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57 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
What is a bird? |
A bipedal vertebrate with feathers |
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What is the major defining feature of birds? |
Feathers |
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What are feathers? |
Modifications of the epidermis/modified reptilian scales |
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6 characteristics of feathers |
Filamentous, flexible, lightweight, warm, strong, and soft |
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3 functions of feathers |
Thermoregulation, flight, and displays |
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What are wings? |
Modified forelimbs used for flight |
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Describe a bird's bill |
Toothless and covered with keratin sheath |
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Describe the bones of birds |
Lightweight, hollow, spongy, and strutted |
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Describe bird skeletons |
Forelimbs, head, pelvis, and legs are fused to strengthen and reinforce the skeleton |
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What are horizontal, backward curved projections on the ribs that overlap other ribs to strengthen the thorax? |
Uncinate processes |
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What is a furcula? |
Modified clavicles that compress and rebound like a spring during flight |
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How is the sternum modified? |
Large keel for attachment of wing muscles |
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2 types of muscle fibers |
White muscle fibers: fast-twitch, used for speed not endurance. Red muscle fibers: slow-twitch, used for endurance/produces heat by shivering |
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What is a bird's average body temperature? |
40-44 degrees C / 104-108 degrees F |
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Describe the circulatory system of a bird |
4 chambered heart, efficient |
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Describe the respiratory system of a bird |
highly efficient one way system with a set of posterior and anterior air sacs. It takes 2 complete breathing cycles to get the air and and out of the lungs |
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Describe bird reproduction (3) |
produce large, nutritious external eggs. No bird species bear live young. Parental care essential |
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Are most bird socially monogamous, polygamous, or polyandrous? |
socially monogamous |
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Describe the nervous system of birds |
large, well-developed brains |
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How many times larger is a bird's brain than a reptile's? |
6-11 |
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3 things that birds are capable of learning |
complex motor tasks, social behavior, and vocalizations |
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4 cues birds use during migration |
patterns of earth's magnetism, celestial cues, polarized light, and landmarks |
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What is unique about bird vision? |
it extends into the ultraviolet range of the spectrum |
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What is unique about bird hearing? |
it includes infrasounds (below human hearing) |
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What is adaptive radiation? |
the diversity in form and function of bird adaptations caused primarily by natural selection |
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2 traits affected by adaptive radiation |
bill sizes and shapes and leg lengths/foot shapes |
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3 flight causes of wing shape variation |
slow flapping, fast takeoff, and soaring |
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How many bird species are there worldwide? |
over 10,000 |
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What is the smallest bird and how much does it weight? |
Bee Hummingbird, 2 grams |
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What is the largest living bird? |
Ostrich |
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What were the 2 largest, extinct birds? |
Teratorn: 5 m wingspan, and Diatryma: 2 m tall with horse-sized skull |
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What is an alternative name for the American Woodcock's display flight? |
Sky dancing |
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6 nicknames of the American Woodcock |
Timberdoodle, sky dancer, swamp bat, bog sucker, big-eyed john, and mud bat |
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What order are Woodcocks in, and what is their preferred habitat? |
Charadriformes, forest/fields |
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Describe the appearance of a Woodcock (4 traits) |
quail sized, eyes sit way back on head, short legs way back on body, and long beak with nerves all the way to the end to locate earthworms |
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How many eggs do woodcocks lay? |
4 |
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Are woodcocks single-brooded or multi-brooded? |
single brood |
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describe the eggs and nest of a woodcock |
nest: shallow depression on the ground, eggs: heavily camouflaged |
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How many days to woodcocks incubate nests, and how long do young stay in the nest? |
21 days and 1 day |
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How long do woodcocks brood their young? |
6-8 weeks |
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What did the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 change about woodcock hunting? |
Prior to 1918, people hunted wookcocks at night using torches to find nest. Now, they can only be hunted during the day |
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3 ways to locate woodcocks |
walk through their habitat and they will burst up at your feet, go out in february/march to watch their breeding displays, and sit in appropriate habitat in the evening and they will fly overhead |
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2 other evidences for woodcock presense |
"splashes": size of a 50 cent piece, white with dark center. probing holes: made while looking for earthworms |
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are woodcocks monogamous, Polygynous , or polyandrous? |
Polygynous
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Where do male woodcocks display? |
lekking grounds |
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when do woodcocks display? |
year round, but concentrated from late winter to early summer |
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What time of day to do woodcocks display? |
dawn and dusk, or all night if it's a full moon |
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What two calls do woodcocks make? |
quiet "tuko" followed by loud "peent" |
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What happens after the male woodcock "peents" for a few minutes? |
he takes off, spiraling upward, and creating a twittering sound with his three narrow outer primary feathers. Then, he starts a large-circling downward flight while chirping |
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When is the woodcock's spring migration? |
Late January to early march |
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3 woodcock breeding migration triggers |
increasing day length, after the full moon in February most will leave withing two weeks, and wind blowing from south to north |
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3 things learned from the great backyard bird count |
migration patterns, year-to-year changes, and long-term trends |
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According to the GBBC rules, how long should you count birds? |
for at least 15 minutes |
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3 reasons to start a new GBBC checklist |
new day, new location, and new time |
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Where do you enter GBBC numbers? |
Birdcount.org |
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2 reasons you would have to create a new GBBC account |
if you are new, or if you have not participated in the last two years |
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