Pigeon Dissection
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Columbaformes
Family: Columbidae
Genus: Columba
Species: livia
Bird Skeleton: Hollow Bones
The hollow bones are honeycombed with air spaces and strengthened by
crisscrossing struts. The number of hollow bones varies from species to species,
though large gliding and soaring birds tend to have the most.
Lets get some
background
information
first!
Pigeon Leg
Chicken legs
a.k.a. “the drumstick”. This
is the upper part of the leg
containing the femur.
This is the lower part of the leg
containing the fibula (small bone) and
the tibia (the shin bone).
•
Quadrate bone (1)
•
•
Keeled sternum and furcula (2 & 3)
•
•
Uncinate processes (4)
•
•
Synsacrum and pygostyle (5 & 6)
Feathers
• Feathers are light but very strong, and they are
flexible but very tough.
• Feathers do not grow all over the bird. Feathers grow in
certain areas called feather tracks. In between the feather
tracks are down feathers. This keeps down the body
weight.
Feathers are made of a tough and flexible material called
"keratin". There is a spine down the middle, called the
shaft, which is hollow. There are vanes are on the two
halves of the feather. They are made of thousands of
branches called barbs. Because there are many spaces
between these barbs, a feather has as much air as matter.
• Not all birds have all the types of feathers. It depends on what
type of bird it is.
• The tail of the bird plays a big role during flight. The tail acts as
the rudder, balancing and steering the bird. The tail also helps
the bird in stopping. The tail is turned downward and acts like a
brake.
• Feathers protect the bird's skin and insulates it. Feathers can
be fluffed up in the winter or squeezed down in the summer.
Feathers are also used to line nests.
• The color of the feathers is important in mating.
• Birds can see color. Most other mammals cannot.
• Feathers can be divided into 6 categories:
Contour feathers
Semiplume feathers
Down feathers
Filoplume feathers
Bristle feathers
Powder-down feathers
You will ID these 3 on your pigeon:
primaries - the main flight feathers on the wings (they are located on
lower [outer] parts of the wings). scapulars - feathers on the shoulder
(also called lesser secondary coverts).
secondaries - the smaller flight feathers on the wings - they are on the
upper part of the wings (above the primaries).
tail feathers - flight feathers at the end of the bird (used for steering).
• A bird's survival depends upon the
condition of its feathers. Birds take a lot of
time caring for their feathers. This is called
preening. They use their feet and beaks to
arrange their feathers. They nibble each
feather from the base of the tip.
•Birds
have
between
1,000 and
25,000
feathers.
How many
feathers?
Video clips of dissection
• http://llabiology.blogspot.com/2008/05/biol
ogy-i-bird-video.html (1:32)
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4YVp
K4mgKY&feature=related (approx 4 min)
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ja7eVvq
kAM8 (approx. 4 min)
Circulatory System
Generally birds have hearts larger and ones that beat faster than
mammals. The human heart pulse rate at rest averages 72 beats per
minute. The House Sparrow's heart pulse rate at rest averages 460
beats per minute. In the Ruby-throated Hummingbird pulse rate at
rest is 615! WOW!
Identify the following anatomical structures:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Muscles
pectoralis major
supracoracoideus
Teacher’s Initials: __________
Digestive System
esophagus
crop
proventriculus
gizzard
small intestine
large intestine
caeca
cloaca
liver
pancreas
Teacher’s Initials: __________
Sensory & Nervous Systems
Brain:
cerebral hemispheres
cerebellum
optic lobe
medulla
Teacher’s Initials: __________
•
•
•
•
•
•
Circulatory System
heart
right & left atria
right & left ventricles
Teacher’s Initials: __________
Respiratory system
trachea
right & left lungs
air sacs
Teacher’s Initials: __________
•
Urogenital & Endocrine Systems
kidneys
testes
ovary
oviduct
Teacher’s Initials: __________
•
Your names: _______________________
Respiratory system
Ounce for ounce, a bird in flight requires more energy
than a terrestrial mammal. Especially when migrating,
birds fly at altitudes where oxygen is in such short
supply that no mammal could possibly survive.
The air sacs fill a large
proportion of the chest
and abdominal cavity,
and also connect to
the air spaces in the
bones.
Bird Structure Key for the
following ID slides
Structures
Structures
Structures
1. Large Intestine
11. Tail Feathers
21. Pectoralis
2. Caeca
12. Crop
22. Supracoracoidius
3. Ovary
13. Esophagus
23. Crop
4. Gizzard
14. Contour Feathers
24. Glottis
5. Testes
15. Down Feathers
25. Palatine Folds
6. Pancreas
16. Allula
26. Tongue
7. Duodenum
17. Primary Feathers
27. Posterior Opening
of Air Passage
8. Lungs
18. Secondary
Feathers
28. Large Intestine
9. Heart
19. Cloaca
29. Kidneys
10. Liver
20. Small Intestine
30. Proventriculus
1. Large Intestine
2. Caeca
3. Ovary
4. Gizzard
5. Testes
6. Pancreas
7. Duodenum
8. Lungs
9. Heart
10. Liver
11. Tail Feathers
12. Crop
13. Esophagus
14. Contour Feathers
15. Down Feathers
16. Allula
17. Primary Feathers
18. Secondary Feathers
19. Cloaca
20. Small Intestine
21. Pectoralis
22. Supracoracoidius
23. Crop
24. Glottis
25. Palatine Folds
26. Tongue
27. Posterior Opening of Air Passage
28. Large Intestine
29. Kidneys
30. Proventriculus
1. Large Intestine
2. Caeca
3. Ovary
4. Gizzard
5. Testes
6. Pancreas
7. Duodenum
8. Lungs
9. Heart
10. Liver
11. Tail Feathers
12. Crop
13. Esophagus
14. Contour Feathers
15. Down Feathers
16. Allula
17. Primary Feathers
18. Secondary Feathers
19. Cloaca
20. Small Intestine
21. Pectoralis
22. Supracoracoidius
23. Crop
24. Glottis
25. Palatine Folds
26. Tongue
27. Posterior Opening of Air Passage
28. Large Intestine
29. Kidneys
30. Proventriculus
1. Large Intestine
2. Caeca
3. Ovary
4. Gizzard
5. Testes
6. Pancreas
7. Duodenum
8. Lungs
9. Heart
10. Liver
11. Tail Feathers
12. Crop
13. Esophagus
14. Contour Feathers
15. Down Feathers
16. Allula
17. Primary Feathers
18. Secondary Feathers
19. Cloaca
20. Small Intestine
21. Pectoralis
22. Supracoracoidius
23. Crop
24. Glottis
25. Palatine Folds
26. Tongue
27. Posterior Opening of Air Passage
28. Large Intestine
29. Kidneys
30. Proventriculus
7. Duodenum
8. Lungs
9. Heart
10. Liver
11. Tail Feathers
12. Crop
13. Esophagus
14. Contour Feathers
15. Down Feathers
16. Allula
17. Primary Feathers
18. Secondary Feathers
19. Cloaca
20. Small Intestine
21. Pectoralis
22. Supracoracoidius
23. Crop
24. Glottis
25. Palatine Folds
26. Tongue
27. Posterior Opening of Air Passage
28. Large Intestine
29. Kidneys
30. Proventriculus
1. Large Intestine
2. Caeca
3. Ovary
4. Gizzard
5. Testes
6. Pancreas
7. Duodenum
8. Lungs
9. Heart
10. Liver
11. Tail Feathers
12. Crop
13. Esophagus
14. Contour Feathers
15. Down Feathers
16. Allula
17. Primary Feathers
18. Secondary Feathers
19. Cloaca
20. Small Intestine
21. Pectoralis
22. Supracoracoidius
23. Crop
24. Glottis
25. Palatine Folds
26. Tongue
27. Posterior Opening of Air Passage
28. Large Intestine
29. Kidneys
30. Proventriculus
1. Large Intestine
2. Caeca
3. Ovary
4. Gizzard
5. Testes
6. Pancreas
7. Duodenum
8. Lungs
9. Heart
10. Liver
11. Tail Feathers
12. Crop
13. Esophagus
14. Contour Feathers
15. Down Feathers
16. Allula
17. Primary Feathers
18. Secondary Feathers
19. Cloaca
20. Small Intestine
21. Pectoralis
22. Supracoracoidius
23. Crop
24. Glottis
25. Palatine Folds
26. Tongue
27. Posterior Opening of
Air Passage
28. Large Intestine
29. Kidneys
30. Proventriculus
1. Large Intestine
2. Caeca
3. Ovary
4. Gizzard
5. Testes
6. Pancreas
7. Duodenum
8. Lungs
9. Heart
10. Liver
11. Tail Feathers
12. Crop
13. Esophagus
14. Contour Feathers
15. Down Feathers
16. Allula
17. Primary Feathers
18. Secondary Feathers
19. Cloaca
20. Small Intestine
21. Pectoralis
22. Supracoracoidius
23. Crop
24. Glottis
25. Palatine Folds
26. Tongue
27. Posterior Opening of
Air Passage
28. Large Intestine
29. Kidneys
30. Proventriculus
1. Large Intestine
2. Caeca
3. Ovary
4. Gizzard
5. Testes
6. Pancreas
7. Duodenum
8. Lungs
9. Heart
10. Liver
11. Tail Feathers
12. Crop
13. Esophagus
14. Contour Feathers
15. Down Feathers
16. Allula
17. Primary Feathers
18. Secondary Feathers
19. Cloaca
20. Small Intestine
21. Pectoralis
22. Supracoracoidius
23. Crop
24. Glottis
25. Palatine Folds
26. Tongue
27. Posterior Opening of
Air Passage
28. Large Intestine
29. Kidneys
30. Proventriculus
1. Large Intestine
2. Caeca
3. Ovary
4. Gizzard
5. Testes
6. Pancreas
7. Duodenum
8. Lungs
9. Heart
10. Liver
11. Tail Feathers
12. Crop
13. Esophagus
14. Contour Feathers
15. Down Feathers
16. Allula
17. Primary Feathers
18. Secondary Feathers
19. Cloaca
20. Small Intestine
21. Pectoralis
22. Supracoracoidius
23. Crop
24. Glottis
25. Palatine Folds
26. Tongue
27. Posterior Opening of Air Passage
28. Large Intestine
29. Kidneys
30. Proventriculus
1. Large Intestine
2. Caeca
3. Ovary
4. Gizzard
5. Testes
6. Pancreas
7. Duodenum
8. Lungs
9. Heart
10. Liver
11. Tail Feathers
12. Crop
13. Esophagus
14. Contour Feathers
15. Down Feathers
16. Allula
17. Primary Feathers
18. Secondary Feathers
19. Cloaca
20. Small Intestine
21. Pectoralis
22. Supracoracoidius
23. Crop
24. Glottis
25. Palatine Folds
26. Tongue
27. Posterior Opening of
Air Passage
28. Large Intestine
29. Kidneys
30. Proventriculus
Bird Female Anatomy (#3)
Female
This is where the
developing egg will
enter
Female
Male
Male
That’s All
Folks!