Coastal Birds Final

Ornithology

the study of birds

• ornis = bird

• logos = knowledge

John James Audubon

first well known ornithologist, he studied birds by shooting them since there was no other way at the time

Importance of Birds to Humans: Economics, Health, and Safety

• waterfowl hunting - local economies

• birding as a hobby - equipment, books, travel

• disease transmission - west nile virus

• aircraft safety - airport collisions and crashes; grass is 3 inches tall at all airports

• ecological integrity

• cause they are cool…

Importance of Birds to Humans: Culture and Art

• symbolism - Aztec (quetzal), Egyptian (ibis), NW American Indian (raven)

• poetry and verse

• music - contemporary

Konishi summarized research on bids with importance to:

• evolution, ecology, and sociobiology → niche partitioning

• population and community ecology

• behavioral ecology

• animal communication

• orientation and navigation → can see sky and use stars and magnetic field to navigate, can hear Atlantic and Pacific Oceans

Theory of Island Biogeography

Robert McArthur and E.O. Wilson - big island = close = more species, small island = far = less species

Larder Hoarders

food in one place

Scatter Hoarders

food in many places

Regulating Services

• seed dispersal - endozoochoy, waterfowl, seed-caching

• pollination

• pest control - insects, rodents, weeds

• scavenging - carcass/waste removal

Supporting Services

• nutrient dynamics - deposition

• ecosystem engineering

Bird Watching/Ecotourism

• largest group of ecotourists

• well educated

• wealthy

• committed

Benefits to Bird Watching/Ecotourism

• commodification

• increased value of locales - help find rare birds

• inclusion of areas without protection

• bird-watching guides

Problems with Bird Watching/Ecotourism

• disturbance

• indirect impacts/ecosystem engineering

Diversity of Birds

• ~10,000 known species worldwide

• ~2,185 species in North America

• 439 species documented in Alabama

eBird

• checklists all over the world

• 930,000 people have entered data

• 1.6 billion observations

• 4.3 million locations

• 10,906 species noted

Global Big Day

May 13th → encourage people to go out and make checklists

eBird Data Entry

• where do you bird?

• how did you bird?

• what did you see?

Exploring eBird Data (what it can show)

• global bird diversity

• explore birding hotspots

• explore regions

• visualize seasonality

• understand trends

• top 100

• map entire species

Finding Birds with eBird

• map sightings

• rare birds and needs alerts

• target species

Data Quality is Very Important

• automated data quality filters

• reviewer network → 1200 volunteers

• “flag as misidentified” for images/audio

• steep review process

Vaned Flight Feather

asymmetrical, one side is broader than the other → this is to create force for flight

Contour Feather

upper part is vaned, lower part looks crazy because barbs aren’t held together (no barbules)

• thermoregulation, color/camouflage, smoothing of body to reduce friction

Down Feather

no vane, very small

• thermoregulation

Semiplume Feather

rachis and barbs but no barbules

• thermoregulation, sensory mode

Filoplume Feather

used to monitor position of feathers

Bristle Feather

helps direct bugs into mouth

Feather Tracts

show where feathers grow

Why do birds lack teeth?

because teeth and jaw bones are heavy and are too heavy for flight

Synsacrum Area

many bones are fused or reduced → 7 sacral vertebrae, 6 caudal vertebrae → reduces weight for flight and organs are underneath

Bones can also be…

pneumatized or air-filled → bridge looking structure between sides

Forelimbs are specialized for flight

• ~ 10 primary feathers connected to carpometacarpus

• ~ 15 secondary feathers connected to ulna

• flight feathers = remiges

• tail feathers = rectrices

Body Mass

is highly centralized so they can’t lose their balance

increased stability to withstand metabolic stress

since flight is a very stressful activity and is energetically expensive

Unique Respiratory System

• small, non-inflatable lungs

• 9 air sacs: ventilation but not gas exchange

• extremely efficient : delivers oxygenated air during both inhalation and exhalation

• Parabronchi: major respiratory units of lungs

Toe Arrangements

• Anisodactyl - three digits forward and one back

• Zygodactyl - two digits forward and two back

• Heterodactyl - first and second digits backward and third and fourth digits forward

• Syndactyl - three forward, one back, and 2 and 3 digits are fused together (kingfisher)

• Pamprodactyl - all four digits can point forward and can rotate first and fourth (chimney swift)

Webbing

• Palmate - front three toes are webbed (most common)

• Totipalmate - all four toes are webbed (pelicans)

• Semipalmate - partial webbing at the base of three front toes (shorebirds)

• Lobate - individual toes bordered by flexible, fleshy, leaf-like flaps of skin (grebe)

• Raptorial - strong individual toes with talons (falcon)

Bird Beaks

are shaped based on what they eat

Feather Function

• locomotion

• thermoregulation

• communication: visual (ex: RWBB: more red/brightness = more fitness) and acoustically (can give location and fitness)

• Protection: from predators and elements

Feather Care

• preening → usually once an hour using beak (sometimes feet)

• uropygial gland = produces oil to protect feathers

• parasites → 12 species of “eco” parasites (lice, flies, ticks)

• dust bathing = rolling in dirt to “suffocate” parasites

• sun bathing = getting in extreme hot places to remove ticks

Growth → pin feathers

feather structure grows out first and then unwinds itself

Basic Plumage

the plumage in winter (juveniles are born with this plumage)

Alternate Plumage

spring (what we typically see)

When do birds molt?

most birds molt twice a year (regular molts)

• irregular molts: fright molt could be due to stress and is only a few feathers

• waterfowl have eclipse plumage which is when they go flightless for a few weeks

Pigments

• melanins: responsible for Earth tones, can add strength to the feather

• carotenoids: reds, yellows, and orange colors (often derived from dies)

Structural Colors

• blues, greens, and whites

• interference: will reflect only in the colors you see (iridescence)

Adaptations for Flight

• hollow bones → to reduce body mass

• uncinate process (keeled sternum): projection overlapping with other ribs to keep ribcage and body stiff, pygostyle allows tail to act independently

• synsacrum (center of gravity body plan, bones are fused)

• bones and feathers of the wing (primary and secondary feathers), trioseal canal → allows wings to lift during flight

• flight muscles → pectoralis major (downstroke of wings) and pectoralis minor/supracoracoideus (smaller, needs less muscle to pull wings up)

Lift

Bernoulli’s Principle: slower moving air under the wing “pushes” against bottom of wing with more force than the faster moving air above the wing and this generates lift

Angle of Attack

• more lift if the wing is more angled

• too much angle = no lift (perpendicular to wind)

Thrust and Drag

• to move forward, a bird’s thrust must overcome drag

• profile drag (due to the shape of wing, reduced by streamlining)

• induced drag (occurs at tips of wings, inversely related to speed)

• V formation → helps birds save energy by reducing induced drag

• birds generate thrust by flapping

• secondaries produce lift, primaries provide thrust

• asymmetrical vanes in feathers = flight strength

wing loading

ratio of body mass to wing area

• birds with high wing loading are slow fliers or flightless

• low wing loading = fast and gliding birds

aspect ratio

ratio of wing length to wing width

• shorebirds have high aspect ratio = fast fliers

• low aspect ratio = slow fliers and flap more

Wing Sizes and Shapes

• long, narrow wings are best for high-speed gliding in high winds

• short, rounded wings permit fast efficient flight in open habitat

• slotting = holes or cracks in the surface of the wing, increases lift

• gliding flight = ride thermals (hot air) in cities or mountains

• flapping flight = by flapping wings down, together with the forward motion of the body, a bird can tilt the lift of its wing

Hummingbird Flight

• can go forward 26 mph (top speed)

• can rotate wings so fast that they can hover, and fly backwards

Flightlessness

• flying can be costly

• loss of flight is generally associated with geographic isolation and absence of terrestrial predators

Underwater flying

function the same as in the air, but don’t have to worry as much about lift

swimming and diving

• legs are farther back, used for thrust and catching prey

• ducks have feet more center of their body

• diving ducks feet are farther back

running and walking

• big, long, and strong legs

• pelvis is narrow to run fast and in straight line

climbing

• woodpeckers can only go up

• nuthatches can go up or down

Bird Navigation - Cues

• stars

• sun

• electromagnetic field

• sound

Migrants experience the best of two worlds

• increased reproductive performance by breeding in the food rich, competitor poor temperate habitats in summer

• increased survival by spending the temperate winter in the tropics

En Route Problems

• adjust to unfamiliar habitats

• acquire food in short period of time

• contend with competitors

• avoid predators

• resolve conflicting demands

• maintain health

• finding the right direction

• cope with adverse weather

Solving en route problems =

successful migration = survival and reproductive success

Migrant - Habitat Relationships

solution to en route problems depends on the migrants relationship to habitat (bird behavior depends on habitat

Extrinsic Factors

weather, time, accessibility, evolutionary history

Intrinsic Factors

food, predators, competitors, parasites/disease, suitable habitat vs non-suitable habitat

How do we study navigation?

• banding

• mist nets

• data collection

• fat scoring

• skulling

• social dominance

En Route Competition

• depress availability of food

• interfere with rate of food intake

Risk of Predation

• predation risk variable and unpredictable

• migrants often carry large fat stores

• migrants experience high energy demands

• pressure to travel quickly (to get better habitats)

• lack of information about predations ricks and foraging opportunities

Response to Risk of Predation Interpretation

• migrants assess risk of predation during stopover

• antipredator responses may restrict food intake

• fat birds are more likely to stop foraging to avoid predation

• some will stay at center of a tree and won’t move to avoid predators