Orders of Birds 2

Question 1

What order do cuckoos belong to?

Answer 1

Cuculiformes

Question 2

Describe Cuculiformes

Answer 2

• slender, long-tailed
• Zygodactyl feet
• old world brood parasites
• specialize on caterpillars

Question 3

What order do Nightjars belong to?

Answer 3

Caprimulgiformes

Question 4

Describe Caprimulgiformes

Answer 4

• nocternal or crepuscular
• soft, cryptic plumage (brown or gray)
• often long bristles around bill
• short, weak legs and feet
• small bill with wide gape

Question 5

What order to swifts and hummingbirds belong to?

Answer 5

Apodiformes

Question 6

Describe swifts

Answer 6

• short bill
• broad gape
• elongated wings
• speand nearly all time in flight

Question 7

Describe hummingbirds

Answer 7

• nectar feeders
• long bill
• narrow gape
• long and extensile tongues
• found only in New World

Question 8

What order do Hoatzin belong to?

Answer 8

Opisthocomiformes

Question 9

Describe Opisthocomiformes

Answer 9

• pheasant size
• swamps and wet forests of South America
• chick have claws on two wing digits
• unique digestive system, similar to ruminant

Question 10

What order are Rails and Cranes part of?

Answer 10

Gruifrormes

Question 11

Describe Gruiformes

Answer 11

• shared palate and skeleton features
• mostly aquatic

Question 12

Describe coots and gallinules

Answer 12

• duck-like in shape and habitat
• coots have lobed toes
• gallinules have long toes for walking on lily pads

Question 13

Describe rails

Answer 13

• secretive, marsh-dwelling
• laterally compressed = “skinny as a rail”

Question 14

Describe cranes

Answer 14

• large, tall birds with long legs
• known for gutteral, staccato call that can be heard from a mile away

Question 15

What order do Shorebirds belong to?

Answer 15

Charadriiformes

Question 16

Three suborders of Charadriiformes

Answer 16

• Charadrii
• Lari
• Alcae

Question 17

Describe Charadriiformes

Answer 17

• waterbirds, or derived evolutionarily from waterbirds
• united by characteristics of the skull, vertebral column, and syrinx.

Question 18

Sandpipers, plovers, and relatives are part of the suborder

Answer 18

Charadrii

Question 19

Gulls, Terns, and Skimmers are part of the suborder

Answer 19

Lari

Question 20

Puffins, Auks, and Murres are part of the suborder

Answer 20

Alacae

Question 21

Order Charadriiformes, Suborder Charadrii characteristics

Answer 21

• Shorebirds
• slender probing bills with long legs
• feet not usually webbed
• hind toe is well developed
• feedby wading in shallow water or at the edge of water and probing in the mud or sand (longer bills) or plucking items from the surface (shorter bills)

Question 22

Order Charadriiformes, Suborder Lari characteristics

Answer 22

• long-winged
• short-legged
• web-footed
• salt-excreting gland found in orbit of eye
• hind toe small or lacking
• gulls have stout, slightly hooked bills
• terns have slender, sharply pointed bills

Question 23

Order Charadriiformes, Suborder Alcae characteristics

Answer 23

• Stocky marine birds, usually black and white, with webbed feet
  and dense, waterproof plumage.
• Feet are set far back on the body, giving them a somewhat upright posture such that they resemble penguins.
• Swim rapidly underwater in pursuit of prey with their
  short, paddlelike wings.
• Unlike penguins, they can and do fly well.

Question 24

What order do Loons belong to?

Answer 24

Graviiformes

Question 25

Describe Gaviiformes

Answer 25

- diving fish eaters - spear-shaped bills, streamlined bodies, webbed feet, tarsi laterally compressed - legs positioned far back on body (facilitates swimming but makes walking on land difficult) - nests are masses of aquatic vegetation built on islands or on shore - young ride on parants' back when small

Question 26

What Order do penguins belong to?

Answer 26

Sphenisciformes

Question 27

Describe Sphenisciformes

Answer 27

- Flightless, marine, diving birds found south of the equator.Bones of the wings are flattened and fused to form a flipper. - Keel of the sternum is well-developed, since wings are still used, albeit for swimming. - Legs are short, feet are set far back on the body, giving an upright posture. - Plumage is dense and waterproof. - There is a heavy layer of fat underneath the skin

Question 28

What order do Tubenoses, like Albatross, belong to?

Answer 28

Procellariiformes

Question 29

Describe Procellariiformes

Answer 29

- Tube-nosed seabirds with hooked bills. - Restricted to open ocean; they nest on remote islands. - Plumage is dense and waterproof. - Feed from the surface of the sea. - Glands for concentrating and excreting salt. - Have a well-developed sense of smell to find both food and home islands. - Most species have long, thin wings that are held stiffly for dynamic soaring. - Range in size from the 6-inch Least Storm-Petrel to the Wandering Albatross, which has a wingspan of 12 feet

Question 30

Describe apodiformes

Answer 30

small birds, small feet - very good flyers - humerus is shortened, while bones in outer portion of wing elongated - short secondaries, long primaries