BIOL 5350 Ornithology Midterm 2

Struthioniformes

Ostriches. Flightless ratites. Two toes. Africa. 2 species.

Rheiformes

Rheas. Flightless ratites with no keel. South America. 2 species.

Casuariiformes

Emus and cassowaries. Flightless ratites with no keel. Australia/New Guinea. 4 species.

Apterygiformes

Kiwis. Flightless ratites. New Zealand. 5 species.

Tinamiformes

Tinamous. Central and South America. 46 species.

Galliformes

Landfowl. Terrestrial (chicken, turkeys). Worldwide. 307 species.

Anseriformes

Waterfowl. Aquatic/wetland (duck, geese, swans). Worldwide. 176 species.

Mesitornithiformes

Mesites. Small flightless. Madagascar. 3 species.

Pterocliformes

Soundgrouse. Ground-dwelling of plains/savannahs. Africa/Middle East/Asia. 16 species.

Columbiformes

Pigeons and doves. Crop milk. Worldwide. 350 species.

Cuculiformes

Cuckoos and allies. Brood parasites common. Worldwide. 156 species.

Otidiformes

Bustards. Large grassland birds. Africa/Asia/Australia/Europe. 26 species.

Musophagiformes

Turacos. Unique pigments for green and red. Africa. 23 species.

Caprimulgiformes

Nightjars and nighthawks. Mostly nocturnal. Broadly distributed. 98 species.

Nyctibiiformes

Potoos. Nocturnal and cryptic resting postures. Central and South America. 7 species.

Steatornithiformes

Oilbird. Nocturnal, cave-nesting fruit eater. Echolocation. 1 species.

Podargiformes

Frogmouths. Nocturnal and frog-mouths. India/Australia. 16 species.

Aegotheliformes

Owlet-nightjars. Small nocturnal. New Guinea/New Caledonia/Australia. 10 species.

Apodiformes

Treeswifts, swifts, and hummingbirds. Widespread. 472 species.

Opisthocomiformes

Hoatzin. Pheasant-sized leaf eater. Chicks use claws on wings to climb. South America. 1 species.

Gruiformes

Cranes, rails, coots, allies. Terrestrial birds. Worldwide. 185 species.

Charadriiformes

Shorebirds. Worldwide. 392 species.

Eurypygiformes

Sunbittern and Kagu. Central/South America and New Caledonia. 2 species.

Phaethontiformes

Tropicbirds. Ocean birds. Worldwide oceans. 3 species.

Gaviiformes

Loons. Diving birds. Northern hemisphere. 5 species.

Procellariiformes

Tube-nosed seabirds. Shearwaters, petrels, albatrosses. Salt filter nostrils. Worldwide oceans/Southern hemisphere. 146 species.

Sphenischiformes

Penguins. Aquatic, flightless, swimming birds. Monogamous. Southern Hemisphere. 19 species.

Ciconiiformes

Storks. Worldwide expect Antarctica. 20 species.

What are the two overlapping categories of bird vocalizations?

1. Calls

2. Songs

What is the difference between calls and songs in bird vocalizations?

Calls are typically simple with distinct function, such as alarm calls, contact calls, begging, or distress calls.

Songs are more complex and are used in a context of territory defense and mate attraction.

What category of bird vocalizations does mimicry fit into?

Can be either.

For vocalizations, birds use the syrinx while animals use the…

Larynx

For vocalizations, mammals use a larynx, but birds use the…

Syrinx.

What is the exterior of the syrinx made up of?

Tracheal elements and bronchial elements.

What is the interior of the syrinx made up of?

Tympaniform membranes, supporting cartilages, and muscles/nerves.

What is post-source modulation and how does it relate to sound production?

Birds modulate the sounds produced by the syrinx using the trachea or mouth cavity.

What are the 4 groups of birds capable of vocal learning?

1. Oscine birds (most diverse)

2. Suboscine birds (least diverse)

3. Parrots (relatively diverse)

4. Hummingbirds

What are the stages of learning in birds?

1. Sensory acquisition phase: in which hearing song “models” is essential.

2. Sensorimotor phase: in which practice is crucial.

Outcome: Crystallized song

What does it mean if a bird’s song is crystallized?

It can no longer change.

What are the neural pathways associated with song learning, memory, and vocal production?

1. Auditory input pathway

2. Posterior vocal pathway

   1. Anterior vocal pathway

What is vocal mimicry?

Produced in species that have broad, open neural templates, allowing them to do many vocalizations. Is found in about 20% of passerine oscines.

What are the hypotheses that explain the adaptive advantages of vocal mimicry?

1. Sexual selection (attracting females and repelling other males)

2. Reduction of interspecific competition for resources by tricking others

3. Deterrence of predators

   1. May represent play and stimulation.

Phoenicopteriformes

Flamingos. Americas, Africa, and Asia. 6 species.

How do birds organize their annual cycles? Which are more complex than many other vertebrates.

1. Survival

2. Growth

3. Breeding

4. Molt

   1. Migration

What are some tasks that can be triggered by environmental cues?

Autumnal migration, molt, overwintering, vernal migration, breeding

What is one of the most important environmental cues?

Day length

Do all species of birds have a set molt cycle?

No. Some molt continuously.

Annual cycles are usually correlated with _____ _____________, which is in turn, correlated with weather cycles.

Food availability

Temperate birds are very sensitive to day __________.

Length

How do birds monitor day length (photoperiod)?

By using special receptors in the hypothalamus.

How do gonads change during the photorefractory period?

Can decrease in size because birds shut down reproduction and molt prior to migration.

What are some main factors of social behavior in birds?

Territorial behavior, individual spacing, mating, rearing of offspring by parents, flocking

What is self-preening and autopreening?

Self-preening is grooming by yourself.

Autopreening is grooming others.

Describe territory

Territory is a subset of the home range, which is the entire area in which a bird spends its time.

What is the general pattern between territory size and body mass?

Large birds have bigger territories than small birds.

Describe the optimum territory size (x)

Depends on the tradeoff between:

1. Benefits related to need (curved line)

2. Costs of defense (linear)

Why do birds form flocks?

1. Location of patchily distributed foods.

2. Capture of difficult food resources

3. Vigilance and mobbing of predators

4. Confusion of predators

What is the Information Center Hypothesis?

Birds watch each other and learn about who is successful and follows them.

What are the sex chromosomes for birds?

ZW. ZZ is male. ZW is female.

Describe the reproductive system of birds.

Two testes, one ovary.

Adrenal glands produce hormones.

Most birds have a cloaca and one opening (vent).

What are primary oocytes?

The cells that give rise to ova. They are already present in the ovary tissue of a hatchling bird.

Describe the role of follicles in regards to eggs.

Each maturing ovum (egg) resides within a follicle and is fully provisioned with lipids and nutrients.

Describe how female birds have selective chromosome segregation during the first meiotic division.

Some species of birds are capable of controlling the sex of each offspring at ovulation. They can adjust the sex ratio of their clutches.

Describe the physiology of bird testes.

They are inside the abdominal cavity at body temperature. Sperm development occurs at night when it’s cooler. Increase in size facilitates more sperm. W

Why is there so much sperm?

Sperm competition: competition between spermatozoa of two or more males to fertilize a single egg - following copulation between a female and two or more males. W

Where does fertilization happen in the female?

In the infundibulum.

What are some important features of eggs?

The shell protects the embryo from soil invertebrates and microbes.

The egg must “breathe”.

There must be nutrition for the embryo to feed on.

Why do bizarre morphological traits and behaviors evolve and persist in birds?

They evolve by sexual selection, not by natural selection.

What are the two overriding challenges for maximizing evolutionary fitness in sexual producers?

1. Survival (up to reproductive age)

2. Reproduction

3. Mating success

What is sexual selection?

Differential reproductive success resulting from variation in mating success.

Who will experience the most intense sexual selection?

The sex whose reproductive success is the most limited by access to mates. Usually the male sex because sperm are cheap and eggs are expensive.

What drives sexual selection for elaborate courtship displays and dimorphic plumage?

Female choosiness

Why do females prefer elaborate traits?

1. Good genes hypothesis. Traits are honest indicators. Can become a handicap.

2. Direct benefits hypothesis. Traits increase fitness.

3. Arbitrary choice and runaway selection hypothesis. Self-reinforcing coevolution. Opposed by natural selection.

Why is elaborate plumage costly in terms of maintenance behavior?

Bird species with longer plumage must devote more time to preening and maintenance.

What is shifting baseline syndrome?

A gradual change in the accepted norms for the condition of the natural environment due to lack of past information or lack of experience of past conditions. “Acceptance”

The goal of conservation biology is to address the loss of biodiversity through:

1. The evaluation of human impacts on biodiversity.

   1. Developing practical approaches that prevent extinction.

Name some factors that contribute to a population’s extinction.

Rarity - low density

Limited dispersal ability

Loss of genetic diversity

Habitat loss

What is habitat disturbance?

Ecological concept indicating a temporary change in environmental conditions, which causes a pronounced change in the ecosystem.

What are key methods used to study avian breeding systems?

Color banding

DNA fingerprinting

Radio transmitters

Video surveillance

What are some major factors that influence breeding systems?

1. Trade-offs between current and future reproductive efforts.

2. Uncertainties about parentage.

3. Opportunities to cheat (increasing genetic representation)

4. Opportunities to coerce other birds into helping rear offspring

What are some breeding systems

Brood parasitism

Monogamy (1 male, 1 female)

Polygyny (1 male, multiple females)

Polyandry (2 female, multiple males)

Cooperative breeding

What are some unique adaptations caused by brood parasitism?

Egg mimicry

Egg hardness (dent egg of foster parent)

Ejection behavior of nestlings

What are the two major types of polygyny?

1. Territorial polygyny: males control breeding territories with sufficient resources to attract multiple females to nest within them.

   1. Arena/Lek polygyny: females do ALL of the parental care themselves. W

What are the two major types of polyandry?

1. Serial polyandry: female lays eggs for a series of different males over the breeding season.

2. Territorial polyandry: female defends a territory with enough resources to attract multiple males, each of which cares for his own clutch.

What is cooperative breeding?

Helping kin. Enhances own chances of inheriting territory.