe a gizzard

A

muscular chamber lined with rough keratin

contains tiny rocks and grit (purposefully ingested) to grind and mill food

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11
Q

Where are pellets formed and what kinds of birds do this?

A

formed in proventriculus by owls, hawks and kingfishers out of bones, fur and feathers of prey

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12
Q

Describe part 3 of digestion for birds

A

duodenum
small intestine
large intestine - has caeca that are sacs or fermentation chambers off the intestine

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13
Q

What is the function of the cloaca in birds?

A

receives ureters, reabsorbs water (less waste), waste from large intestine, genetal ducts

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14
Q

How is nitrogenous waste excreted?

A

as uric acid that is excreted into cloaca
excess water is absorbed
forms white paste and mixes w/ feces

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15
Q

How is excess salt excreted?

A

special salt glands abouve each eye
via internal or external nostrils
water is retained

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16
Q

Describe endothermic

A

use metabolic heat to maintain a warm, constant, body temp

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17
Q

What are 6 methods of thermoregulation?

A

Heat production - shivering
Evaporation - gular flutter and panting (2 surfaces, pharynx and cloaca
Feathers - number (varies seasonally) and position (controlled by dermal muscles, sometimes behavioral)
Posture - reduce heat loss (withdraw feet and tuck head under wing) - increase heat loss (extend wings)
Legs and Feet - thermal counter-current, increased blood flow in hot weather
Social behavior - communal roosts, huddling

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18
Q

Describe 5 points of bird vision

A

dominant sense
colour vision well developed in diurnal birds (many cones)
Nocturnal birds have few cones and many rods
Most see UV
Some see polarized light

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19
Q

What is important about the amount of frequencies birds can differentiate?

A

mocking

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20
Q

What is important about hearing for hunting owls?

A

note differences in intensity and timing of sounds btwn 2 ears (placed asymmetrically sometimes) to estimate source of sound (prey)

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21
Q

Why are owl ear openings sometimes symmetrical?

A

allow them to accurately note differences in the intensity and timing of sounds in both horizontal and vertical directions

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22
Q

What do woodpeckes use their hearing for?

A

detecting grub below bark and low-frequency sounds preceding earthquakes

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23
Q

What do birds have in place of conspicuos external ear openings?

A

specialized feathers called auriculars or ear coverts

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24
Q

What is the olfactory sensing of birds like?

A

poor except in flightless, ducks and vultures

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25
Q

Name 2 conspicuous extinct birds? What was likely cause of extinction?

A

Dodo and great auk (northern penguin)

easy pickings and hunted to extinction b/c hadn’t adapted to humans as invasive predator

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26
Q

What is special about bird brains?

A

large and complex with large motor-control areas and optical centers and song control centers

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27
Q

What is intelligence?

A

ability to learn how to learn, to solve problems and solve future similar problems with increasing speed

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28
Q

What is insight?

A

ability to envision one’s actions and their consequences

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29
Q

What order of birds has shown remarkable ability to solve problems and use tools?

A

corvids - crows and ravens

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30
Q

Describe a few cases where birds exhibit great intellectual capacity?

A

chickadees and nuthatches distinguish empty from full seed husks from weight alone
crows and parrots perform reasoning tests as well as dogs
parrots can learn 1000’s of calls
blue jays learned to avoid toxic butterflies by watching others die from eating them
blue jays locate food better than cats and monkeys
great tits learned to open milk bottles
birds dropping nuts on road for cars to crush

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31
Q

What are 4 modes of communication?

A

Signal - behavior that alters the behavior of the receiver in a way that benefits the sender
Display - ritualized signal that conveys a specific message
Passive - plumage patterns
Active

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32
Q

What are 3 features of passive communication?

A

plumage patterns: colours, shape (outline/silhouette), pattern

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33
Q

What can happen if the songs of 2 similar birds are very different?

A

separation of gene pool from behavioral barrier to mating that results in species differentiation

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34
Q

What are 2 features of active communication?

A

Courtship displays - visual and vocal

Territorial displays - attract females, detract other males

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35
Q

What are 3 types of sound from birds?

A

calls, songs, non-vocal sounds

36
Q

Describe calls

A

short stereotyped vocalizations, innate

37
Q

What are 3 types of calls and what are they for?

A

Alarm - signal danger to other conspecifics
Contact - locate males and young
Flight - keep flock together

38
Q

Describe songs

A

complex, often learned (not innate)
territorial
attract females
species identification based on unique

39
Q

Describe types of non-vocal sounds

A

stork bill clattering in courtship rituals
mute swans hiss and grunt
woodpeckes peck to defend and attract mates
male grouse beats wings
hummingbirds trill with wings - territorial

40
Q

What are 2 defining characteristics of migration?

A

seasonal and predictable, large numbers of individuals

41
Q

What are 2 types of long-distance non-migration?

A

Dispersal: movement from natal area, solitary, new location unpredictable, juvenilles leaving
Irruptions: movement away from food-poor areas, not annual, unpredictable

42
Q

What percentage of N. A. birds migrate?

What percentage of Canadian birds migrate outside of Canadian borders?

A

75%

90%

43
Q

What is migratory restlessness controlled by?

A

hormones activated by changing daylengths

44
Q

What are flyways?

A

migratory patterns that birds use

major north south lines

45
Q

What are 4 major flyways?

A

East coast, West coast, Rocky mountains, Mississippi river

46
Q

Why do birds migrate? 3 reasons

A

when benefits are higher than costs (energy, mortality) of using well separated breeding and wintering areas
food availability is greater in south for winter
higher reproductive success in temperate regions north

47
Q

Advantage and disadvantage of temperate zone

A

abundant food and longer days to forage in spring/summer

food shortage in cold winter

48
Q

Advantage and disadvantage of tropical zone

A

mild temperatures and food availability in winter

high density of nest parasites and predators in summer

49
Q

What are 5 major importances of migration?

A

Flight pattern, time of day, flight mode, lenght of migration, completeness

50
Q

Name and describe 2 types of flight patterns

A

Non-stop - over oceans, deserts, mountains (bad weather can cause long term groundings - fallouts)
Hops - 250-300km

51
Q

Name and describe 2 types of time of day migration features

A

Diurnal - depends on winds/ updrafts, food resources

Nocturnal - start after sunset, cooler air less turbulent, avoid diurnal predators

52
Q

Name and describe 2 types of flight mode

A

Soarers - flight concentrated mid-day when thermals occur (hawks)
Powered flight - often just before dawn (crepuscular), and nocturnal migrants

53
Q

Name and describe 2 types of length of migration for birds

A

long-distance - between continents

short-distance - within continents, elevational changes

54
Q

Name and describe 2 types of completeness for migration

A

complete - entire population migrates

partial - some individuals over winter on breeding grounds

55
Q

What are 2 things birds use to migrate?

A

Orientation - ability to align in an appropriate direction when released into unfamiliar surroundings (internal compass)
Navigation - ability to find a specific geo location from a known starting point

56
Q

Name and describe 3 features birds use for migration orientation

A

Sun compass - tell direction from position of sun b/c of internal circadian clock, some birds detect the polarization pattern used on days w/ cloud cover
Star compass - north star gives absolute point of reference
Magnetic compass - can detect the earth’s magnetic field (still under study)

57
Q

What are 3 main navigational features birds use for migration

A

Navigational landmarks - coasts, mnts, rivers
Magnetic anomalies
Local landmarks (hummingbirds return to same feeder every year

58
Q

Name and describe 2 types of dispersal

A

Natal - 1st movement away from nest area (high mortality)

Breeding - movements of adults btwn breeding locations

59
Q

What are 4 reproductive features of male birds?

A

testes small, bean shaped most of time
testes enlarge 300x at breeding season
sperm stored in seminal sack
most males lack a penis (cloaca to cloaca instead)

60
Q

What are 3 features of the female bird reproductive system?

A

only 1 ovary and oviduct develop (left side)
egg fertilized at top of oviduct
albumin, shell membrane and shell added during passage down oviduct

61
Q

What might be one reason female birds have only one ovary?

A

weight reduction

62
Q

What are 2 kinds of reproductive monogamy?

A

Social - male and female cooperate to raise young (may not be genetic father of young) 90% of birds
Genetic monogamy - male and female are sole genetic parents of all the young - rare

63
Q

What is the difference between social and genetic monogamy?

A

social may have extra-pair copulations

64
Q

Why might birds have extra-pair copulations?

A 
females seek because:
hedge against infertility w/ primary partner
increase genetic diversity of young
produce young by higher quality male
forced copulations in waterfowl
65
Q

Why are extra-pair copulations risky for females?

A

if primary male finds out he may desert female and the nest with already laid eggs or offspring and the female can’t raise them all on her own

66
Q

How is lack of genetic monogamy detected?

A

DNA of putative (care-giving) father don’t match young

67
Q

What could be the reason that the DNA of young and the mother do not match?

A

nest parasitism - egg dumping by other female intraspecies or interspecies (brown-headed cowbirds don’t care for own young)

68
Q

What are 4 features of reproductive behavior relating to individually defended territories?

A

most territories containg food and nest sites
some territories contain only nesting sites
boundaries are dynamic
males defend territory

69
Q

What are 3 ways male birds defend territory of nests and/or food?

A

song, visual display, active defense (rarer - behavioral disadvantage if wounded)

70
Q

What are 4 advantages to colonial breeding?

A

favored by scarcity of sites safe from predators
favored by scarcity of sites near abundant food
cooperative protection from predators
enhances foraging on ephemeral food supplies

71
Q

What are 3 disadvantages of colonial breeding?

A

colony may attract predators
increase spread of nest parasites (lice, mites)
increased competition for food

72
Q

Describe cooperative breeding

A

breeders defend group territories
nest helpers of young birds that feed and defend
nest helpers benefit by raising close relatives (kinship selection) and creating large territories for themselves to breed

73
Q

What are 7 features of reproductive behavior

A

monogamy
non-monogamous breeding - <3%
brood parasitism
courtship ritual - both sexes participate

74
Q

What is promiscuity?

A

no stable social relationship - hummingbirds otherwise rare

75
Q

What is brood parasitism? what are the 2 types?

A

females lay eggs in nests of other birds
intraspecific egg dumping parasitism - very common
interspecific parasitism - less common

76
Q

What are 4 features of polygyny (one male, several females)?

A

2% of all birds
males provide little to no care of young
young are typically precocial
lekking

77
Q

What is the difference between altricial and precocial?

A

altricial hatch undeveloped, blind, naked, helpless (songbirds, hawks, herons)
Precocial - hatch well developed, eyes open, downy feathers (waterbirds, grouse)

78
Q

What is lekking?

A

males gather at the lek and display
females choose males; high status males have multiple females
no parental care by males
(sage grouse)

79
Q

Describe polyandry and the 3 types

A

one female and several males
1% of all birds
Classic: female lays eggs in separate nests and males incubate and rear
Cooperative: female lays eggs in one nest and several males care for young
Reversed sexual dimorphism: females larger and more colourful

80
Q

What is polygnandry?

A

both males and females have multiple mates

rare (smith’s longspur)

81
Q

What are 4 types of non-monogamous breeding?

A

promiscuity - no stable social relationship
polygyny - one male, several females
polyandry - one female, several males
polygnandry - both males and females have several mates

82
Q

What are 2 things included in the courtship ritual of the western grebe?

A

rushing and weed dancing

83
Q

What are 6 examples of nesting sites?

A

trees, cliff ledges, shrubs, crevices, ground, treeholes

84
Q

What are 8 catagories for identifying birds?

A

swimmers, aerialists, long-legged waders, small waders, fowl-like, birds of prey, nonpasserine land birds, passerines

85
Q

How is relative size of a bird identified?

A

using sizes of common birds as a yardstick

86
Q

What are 11 features used for field identification?

A 
shape of tail
shape of bill
shape of wings
behavior
does it climb trees? How, jerks, down, spiral
how does it fly
does it swim
does it dive? or dip?
does it wade
field marks - colour patterns
relative size
87
Q

What are some indicators using field markings?

A 
colour patterns
tail patterns
rump patches
eyestripes and eyerings
wing bars
wing patterns

Vertebrates Quiz 1 (16 decks)

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