Marine Vertebrates: Lecture 6
January 28, 2008
Class Aves: Seabirds
I.
Evolutionary relationships
II.
Birds vs. “other” reptiles
III. Seabirds: Defined
IV. Adaptations for a marine existence
A.
Osmotic balance
1.
Acquiring water
2.
Water loss
3.
Excretion of water and ions
a.
Kidneys
b.
Intestines
c.
Salt glands
B.
Thermoregulation
1.
How does the thermal climate of seabirds compare to terrestrial birds?
a.
Tropical
b.
Polar
2.
Fat and feathers
3.
Special oils
4.
Basal metabolic rate (BMR)
C.
Sensory systems (briefly)
V.
Groups
A.
Sphenisciformes: Penguins
B.
Pelecaniformes: Pelicans, frigatebirds, gannets, boobies, cormorants
C.
Procellariformes: Albatrosses, petrels, storm-petrels, fulmars, shearwaters
D.
Charadriiformes (a subset of this Order, actually…): Gulls, skuas, jaegers, auks, guillemots,
puffins
VI. Focus: Order Sphenisciformes (Family Spheniscidae): penguins
A.
Overview
B.
Adaptations for diving
1.
Bones
2.
Hindlimbs
3.
Forelimbs
4.
Minimization of air sacs
5.
Feathers
6.
Two carotid arteries (many birds have only one)
C.
Focus: Adelie penguins
1.
Feeding
a.
Interrelationship of ice, phytoplankton, krill and penguins
2.
A bit about breeding
3.
Decline in the more northerly colonies
a.
Hypothesis 1: decline in sea ice (see feeding)
b.
Hypothesis 2: Too much snow! (Bill Fraser, Steve Emsley)
c.
Competing penguin species: Gentoo and Chinstrap
D.
Focus: Emperor penguins
1.
Feeding
2.
A bit on breeding… (some comparison to Adelie penguins)
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VII. Focus: Procellariformes (tubenoses)
A.
General
1.
The tubenose (roles?)
B.
Focus: Albatross (black-brow, wandering):
1.
General
2.
Feeding method
3.
Foraging distances
4.
Adaptations for sustained flight
5.
Two types of foraging bouts
a.
Short foraging bouts appear to be for chick feeding (decrease in mass)
b.
Longer foraging bouts appear to replenish their own body mass (measured
increase in mass)
C.
Focus: storm-petrels (show slides!)
1.
Feeding method (“Jesus birds”)
2.
Nesting
D. Focus: Southern giant petrel, Antarctica (briefly).
1.
Unique protective mechanism!
E.
Focus: prions (briefly)
1.
Filter-feeding
2.
Numbers positively correlated with DMS, and airborne (odor) indicator of
phytoplankton (and thus of zooplankton).
VIII. Focus: Pelecaniformes
A.
General
B.
Focus: brown pelicans
1.
Plunge divers
2.
Threatened status/conservation
C.
Focus: cormorant (blue-eyed shag, Antarctica)
1.
Feeding and diving
IX. Order Charadriiformes: Shorebirds and gulls.
A.
General
B.
Focus: Gulls (Kelp gulls, Antarctica).
C.
Focus: South Polar Skua
D.
Focus: Puffins (Tufted puffin, Alaska; Common puffin, Machias-Seal Island, Bay of Fundy)
E.
NOTE: Pigeon guillemots, auklets and common murres are all local species in the
Charadriiformes that nest off our coast.
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