Birds

Question 1

What are birds decendants of?

Answer 1

Ground dwelling dinosaurs which didn’t fly and had feathers

Question 2

What is the name of fossil link between birds and dinosaurs?

Answer 2

Archaeopteryx

Question 3

What are the features that link dinosaurs and birds

Answer 3

Reptilan forelimb claws
Boned tail
Feathers
Reptilian teeth

Question 4

What is the phylum of birds?

Answer 4

Chordata

Question 5

What is the class of birds?

Answer 5

Aves

Question 6

How many orders are there of birds?

Answer 6

27

Question 7

Approx how many species are there currently known of birds?

Answer 7

10,000

Question 8

How was Himalayan Forest Thrush identified?

Answer 8

DNA and song differences

Question 9

How did flightless birds evolve?

Answer 9

From flying ancestor when predation risk was low

Question 10

What is the largest living bird?

Answer 10

Ostrich

Question 11

What are examples of flightless birds?

Answer 11

Penguin, Kiwi, Ostrich

Question 12

What are examples of waterbirds?

Answer 12

Black throated diver, blue footed booby, little grebe

Question 13

What are features of waterbirds?

Answer 13

Webbed Feet
Dense plumage
Waterproof 
Must breed on land
Areas such as marine or fresh water

Question 14

What are features of the order Procellariifrmes?

Answer 14

Seabirds
Live to 30-40 years old
Gland in nose removes excess salt
E.g Albatrosses, petrels and shearwaters.

Question 15

What orders are birds of prey?

Answer 15

Falconiformes, accipitriformes and stigiformes?

Question 16

What birds are Falconiformes?

Answer 16

Falcons

Question 17

What birds are Accipitriformes?

Answer 17

Eagles. Kites, Osprey, Vultures

Question 18

What birds are Strigiformes?

Answer 18

Owls

Question 19

What are features of birds of prey?

Answer 19

Talons and hook beaks for killing and tearing flesh
Foward facing eyes with binocular vision
Hunt other birds and mammals

Question 20

What are examples of wading birds?

Answer 20

Curlews
Sandpipers
Plovers
Godwits
Stints

Question 21

What are features of wading birds?

Answer 21

Long legs
Probing bill
Mud and wet areas
Feed on worms and molluscs

Question 22

What is the largest order of birds?

Answer 22

Passeriformes (song birds) with 5200

Question 23

What is the purpose of the song birds sing?

Answer 23

Attract females or repel mates

Question 24

Why may colour of bird eggs be important?

Answer 24

Provides camouflage

Question 25

Why is colour important in birds?

Answer 25

Sexual signals (feathers or bill)

Question 26

How do birds breed?

Answer 26

Lay eggs in nest Incubation Bi-parental care is normal so both parents feed chicks

Question 27

What is a precocial chick?

Answer 27

Downy, can thermoregulate and feed themselves on hatching

Question 28

What is a altricial chick?

Answer 28

Naked and blind so cannot thermoregulate nor feed themselves

Question 29

Why do some birds form social flocks?

Answer 29

Safety when breeding, roosting and foraging

Question 30

How can we track birds?

Answer 30

Ringing them or GPS tag

Question 31

How far do Bar-tailed Godwits travel in 6 days from New Zealand to Alaska in one go?

Answer 31

11,000

Question 32

Why are birds important to humans?

Answer 32

Food, sport, art, pleasure, bioindicators, bearer of disease

Question 33

What defines an animal as a bird?

Answer 33

Feathers

Question 34

What did feathers evolve from?

Answer 34

Scales

Question 35

Why did feathers evolve?

Answer 35

Provide insulation Colour and form adaptations through sexual and natural selection Enables flight

Question 36

What are the hypothetical stages of feather evolution?

Answer 36

``` Reptilian stage Elongation (solar reflection) Splitting (flexible) Fraying and pigment Elongate for balance Secondary splits (lighter) ```

Question 37

What are the 4 types of feather?

Answer 37

Contour (covers body) Down (insulation) Semiplume/ filoplume Flight

Question 38

What is the calamus?

Answer 38

Part of feather that sticks into the bird.

Question 39

What is the vane made up of?

Answer 39

strands of feathers containing barbs which zip them together

Question 40

How do birds maintain their feathers?

Answer 40

Preen, oil and bathe

Question 41

What do birds bathe in?

Answer 41

Water or dust

Question 42

Why do birds moult?

Answer 42

Feathers wear out do to abrasion and UV mites and parasites Change plumage- breeding/ non breeding

Question 43

What 4 animals has flight evolved for?

Answer 43

Insects Pterosaurs (extinct) Birds Bats

Question 44

What does adaptive light require?

Answer 44

Large wing surface High energy Very efficient oxygen transport

Question 45

Where are forces generated for bird to fly?

Answer 45

On an aerofoil

Question 46

What is the wing aspect ratio formula?

Answer 46

Wingspan/ Wing area

Question 47

What are features of high ratio wings?

Answer 47

Long and thin Good gliders High speed

Question 48

What are features of low ratio wings?

Answer 48

Short and round Rapid take off Higher manoeuvrability

Question 49

What happens at low speeds during turbulence?

Answer 49

It would stall and fall

Question 50

How does a bird reduce turbulence?

Answer 50

Alula

Question 51

What is an advantage of wing tip slots?

Answer 51

Allow greater control at low speeds for large birds who soar a lot eg. cranes, eagles, vultures, buzzards

Question 52

What is the respiratory pump for birds?

Answer 52

Sacs

Question 53

What are the lungs used for in birds?

Answer 53

Gas exchange only so thin and efficient

Question 54

What are the 4 air sacs in birds?

Answer 54

Clavicular air sac Cranial thoracic air sac Caudal thoracic air sac Abdominal air sac

Question 55

How does birds respiring difer to mammals?

Answer 55

Birds have one way air flow Air pump and gas exchange is separate in birds Birds have thinner exchange surface Birds remove 25% more oxygen per breath

Question 56

why do birds need high oxygen demand?

Answer 56

Flight

Question 57

Other than their lungs, what are other adaptations for birds for flight?

Answer 57

Hollow bones No teeth so light head Centre of gravity in body centre