Portal:Birds
The Birds Portal
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (/ˈeɪviːz/), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight skeleton. Birds live worldwide and range in size from the 5.5 cm (2.2 in) bee hummingbird to the 2.8 m (9 ft 2 in) common ostrich. There are over 11,000 living species, more than half of which are passerine, or "perching" birds. Birds have wings whose development varies according to species; the only known groups without wings are the extinct moa and elephant birds. Wings, which are modified forelimbs, gave birds the ability to fly, although further evolution has led to the loss of flight in some birds, including ratites, penguins, and diverse endemic island species. The digestive and respiratory systems of birds are also uniquely adapted for flight. Some bird species of aquatic environments, particularly seabirds and some waterbirds, have further evolved for swimming. The study of birds is called ornithology.
Birds are feathered theropod dinosaurs and constitute the only known living dinosaurs. Likewise, birds are considered reptiles in the modern cladistic sense of the term, and their closest living relatives are the crocodilians. Birds are descendants of the primitive avialans (whose members include Archaeopteryx) which first appeared during the Late Jurassic. According to recent estimates, modern birds (Neornithes) evolved in the Late Cretaceous and diversified dramatically around the time of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ago, which killed off the pterosaurs and all non-avian dinosaurs.
Many social species preserve knowledge across generations (culture). Birds are social, communicating with visual signals, calls, and songs, and participating in such behaviours as cooperative breeding and hunting, flocking, and mobbing of predators. The vast majority of bird species are socially (but not necessarily sexually) monogamous, usually for one breeding season at a time, sometimes for years, and rarely for life. Other species have breeding systems that are polygynous (one male with many females) or, rarely, polyandrous (one female with many males). Birds produce offspring by laying eggs which are fertilised through sexual reproduction. They are usually laid in a nest and incubated by the parents. Most birds have an extended period of parental care after hatching.
Many species of birds are economically important as food for human consumption and raw material in manufacturing, with domesticated and undomesticated birds being important sources of eggs, meat, and feathers. Songbirds, parrots, and other species are popular as pets. Guano (bird excrement) is harvested for use as a fertiliser. Birds figure throughout human culture. About 120 to 130 species have become extinct due to human activity since the 17th century, and hundreds more before then. Human activity threatens about 1,200 bird species with extinction, though efforts are underway to protect them. Recreational birdwatching is an important part of the ecotourism industry. (Full article...)
Featured articles
Selected general bird topic
Bird netting or anti-bird netting is a form of bird pest control. It is a net used to prevent birds from reaching certain areas.
Bird protection netting comes in a variety of shapes and forms, The most common is a small mesh (1 or 2 cm squares) either extruded and bi-oriented polypropylene or woven polyethylene. (Full article...)
Selected taxon
Neognathae (/niˈɒɡnəθiː/; from Ancient Greek νέος (néos) 'new, young' and γνάθος (gnáthos) 'jaw') is an infraclass of birds, called neognaths, within the class Aves of the clade Archosauria. Neognathae includes the majority of living birds; the exceptions being the tinamous and the flightless ratites, which belong instead to the sister taxon Palaeognathae. There are nearly 10,000 living species of neognaths.
The earliest fossils are known from the very end of the Cretaceous with the oldest known member being Teviornis from the Nemegt Formation of Mongolia, but molecular clocks suggest that neognaths originated sometime in the first half of the Late Cretaceous, about 90 million years ago. Since then, they have undergone adaptive radiation, producing the diversity of form, function, and behavior that exists today. Neognathae includes the order Passeriformes (perching birds), one of the largest orders of land vertebrates, containing some 60% of living birds. Passeriformes is twice as species-rich as Rodentia and about five times as species-rich as Chiroptera (bats), which are the two largest orders of mammals. Neognathae also contains some very small orders, often birds of unclear relationships like the hoatzin.
The neognaths have fused metacarpals, an elongate third finger, and 13 or fewer vertebrae. They differ from the Palaeognathae in features like the structure of their jawbones. Neognathae means "new jaws", but it seems that the supposedly "more ancient" paleognath jaws are among the few apomorphic (more derived) features of the palaeognaths, meaning that the respective jaw structure of these groups is not informative in terms of comparative evolution. However, a neognath-like palate is also present in ornithuran birds like Ichthyornis. (Full article...)
Topics
Anatomy: Anatomy • Skeleton • Flight • Eggs • Feathers • Plumage
Evolution and extinction: Evolution • Archaeopteryx • Hybridisation • Late Quaternary prehistoric birds • Fossils • Taxonomy • Extinction
Behaviour: Singing • Intelligence • Migration • Reproduction • Nesting • Incubation • Brood parasites
Bird orders: Struthioniformes • Tinamiformes • Anseriformes • Accipitriformes • Galliformes • Gaviiformes • Podicipediformes • Procellariiformes • Sphenisciformes • Pelecaniformes • Ciconiiformes • Phoenicopteriformes • Falconiformes • Gruiformes • Charadriiformes • Pteroclidiformes • Columbiformes • Psittaciformes • Cuculiformes • Strigiformes • Caprimulgiformes • Apodiformes • Coraciiformes • Piciformes • Trogoniformes • Coliiformes • Passeriformes
Bird lists: Families and orders • Lists by region
Birds and humans: Ringing • Ornithology • Bird collections • Birdwatching • Birdfeeding • Conservation • Aviculture
Quotes
“ | Even the woodpecker owes his success to the fact that he uses his head and keeps pecking away until he finishes the job he starts. | ” |
Resources
Free online resources:
- SORA: The Searchable Online Research Archive (SORA) has decades worth of archives of the following journals: The Auk, The Condor, Journal of Field Ornithology, North American Bird Bander, Studies in Avian Biology, Pacific Coast Avifauna, and The Wilson Bulletin. Coverage ends around 2000. The ability to search all journals or browse exists on the front page.
- Notornis: The Journal of the Ornithological Society of New Zealand covers New Zealand and the South Pacific.
- New Zealand Journal of Ecology: This journal often publishes bird-related articles. Like Notornis, this journal is concerned with New Zealand and surrounding areas.
- Marine Ornithology: Published by the numerous seabird research groups, Marine Ornithology is specific and goes back many years.
- BirdLife International: The Data Zone has species accounts for every species, although threatened species and some key groups have greater detail with others only having status and evaluation.
- Author Index: This is a good source for binomial authorities for taxoboxes.
There is also Birds of North America, Cornell University's massive project collecting information on every breeding bird in the ABA area. It is available for US$40 a year.
For more sources, including printed sources, see WikiProject Birds.
WikiProjects
Selected images
Selected bird anatomy topic
The hyperpallium (formerly called the hyperstriatum or the wulst) is the destination for lemnothalamic projections in birds. The projections as well as the granular cells at the destination of the lemnothalamic projections to the hyperpallium are similar in morphology, electrophysiology, retinotopic organization, and columnar organization to the striate cortex in mammals. These avian granular cells are thought to have evolved independently in birds, as they do not appear in reptiles.
The projections originate in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus and target three layers in the hyperpallium: the hyperpallium intercalatum, the hyperpallium densocellularis, and the nucleus interstitialis hyperpalii apicalis, with the densest projections being to the later two layers. (Full article...)
Selected species
Did you know
- ...that the rufous hornero, a common species in the ovenbird family, is the national bird of Argentina?
- ...that the eastern whipbird (pictured) of the Australian wet forests is so named for its loud call which resembles the cracking of a whip?
- ...that the rusty-barred owl is one of the only two members of the Strix genus of birds to be found in South America?
Categories
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Taxonomy of Aves
Class Aves, divided into superorders, orders, suborders (where indicated), and families. | ||||
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Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
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Commons
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Wikibooks
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Wikidata
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Wikinews
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Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikispecies
Directory of species -
Wikiversity
Free learning tools -
Wikivoyage
Free travel guide -
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus
Sources
- ^ Woods, R.L. (1967). The Modern Handbook of Humor. McGraw-Hill. p. 30. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
- ^ "Kākāpō Recovery". Department of Conservation. New Zealand. Retrieved 26 September 2024