Exam 3

Question 1

what is a bird’s principal tool for handling food

Answer 1

Beak

Question 2

these birds have beaks that are good for straining water.

Answer 2

Dabbling ducks, such as mallards

Question 3

these birds have beaks that are serrated and help in grasping fish

Answer 3

Mergansers

Question 4

these birds possess bills similar to dabbling ducks that are good for sifting mud and water

Answer 4

spoonbills and flamingos

Question 5

these birds possess short bills with a hooked tip that are ideal for dismembering prey

Answer 5

Raptors, such as owls, hawks, and eagles

Question 6

these birds have long bills that allow them to pluck distant fruit

Answer 6

Toucans and hornbills

Question 7

where is the food usually stored

Answer 7

in the birds crop, part of the birds esophagus

Question 8

what is the only bird that uses their crop as a fermentation chamber

Answer 8

Hoatzin

Question 9

what 2 parts does the stomach have?

Answer 9

anterior glandular proventriculus and the posterior gizzard

Question 10

what part of the stomach contains glands that secrete digestive enzymes?

Answer 10

Anterior glandular proventriculus

Question 11

what is the gizzard’s main function?

Answer 11

to mechanically process food

Question 12

where is the main site of chemical digestion is the _______ where enzymes break down the food into small molecules that can be absorbed across the intestinal wall.

Answer 12

intestine

Question 13

these birds are primarily “hawkers”

Answer 13

flycatchers

Question 14

what regulate with internal heat

Answer 14

endotherms

Question 15

what has constant body temperature

Answer 15

homeotherms

Question 16

what are some benefits of the avian lifestyle?

Answer 16

1. can function at times, places that other animals cannot (cold weather, no sunlight)
2. higher rates of enzymatic reactions enable them to outperform other animals.

Question 17

what are some costs of the avian lifestyle?

Answer 17

1. constant demands for energy
2. must have highly efficient supply systems
3. body temperature close lethal limit (115°F)

Question 18

what describes bones that are filled with spaces and may contain air sacs

Answer 18

pneumatic

Question 19

found only in birds, thin-walled, transparent sacs extending from the mesobronchi or the lungs to different regions of the body; they act as bellows to bring air the body and store it until expiration

Answer 19

air sacs

Question 20

the hardening or calcification of soft tissue (such as cartilage or tendon) into bone or a bone-like material

Answer 20

ossification

Question 21

in birds, usually refers to the lower half of the beak; the lower jaw

Answer 21

mandible

Question 22

in birds, refers to the upper half of the beak; the upper jaw

Answer 22

maxilla

Question 23

a bird’s upper and lower jaws, including the external covering. In current ornithological usage, synonymous with beak

Answer 23

bill

Question 24

a bird’s upper and lower jaws, including the external covering. In current ornithological usage, synonymous with bill.

Answer 24

beak

Question 25

the outer covering (sheath) of the beak

Answer 25

rhamphotheca

Question 26

the ability of some birds to independent move or open the upper tip of a long bill, most often seen in birds that feed by probing in soil or mud

Answer 26

rhynchokinesis

Question 27

the breastbone; it provides an attachment site for the ribs and pectoral muscles. In all flying birds except tinamous, the sternum has a keel (carina).

Answer 27

sternum

Question 28

the rib cage; in birds it consists of the ribs connected to the thoracic vertebrae above and to the sternum below

Answer 28

thoracic cage

Question 29

a mid-ventral ridge of bone that projects outward from the sternum and provides an attachment site for the pectoral flight muscles. Synonymous with carina

Answer 29

keel

Question 30

a mid-ventral ridge of bone that projects outward from the sternum and provides an attachment site for the flight muscles. Synonymous with keel

Answer 30

carina

Question 31

the segment of the vertebral column of birds that is formed by the fusion of some thoracic vertebrae with all of the lumber and sacral vertebrae and the first several caudal vertebrae

Answer 31

synsacrum

Question 32

the tail bone of birds, formed by the fusion of the final several caudal vertebrae; it provides an attachment site for the flight feathers of the tail.

Answer 32

pygostyle

Question 33

a V-shaped bone of the pectoral girdle in birds, formed by the fusion of the right and left clavicles with a small interclavical bone. Commonly called the "wishbone"

Answer 33

furcula

Question 34

describes a structure with little current apparent function that is thought to be present solely because it derives from a structure that was function in an ancestor

Answer 34

vestigal

Question 35

a modification of the side of the middle toe claw into a comb-like, serrated edge used for preening

Answer 35

pectinate claw

Question 36

the two openings of the nasal cavity located in the upper beak, usually near its base

Answer 36

Nares

Question 37

a leathery band of skin covering the base of the bill in some birds, into which the nostrils open

Answer 37

cere

Question 38

birds in the order Procesllariiformes including albatrosses, shearwaters, fulmars, petrels, and storm-petrels-all of which have tube-shaped nares

Answer 38

tubenoses

Question 39

the primary sound-producing organ of birds, located at the point where the trachea divides to form the two bronchi

Answer 39

syrinx

Question 40

an enlargement of the lower esophagus that stores food in some groups of birds

Answer 40

crop

Question 41

the muscular lower part of the avian two part stomach that grinds and softens food, often with the aid of stones held within

Answer 41

gizzard

Question 42

the copulatory organ of male ratites and waterfowl, an elongated, spiral, ridged structure that erects during copulation. Sperm travel along its surface to reach the cloaca of the female.

Answer 42

cloacal phallus

Question 43

nerve stimuli that give information on the position and movement of the body or parts of the body

Answer 43

proprioceptive

Question 44

a relatively simple, rapid, and stereotyped response to a stimulus; it may be either automatic or learned

Answer 44

reflex

Question 45

the part of the autonomic nervous system that acts on smooth muscle to reduce the heart rate and regulate physiology under non stressful conditions

Answer 45

parasympathetic system

Question 46

the part of the autonomic nervous system that functions under conditions of stress, preparing the body for "fight or flight"

Answer 46

sympathetic system

Question 47

the "third eyelid" of birds, a thin, translucent fold of skin that sweeps across the eye

Answer 47

nictitating

Question 48

a depth cue that results from the motion of the observer, as objects that are closer move farther across the visual field than do objects that are more distant

Answer 48

motion parallax

Question 49

the active ability of an organism to modulate its internal body temperature

Answer 49

thermoregulation

Question 50

an organism able to use metabolic heat production to keep its internal body temperature within a restricted temperature range despite conditions in the surrounding environment

Answer 50

endothermic homeotherm

Question 51

the range of ambient temperatures over which a bird does not require additional metabolic energy for the heating or cooling of its body

Answer 51

thermal neutral zone

Question 52

a behavior of opening the bill wide and vibrating the thin gular membranes of the throat in order to dissipate heat via evaporative cooling

Answer 52

gular fluttering

Question 53

the loss of heat via the energy required to evaporate water

Answer 53

evaporative cooling

Question 54

changes in a bird's physiology after it has been in a new environment for several days or weeks that allow it to function better in the new conditions

Answer 54

acclimatization

Question 55

the ability to maintain core body temperature while allowing the temperature of the extremities to deviate from the core temperature

Answer 55

regional heterothermy

Question 56

in birds, the direct exchange of heat between warm outgoing blood (such as that traveling to the feet in arteries) to adjacent returning cold blood (such as that returning from the feet in veins) that helps retain heat within the body

Answer 56

countercurrent heat exchange

Question 57

a resting state in which the body temperature drops, metabolic processes slow, and reactions to external stimuli are slow or lacking

Answer 57

torpor

Question 58

internal body temperatures higher than typical

Answer 58

hyperthermia

Question 59

what is primary fuel for birds?

Answer 59

fat

Question 60

do birds have a good sense of smell?

Answer 60

no

Question 61

an organism that maintains its internal body temperature at a constant or nearly constant level regardless of environmental conditions

Answer 61

homeotherm

Question 62

models of foraging behavior in which it is assumed that animals maximize their food intake while minimizing the overall costs of obtaining it, such as energy and time devoted to searching, capturing, and processing

Answer 62

optimal foraging theory

Question 63

an organism that is able to use a wide range of some type of resource; for example, birds with ____ diets eat many different kinds of foods

Answer 63

generalist

Question 64

an organism that uses only a narrow range of some type of resource; for example, birds with specialized diets eat only one or a few kinds of food.

Answer 64

specialist

Question 65

an evolutionary interaction between two or more species in which both species evolve adaptations in response to the other

Answer 65

coevolution