Chapter 17 Flashcards
What are vertebrates with feathers, wings, and scale-covered legs?
birds
What are zoologists that study birds?
ornothologists
What means “two-footed”?
bipedal
What type of birds have three toes pointing forward and one pointing back?
perching birds
What type of birds are known for their fierce and precise hunting skills?
birds of prey
What is the largest living land bird of North America?
the California condor
What are large powerful birds of prey?
eagles
What are smaller birds of prey that are nevertheless remarkable hunters?
falcons
What is the fastest of any living creature?
peregrine falcon
What are birds of prey that hunt at night and swallow their prey whole?
owls
What are the only two eagles native to North America?
the bald eagle and the golden eagle
What type of skeleton does a bird have that helps it fly easier?
a lightweight, compact, and very strong skeleton
What type of backbone does a bird have that helps it to fly?
a nearly rigid backbone
What is the advantage of having a nearly rigid backbone?
it gives a solid support for the strenuous muscle activity required for flying
What do the hollow spaces in a bird’s skeleton provide room for?
air sacs
What do the air sacs in the bird’s skeleton contribute to?
the efficiency of the respiratory system and make the bird lighter
What type of anatomy does the bird have that leaves the wings free for flying?
bipedal
What is the prominent ridge on the breastbone that allows for the attachment of flight muscles by strong tendons?
keel
How many bones does a bird have in the shoulder area?
three
How many bones does a human have the shoulder area?
two
What type of skull and beak do birds have?
a lightweight one
How many chambers does a bird’s heart have?
four
What do birds have to power the wings during flight?
powerful muscles
What is the bird of prey that are large but not strong enough to carry away its prey?
vulture
What are birds that live or feed in the water?
waterbirds
What is the best-known variety of stork?
white stork
What are birds that have long been hunted for both food and sport?
game birds
What are birds native to the world’s tropical forests?
tropical birds
What are small parrots with brightly colored feathers and hooked beaks?
parakeets
What are tropical birds that are native to Central and South America and are easily recognize by their large, colorful beaks?
toucans
What are birds that have wings or wing-like structures but cannot fly?
flightless birds
What are the largest living birds?
ostrich
What is one of the most unusual flightless birds?
kiwi
What extinct bird was flightless and slightly larger than a turkey and went extinct because they could not compete for food with the monkeys and hogs that man brought into their habitat?
dodo
What extinct bird was a giant flightless bird that was nearly 3m tall?
moa
What extinct bird was a penguin-like flightless seabird?
great auk
What extinct bird was a type of dove?
passenger pigeon
What was an unusual toothed bird that is known only from the fossil record?
Archaeopteryx
What is the most obvious feature that allows a bird to fly and is a characteristic unique to birds?
feathers
What are strong feathers are found on the body, wings, and tail?
contour feathers
What are special contour feathers on the wings of birds that provide the necessary wing shape for flight?
flight feathers
What are soft, fluffy feathers close to the bird’s body that provide excellent insulation without adding much weight?
down feathers
What type of flight involves the down stoking wings developing lift and forward thrust?
powered flight
What type of flight allows a bird to travel the longest distance possible horizontally with the smallest possible loss of height?
gliding
What type of flight allows a bird to gradually attain higher heights, then dive swiftly downward to start another spiral?
soaring
What is the bird that flies almost exclusively with its hands, having its elbow permanently bent?
hummingbird
What part of the bird is strong and lightweight that make the body able to meet the demands of flight?
skeletal structure
What are many avian bones filled with instead of marrow?
they are hollow and filled with air
What is the skull of a bird made for?
strength and lightness
What is a bird’s thumb which supports a retractable group of feathers on the front of the wing?
alula
What part of the bird is especially designed to help it in the complex activity of flight?
nervous system
What is the part of a bird’s brain that is relatively thin and contains no convulsions like that of man and animals?
cerebral cortex
What is the part of a bird’s brain that is responsible for muscle coordination?
cerebellum
What is a thin eyelid that allows a bird to “blink” and moisten its cornea without obstructing its vision?
niciting membrane
What are striking patterns on flowers that are visible only in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum?
nectar guides
What is the central area of a feather that everything extends out of?
quill
What are the little extensions that come out of the quill?
barbs
What are the smaller extensions that attach the barbs to each other?
barbules
What is the process that the bird goes through when its feathers become disshelves?
preening
Why must birds rapidly digest food?
so that it is not excess weight that could hinder flight
What is a special sac in the esophagus of a bird that serves as a storage chamber and releases food to the rest of the digestive system at the proper rate?
crop
What is the part of a bird’s stomach that is very muscular and is lines with plates that act like millstones to grind food?
gizzard
Where does digestion and absorption completed in the digestive tract of a bird and is also where the remaining wastes are readied for elimination?
cloaca
What is a special organ where the lymphocytes that aid the immune system in a bird are produced?
bursa of Fabricas
What is a special excretory gland that is located above each eye to eliminate excess salt for a bird?
salt gland
What part of a bird is completely different from that of any other living vertebrate?
respiratory system
What part of a bird’s respiratory system are located behind the lungs and has fresh air pass through it when a bird inhales?
air sacs
What is the voice box of a bird that is located at the lower end of the trachea where it divides into two bronchi?
syrinx
If birds have blood similar to mammalian blood, what is the difference?
bird blood contains nucleated red blood cells and mammalian blood does not
What means annually moving to a different region?
migration
What are the same routes that migrating birds follow called?
flyways
What is a large group of birds called?
a flock
What two things is finding a mate usually associated with?
territoriality and recognition of the proper species
Is courtship usually dominated by the male or the female bird?
male
What is the egg white part of the egg?
albumen
What is the location in the yolk where a bird embryo develops?
germinal spot
What part of the egg is designed around a light protein framework heavily deposited with inorganic materials?
shell
What are the two dense, twisted cords that support the yolk of a bird egg and keeps the yolk upright?
chalazae
What is the center part of a bird egg that serves as a fat-rich food source?
yolk
What is the next task for a bird after it has defined its territory and has selected its mate?
building a nest
What is unlearned knowledge that an animal possesses from birth?
instinct
What is the purpose of all of the instincts a bird has?
the protection of the eggs
What is the process of keeping eggs warm so that the young birds will develop properly?
incubation
What is the exposed patch of skin that a parent bird uses to transfer heat to the eggs?
brood patch
What describes a bird that is naked and helpless at hatching?
altricial
What describes a bird that is covered with down as able to run or swim almost immediately after birth?
precocial
What is the protein-and fat-rich substance produced by doves and pigeons to feed their young?
crop milk
What is the behavior in which an animal maintains and guards its territory?
territoiality
Are predatory species of birds more likely to have a bigger or smaller territory?
larger
