T2: Birds (DONE)

Question 1

Psittaciformes vs Passeriforms

Answer 1

Psittaciformes –> budgies, parakeets, lories, parrots, macaws, cockatoos
-natural seedeaters

Passeriforms –> perching songbirds (canaries/ finches)

Question 2

Describe avian vision

Answer 2

large relative to head and brain size

-nicitating membrane
-some birds see ultraviolet light (some rodents urine/ fees are visible with UV light)

Question 3

Describe avian hearing

Answer 3

-outer ear: NO pinna
- middle ear: 1 bone
inner ear: 3 semicircular canals

• loss of sensory cells (hairs) causes hearing loss
• birds can regenerate and replace hairs following damage or loss

Question 4

Describe the integumentary system

Answer 4

very thin skin, minimal blood and nerve supply

-uropygial gland
-scales on legs and feet
- covered in feathers (specialized scales)

Question 5

What are avian feathers?

Answer 5

keratin

-arranged in tracts called pterylae
- unfeathered areas are called apteria

Question 6

Describe feather structure

Answer 6

calamus or quill (hollow central stalk of feather BELOW skin level)

rachis (hollow stalk ABOVE skin level)

Barbs + barbules (enable waterproofing)

• feathers help waterproof and critical for flight

Question 7

Feather Colors

Answer 7

structural and chemical

-pigments can be int he core, cloudy zone (spongy zone), and cortex

4 pigments:
- melanins (common)
- Carotenoids (common)
-Porphyrins (uncommon)
- Psittacins (only parrots)

Question 8

What is molting?

Answer 8

one or more times per year, usually seasonal

-stressful period
-new feathers are produced in time; pin feathers
- specific molt and regrowth order
-specifically formulated molting feed

Question 9

Why are birds aerodynamic?

Answer 9

• bird can respire through pneumatic bones: continuous with air sacs
• medullary bones allow storage and mobilization Ca2_ in egg- producing female

Question 10

Describe the respiratory system

Answer 10

• nares (slit in upper beak)
• cere
• trachea ends in syrnix (vocal cords)
• little ability to expand
• can NOT strangle a bird (no soft spot)
• no diaphragm

-air sacs: storage areas for air, aerodynamics inf light, cooling of body core, aid in movement
-O2 exchange occurs during both inspiration and expiration!

Question 11

Describe the avian circulatory system

Answer 11

birds are endothermic after 2 or 3 wks of age

-106 Farenheit
- 4- chambered heart
- nucleated erythrocyte

Question 12

Describe the urogenital system

Answer 12

no urinary bladder

-ureters empty directly into cloaca; uric acid
- testes are internal
- most only have one functional ovary (left)
- one ovulation per day

Question 13

How do you determine sex in avians?

Answer 13

• plumage colors
• size and secondary sex characteristics
• cere
• eye color

Question 14

Describe Finches & Canaries

Answer 14

-sexual maturity: 4- 8 months
- mate in spring
-can candle their eggs and fertile eggs will be red

-featherless, unable to see during birth

-high plane of nutrition:
egg biscuits or yolks from hard boiled eggs

Question 15

What are Budgerigars?

Answer 15

• birds that sexually mature at 6 months
  -should be bred at 1 yr or older (check for mature coloration of cere (males- blue, females- tan))

-one egg/d for 3- 6 days
- incubation - 17-18 days

-Supplement mother and babies:
-males will provide female with partially digested food, who feed them to the babies
- mothers produce crop milk

Question 16

What are cockatiels?

Answer 16

similar to budgies
- sexually mature at 6-12 months

Question 17

Big Parrots?

Answer 17

• spring is best time to mate
• small species 2 years prior to breeding; larger species is 6 years

-both adults will incubate eggs
-blind + featherless at birth

-supplemental high- quality food

Question 18

What are some avian reproductive challenges?

Answer 18

• infertile eggs
• eggs that remain “bound” inside a hen (deficiencies (Ca2+) or excesses (obesity))

Question 19

What is egg binding?

Answer 19

obstruction of uterus or oviduct (distal end) by an egg

-vertical posture
- yolk peritonitis may result
- administer Ca2+ and oxytocin
- Percutaneous ovocentesis (manual collapse)

Question 20

Describe the avian digestive system

Answer 20

• crop
• proventriculus
• ventriculus (gizzard)
• liver, pancreas, gallbladder
  -cloaca (fecal mixture of urine and urates)

-NO TEETH
-prokinesis (movement of upper beak in independence of lower beak)

• keratinized covering of beak: rhamphoteca
• sheath of upper jaw: rhinotheca
• sheath of lower jaw: gnathotheca

Question 21

What are their digestive requirements?

Answer 21

Not exclusively seed eaters
- require more nutrition per unit of body weight than larger animals (higher metabolism)

Question 22

What is cuttlebone & grit?

Answer 22

• cuttlebone is only needed for gestating females since calcium is depleted to support the egg

-grit is needed for some species to provide physical breakdown of food

Question 23

How do you hand feed a bird?

Answer 23

• prepared powder feeds
• temp: 104.9 F
• feed until crops are full: Don’t overfill!

Question 24

What are some toxicological hazards?

Answer 24

zinc: pennies minted after 1982 are 96- 98% zinc)

lead: paint, toys, batteries, etc

nicotinic products: cigarettes

inhalant: strong odor or smoke

avocado: persin (toxin)

chocolate

seeds of apple, cherry, peach, pear, onions

alcohol

Question 25

What are some behavioral problems?

Answer 25

stereotypies
- repetitive, pointless movements
- orla or locomotive

feather picking
- loss or damage to feathers below the head
-must find underlying causes to treat
-may be unable to stop