Lab 7 Flashcards
Bird Orders are grouped into two clades
Paleognathae
Neognathae
Paleognathae orders
Order Apterygiformes
Order Casuariformes
Order Rheiformes
Order Struthioniformes
All other birds are Neognathae
Order Apterygiformes
Kiwis
Long thin bill
Very small
Stout legs with three toes forward
Filamentous feathers
No wings
Order Casuariformes
Cassowaries and the Emu
Long neck
Stout, slightly flattened bill
Strong legs with three toes forward with strong claws
Greatly reduced wings
Order Rheiformes
Rheas
Smaller than Emu
Long neck
Stout, slightly flattened bill
Strong legs with three toes forward and strong claws
Reduced wings
Order Struthioniformes
Ostriches
Largest of living ratites
Long neck
Stout, slightly flattened bill
Strong legs with only two toes (one much larger) and one claw
Reduced wings
Order Galliformes
Fowl-ground dwelling birds
Heavy bodied and weak fliers
Three toes forward
Feet not webbed
Toes with fringe of projection for increased traction
Generalized bill (think chicken)
Order Anseriformes
Ducks, Geese, Swans and Mergansers
All adapted to aquatic lifestyle with webbed feet
Three toes webbed, one toe back
Flattened bill with lamellae
Countershading
Order Caprimulgiformes
Nighthawks and Frogmouths
Stout body with no neck
Cryptic coloration
Wide triangular mouth with bristles
Order Apodiformes
Hummingbirds and Swifts
Short legs with small feet
Long thin bill
Often very small
Order Columbiformes
Doves and Pigeons
Known by common names
Order Gruiformes
Cranes Coots and Rails
Long neck
Long legs
Three toes forward one toe back
No webbing
Crane has reduced feathers on forehead
Rails and coots with upper bill extending backward onto forehead
Order Phoenicopteriformes
Flamingos
Plumage often pink
Long neck
Long legs
Three toes forward and webbed
One hind toe small
Distinct angle of bill
Order Prodicipediformes
Grebes
Short to long neck
Dagger shaped bill for spearing fish
Distinctive feet with single lobe of skin on each toe
Many with crested head
Countershading
Order Charadriiformes
Gulls Terns Sandpipers Plovers Avocets etc.
Sandpipers have long legs
Long bills (often curved)
Mostly cryptically colored
Countershading
High aspect ratio wings
Three toes forward and webbed
Plovers feet only partially webbed and have bulbous tip to bill
Order Gaviiformes
Loons
Large webbed feet placed far back on the body
Spear shaped bill
Counter shading with distinctive black/white plumage above
Order Sphenisciformes
Penguins
Flightless bird
Feathers small and smooth
Wings modified as flippers
Webbed feet
Countershading
Stout-bodied
Order Procellariiformes
Albatrosses and Petrels
Dynamic soarers
Tube-like nostril opening on upper bill
Bills made of several distinct plates with deep grooves and a hook at the tip
Order Suliformes
Cormorants Boobies Gannets and Frigate birds
Strong divers/swimmers
Feet with four toes webbed
Bill with hook at tip
Cormorants typically all black
Small gular (throat) pouch
Order Ciconiiformes Herons Storks and Ibises
Long legs
Long necks
Herons with spearing bill
Head often with crest of feathers
Very plumose breast
Order Pelecaniformes
Pelicans
Long neck
Large head and bill
Bill with hook on tip
Large gular pouch
All four toes webbed
Order Acciptriformes
Hawks, Eagles and Vultures
Static soaring from broad wings
Carnivorous bill with strong hook at tip
Large powerful feet with talons
Order Strigiformes
Owls
Small to large nocturnal predatory birds
Acute sense of hearing with asymmetric placement of auditory openings on the skull and feathers of the face forming a facial disc to capture sound
Large eyes
Carnivorous bill
Taloned feet
Zygodactyl feet (two toes forward, two back)
Order Coraciiformes
Kingfishers
Large dagger-shaped bill
Head with crest
Food with syndactyly (two of three forward facing toes partially fused0
Stiff rectrices on tail
Order Piciformes
Woodpeckers and Toucans
Strong chisel-shaped bills
Stiff pointed rectrices support body against trunk
Many with zygodactyl feet
Most with red crest
Order Falconiformes
Falcons
Carnivorous bill with prominent tomial tooth (Downward projection of the upper bill behind the anterior hook)
Raptorial feet with sharp claws
Many falcons have a bar of color below the eye and behind the bill sometimes called a moustache or sideburns
Order Psittaciformes
Parrots
Stout bill with hook and tomial tooth
Often brightly colored
Zygodactyl feet
Order Passeriformes
Perching Birds
Small birds
Wide variety of bill types dependent on food source
Wings elliptical
Feet with three toes forward and one back
Family Corvidae species
Pica hudsonia
Corvus brachyrhynchos
Corvus corax
Cyanocitta cristata
Perisoreus canadensis
Pica Hudsonia
Black billed Magpie
Contrasting black and white (pied) plumage
Long rectrices
Structural coloration gives black feathers blue and green iridescence
Corvus brachyrhynchos
American Crow
Large entirely black bird
Bristles cover base of upper bill
Tail blunt in flight
Throat feathers smooth
Corvus corax
Common Raven
Very large black bird
Bristles on upper bill longer than crow
Tail slightly pointed in flight
Shaggy throat feathers
Cyanocitta cristata
Blue jay
Blue above white below
Blue crest on head
Black necklace
White and black bars on wings and tail
Perisoreus canadensis
Gray jay
Dark gray above light gray below
White cheek, throat and forehead
National bird of Canada
