Transcript Ch. 12.1 Intro to Birds

Birds
Ch. 12.1
• One day in 1861, in a limestone quarry in
what is now Germany, Hermann von
Meyer was inspecting rocks.
• He was a fossil hunter, spotted something
dark in a rock.
• It was the blackened imprint of a feather!
• What he then found was Archaeopteryx
which mean “ancient winged thing.”
• Paleontologists think that Archaeopteryx
lived about 145 million years ago.
• It didn’t look like the birds you know, it
looked more like a reptile but with wings.
Archaeopteryx
• Bird Characteristics
• Feathers
• Wings
• Backward toe
• Reptile
Characteristics
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Long, bony tail
Teeth
Scales
Loose “fingers”
Characteristics of Birds
• Modern birds all have certain
characteristics in common.
• A bird is an endothermic vertebrate that
has feathers and a four-chambered heart.
• A bird also lays eggs.
Adaptations for Flight
• The bodies of most birds are adapted for
flight.
• The bones are nearly hollow – makes it
light weight.
• The front limbs are wings.
• Feathers help it fly.
• Birds are the only creatures today with
feathers.
Feathers
• There are two kinds of feathers:
– Contour feathers – is one of the large feathers
that give shape to a bird’s body.
– Down feathers – are specialized to trap heat
and keep a bird warm.
Contour Feathers
• These are the feathers you think about.
• They are longer, and usually colorful.
• If you find a feather on the ground, it is
usually a Contour Feather.
• It is used for flight and steering.
• They are made with “hooks, and barbs”
which acts like a zipper keeping the
feathers organized and neat.
Down Feathers
• These are the fluffy feathers that babies
are born with.
• They are also used to make pillows and
blankets if you have a “down pillow.”
• They are under the contour feathers, right
near the skin of the bird.
• They are soft and flexible, unlike contour
feathers.
Obtaining O2
• Flying uses a lot of energy.
• Therefore, cells must receive plenty of
oxygen to release the energy contained in
food.
• Birds have a system of air sacs in their
bodies.
• This system connects to the lungs.
Circulatory System
• Birds have a 4
chambered heart,
and two loops.
• This is very efficient
and keeps the blood
from mixing while
circulating.
Obtaining Food
• Birds must obtain a
lot of food to
provide the energy
it needs for flight.
• Many use their
beaks which are
specialized to their
food.
• Some are pointy,
some are spooned
billed, some are
curved.
Crop
• After a bird eats its food, digestion begins.
• Each organ in a bird’s digestive tract is
adapted to process food.
• Many birds have an internal storage tank,
or crop.
• This connects to the stomach.
Gizzard
• The stomach has 2 parts. The
first is where food is bathed in
chemicals that begin to break
it down.
• Then it moves to the thickwalled, muscular part of the
stomach called the Gizzard.
• It squeezes and grinds the
partially digested food.
• Birds do not have teeth, so they swallow
small stones to help grind their food.
Homeostasis
• Because birds are endotherms, they also
need a lot of energy to keep warm.
• Each day, an average bird eats food equal
to about a quarter of its body weight.
• To keep warm, they also use their down
feathers.
Reproduction and Caring for Young
• Like reptiles, birds have internal
fertilization and lay eggs.
• Bird eggs are similar to reptile eggs except
that their shells are harder.
• In most birds, the female lay the eggs in a
nest that has been prepared by one or
both parents.
• For a bird egg to hatch, it must be kept the
same temperature as the parent.
• This is why it sits on its eggs.
• Chicks take about 12 to 80 days to
develop.
• When it is ready to hatch, a chick pecks its
way out of the eggshell.
• Some chicks are born with a layer of down
feathers
Birds in the Environment
• Birds are adapted for living
in diverse environments.
• You can see some of these
adaptations in the shapes of
their legs, claws, and bills.
• They play an important role
in the environment by
pollinating flowers and
spreading seeds (pooping).