Ornithology Final Part 1

Front 1

What is a bird?

Back 1

A bipedal vertebrate with feathers

Front 2

What is the major defining feature of birds?

Back 2

Feathers

Front 3

What are feathers?

Back 3

Modifications of the epidermis/modified reptilian scales

Front 4

6 characteristics of feathers

Back 4

Filamentous, flexible, lightweight, warm, strong, and soft

Front 5

3 functions of feathers

Back 5

Thermoregulation, flight, and displays

Front 6

What are wings?

Back 6

Modified forelimbs used for flight

Front 7

Describe a bird's bill

Back 7

Toothless and covered with keratin sheath

Front 8

Describe the bones of birds

Back 8

Lightweight, hollow, spongy, and strutted

Front 9

Describe bird skeletons

Back 9

Forelimbs, head, pelvis, and legs are fused to strengthen and reinforce the skeleton

Front 10

What are horizontal, backward curved projections on the ribs that overlap other ribs to strengthen the thorax?

Back 10

Uncinate processes

Front 11

What is a furcula?

Back 11

Modified clavicles that compress and rebound like a spring during flight

Front 12

How is the sternum modified?

Back 12

Large keel for attachment of wing muscles

Front 13

2 types of muscle fibers

Back 13

White muscle fibers: fast-twitch, used for speed not endurance. Red muscle fibers: slow-twitch, used for endurance/produces heat by shivering

Front 14

What is a bird's average body temperature?

Back 14

40-44 degrees C / 104-108 degrees F

Front 15

Describe the circulatory system of a bird

Back 15

4 chambered heart, efficient

Front 16

Describe the respiratory system of a bird

Back 16

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

Front 17

Describe bird reproduction (3)

Back 17

produce large, nutritious external eggs. No bird species bear live young. Parental care essential

Front 18

Are most bird socially monogamous, polygamous, or polyandrous?

Back 18

socially monogamous

Front 19

Describe the nervous system of birds

Back 19

large, well-developed brains

Front 20

How many times larger is a bird's brain than a reptile's?

Back 20

6-11

Front 21

3 things that birds are capable of learning

Back 21

complex motor tasks, social behavior, and vocalizations

Front 22

4 cues birds use during migration

Back 22

patterns of earth's magnetism, celestial cues, polarized light, and landmarks

Front 23

What is unique about bird vision?

Back 23

it extends into the ultraviolet range of the spectrum

Front 24

What is unique about bird hearing?

Back 24

it includes infrasounds (below human hearing)

Front 25

What is adaptive radiation?

Back 25

the diversity in form and function of bird adaptations caused primarily by natural selection

Front 26

2 traits affected by adaptive radiation

Back 26

bill sizes and shapes and leg lengths/foot shapes

Front 27

3 flight causes of wing shape variation

Back 27

slow flapping, fast takeoff, and soaring

Front 28

How many bird species are there worldwide?

Back 28

over 10,000

Front 29

What is the smallest bird and how much does it weight?

Back 29

Bee Hummingbird, 2 grams

Front 30

What is the largest living bird?

Back 30

Ostrich

Front 31

What were the 2 largest, extinct birds?

Back 31

Teratorn: 5 m wingspan, and Diatryma: 2 m tall with horse-sized skull

Front 32

What is an alternative name for the American Woodcock's display flight?

Back 32

Sky dancing

Front 33

6 nicknames of the American Woodcock

Back 33

Timberdoodle, sky dancer, swamp bat, bog sucker, big-eyed john, and mud bat

Front 34

What order are Woodcocks in, and what is their preferred habitat?

Back 34

Charadriformes, forest/fields

Front 35

Describe the appearance of a Woodcock (4 traits)

Back 35

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

Front 36

How many eggs do woodcocks lay?

Back 36

4

Front 37

Are woodcocks single-brooded or multi-brooded?

Back 37

single brood

Front 38

describe the eggs and nest of a woodcock

Back 38

nest: shallow depression on the ground, eggs: heavily camouflaged

Front 39

How many days to woodcocks incubate nests, and how long do young stay in the nest?

Back 39

21 days and 1 day

Front 40

How long do woodcocks brood their young?

Back 40

6-8 weeks

Front 41

What did the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 change about woodcock hunting?

Back 41

Prior to 1918, people hunted wookcocks at night using torches to find nest. Now, they can only be hunted during the day

Front 42

3 ways to locate woodcocks

Back 42

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

Front 43

2 other evidences for woodcock presense

Back 43

"splashes": size of a 50 cent piece, white with dark center. probing holes: made while looking for earthworms

Front 44

are woodcocks monogamous, Polygynous , or polyandrous?

Back 44

Polygynous

Front 45

Where do male woodcocks display?

Back 45

lekking grounds

Front 46

when do woodcocks display?

Back 46

year round, but concentrated from late winter to early summer

Front 47

What time of day to do woodcocks display?

Back 47

dawn and dusk, or all night if it's a full moon

Front 48

What two calls do woodcocks make?

Back 48

quiet "tuko" followed by loud "peent"

Front 49

What happens after the male woodcock "peents" for a few minutes?

Back 49

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

Front 50

When is the woodcock's spring migration?

Back 50

Late January to early march

Front 51

3 woodcock breeding migration triggers

Back 51

increasing day length, after the full moon in February most will leave withing two weeks, and wind blowing from south to north

Front 52

3 things learned from the great backyard bird count

Back 52

migration patterns, year-to-year changes, and long-term trends

Front 53

According to the GBBC rules, how long should you count birds?

Back 53

for at least 15 minutes

Front 54

3 reasons to start a new GBBC checklist

Back 54

new day, new location, and new time

Front 55

Where do you enter GBBC numbers?

Back 55

Birdcount.org

Front 56

2 reasons you would have to create a new GBBC account

Back 56

if you are new, or if you have not participated in the last two years

Front 57

delete this

Back 57

delete this