The Brains on Birds
Tundra Biome
 Cold biome that averages –10 degrees Celsius, 14 degrees
Fahrenheit, where the soil remains frozen year round in
what’s called permafrost.
 Treeless in arctic regions or high mountaintops.
 Plant life, consisting of dwarf woody plants, grasses, and
lichens, is restricted to a growing season of ~60 days.
 Arctic animals include mammals like caribou, musk ox, polar
bear, and many migratory birds, which fly south during
winter.
Tundra
Tundra
Class Aves
 9000 species
 Characteristics:
 Birds are uniform in structure, due to the necessities
of flight, but diverse in lifestyle.
 Forelimbs are modified into wings and hind limbs are
adapted to walking, swimming, or perching.
Wing
Characteristics continued…
 All birds have a toothless beak and lay eggs, which are
internally fertilized.
 Birds are endothermic or warm blooded, which means
they can maintain a constant body temperature
independent of environment.
Beak
Flight
 Birds have well developed brains and nervous system
necessary for flight, which also allows complex social
behavior.
 Feathers are an exclusive characteristic of birds, which
provide large surface areas for lift with very low weight.
 The skeletal system has hollow bones laced with air cavities
for maximum strength with low weight.
 Birds have muscular mound for a tail, which controls the tail
feathers for steering in flight.
Skeletal System
Fun Fact Time:
What is the largest known bird in the
world (past and present)????
No, it is not Big Bird….
Answer: Glider
Fun Fact: Largest Bird in World
 Dr. Kenneth E. Campbell discovered the 25 ft. wingspan of
Argentavis magnificens.
 The feather size from such a bird is estimated to have been
1.5 meters long (60 inches); and 20 centimeters wide (8
inches).
 It lived six million years ago during the Miocene period
throughout Argentina.
What??!!!
 However, even though this bird’s muscles were well-
developed, they still were not sufficient to generate
enough lift for the giant bird to leave the ground. So
how did this, the largest of all birds, fly?
How did it fly?
 They confirmed that the now-extinct Argentavis magnificens was actually a
high-performance glider, soaring on thermals and updrafts just as vultures
and birds of prey do now.
 Apparently, Argentavis relied on updrafts in the foothills of the Andes, known
as thermals, which are columns of heated air that are deflected upward over a
ridge or a cliff.
 Thermals provide lift for small aircraft as well as for soaring birds, such as
modern-day condors, eagles and storks.
 It’s likely that Argentavis circled upwards on a thermal and then soared from
one thermal to another over long distances in what the researchers refer to as
“slope soaring”.
 Even though the bird’s huge wingspan gave it a 100-foot turning radius, this
was small enough that it could continue circling within a thermal as it rose high
above the plains to search for its prey.
Comparison
Birds of Prey
 Owls have adaptations including larges eyes and disk-like
faces to heighten their sense of hearing for night hunting.
 Hawks, falcons and eagles have sharp talons and hooked
beaks for killing and tearing a variety of prey from rodents
and snakes to fish.
 The Turkey vulture is a scavenging carnivore common in
Alabama, with adaptations such as a featherless head and
sense of smell for finding carrion.
Owl
Hawk and Falcon
Eagle
Turkey Vulture
Aquatic Birds
 Many oceanic birds such as the Albatross have long narrow
wings adapted to take advantage of wind for soaring.
 Shorebirds such as Terns and Seagulls take on large
migrations with their swept wings for high-speed flight.
 Penguins and Cormorants have adapted themselves to
swimming and specialize in catching fish.
Albatross
Penguins
Cormorant
Freshwater Aquatics
 Common in Alabama’s lakes, ponds, and rivers Ducks, Geese
and swans adapt to swimming and diving with webbed feet
and a watertight coating of oil.
 Long legged waders such as Herons, Egrets and Cranes walk
along the shallows in search of crustaceans and small fish
they spear with their bills.
 Kingfishers are often seen fishing by hovering over water to
locate fish and then capturing prey with a dramatic vertical
dive into the water.
Duck and Geese
Heron and Egret
Kingfisher
Videos
 http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/kids/animals-
pets-kids/wild-detectives-kids/wd-ep2-owls/
 http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/animals/birds-
animals/birds-of-prey/hawk_redtailed_rattlesnakemeal/
 http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/kids/animals-
pets-kids/birds-kids/antarctica-emperor-penguins-huddlevin-kids/
 http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/hummingbirds-
magic-in-the-air/video-full-episode/5475/
Song Birds
 The songs of the birds in this group such as the common
Bluebird are used to mark territory.
 Many songbirds such as Finches & Chickadees are successful
in disturbed habitats.
 This group includes species familiar to the backyard feeders
and birdbaths such as the Blue jay, Robin, and Mockingbird.
 Hummingbirds include the smallest birds and are important
pollinators.
Finches and Chickadees
Blue Jay and Mockingbird
Hummingbird
Ground Nesters
 Many familiar game birds such as Quails &
Pheasants are difficult to detect due to
camouflage.
 Prairie Chickens of the Great Plains are known
for their elaborate courtship dances and
plumage displays.
Quail and Pheasant
Quailman!!!!
Prairie Chicken
Ground Nesters
 The Roadrunner of the southwest is a crow-
sized predator of snakes and lizards.
 Benjamin Franklin once suggested the Wild
Turkey as our national bird, when he pointed out
that Bald Eagles are mostly carrion eaters.
Road Runner and Wild Turkey
Male and Female Turkey
Videos
 http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/animals/birds-
animals/
 http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/hummingbirds-
magic-in-the-air/video-full-episode/5475/
Tree Nesters
 Parrots and parakeets popular in the pet trade are unique in
having a hinged upper beak, which they use for fruits and
cracking nuts.
 Hornbills of Asia and Africa are so serious about parenting
that the male wall up the female in a tree cavity and feeds her
for the duration of the eggs incubation.
 Woodpeckers in the Americas are cavity nesters with
specialized bills designed to hammer insect larvae from
decaying trees.
Parrot and Parakeet
Woodpeckers
Hornbill
Flightless Birds
 The Ostrich of Africa, Rhea of South America and Emus of
Australia are savanna birds ranging from the 9 feet 350 pound
Ostrich to Rheas at 3 feet and 50 pounds. All eat mostly
plants, fruits nuts.
 Cassowaries are seed eating forest birds of Australia and the
south Asian islands.
 The Kiwi of New Zealand has the distinction of having the
largest egg to size of the body of any bird.
Ostrich and Emu
Emu babies 
Cassowaries
Kiwi Bird
Video
 http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/hummingbirds-
magic-in-the-air/video-full-episode/5475/