10 Characteristics of Birds
10 Characteristics of Birds
We explain what birds are, their evolution, form of flight and food. Also, its characteristics, reproduction and more.
What are birds?
Birds are a class of vertebrate and warm-blooded animals , whose body is covered with feathers of different colors and whose light bones allow them in most cases to fly, jump or at least stay in it.
Birds have a horny beak without teeth, through which they feed and communicate , and which has adapted to the many populations of these animals, one of the most diverse and numerous in the world. Their shapes are equally varied, ranging from the tiny hummingbird (6 and a half centimeters) to the gigantic Andean condor (130 centimeters of wingspan) or the ostrich (280 centimeters high).
Not all birds are capable of flight , but many swim, glide, jump, or even run very fast. Many of them are popular as pets, especially those with a melodious song.
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Evolution
Although there are various theories regarding the origin of birds, the most widely accepted is that they come directly from them , being the closest existing animal group to the deinonicosaurs, which together with the dromaeosaurids and troodontids constitute the group of parabirds .
Key to the formulation of these evolutionary theories was the discovery of the Berlin fossil Archeopteryx , an Upper Jurassic dinosaur whose feather-encased body was twisted in a manner very similar to that observed in modern bird carcasses. Even so, it is argued that the most plausible avian ancestor discovered is the late Avimimus.
Flight
Although not all species of birds can fly (penguins swim, for example, and ostriches run), it is one of the distinctive features of this class of animals, since the ability to move from one ecosystem to another and even to proliferating in isolated territories without greater animal competition, allowed the enormous diversification of avian species.
On the other hand, the faculty of flight drove most of the evolutionary changes present in the aerodynamic body of birds, from powerful pectoral muscles that accompany the transformation of the forelimbs into wings, to the development of hollow, light bones, in connection with the powerful, the most complex of the.
The air from the birds' respiration is distributed between the lungs and the various bone cavities, in order to maintain the hyperoxygenated metabolism and to be able to soar for long periods of time.
Similarly, the lower extremities, the only ones free during flight, were adapted for a strong solid grip from a strong metatarsal, essential in preying and for holding onto tree branches, but also a guarantor of stability in it.
Feeding
The diet of birds can be extremely varied, ranging from nectar, fruits and vegetables, leaves and seeds ,,, carrion and small animals:, rodents, and even other birds or their eggs.
The enormous avian diversity has also allowed them to adapt their beaks to their beloved nutritional source, a feature that is highly evident in species such as the woodpecker, the pelican or the hummingbird. Their nutritional needs, for the flight, are high , so they have developed a fast digestive model.
As they do not have teeth, birds cannot chew their food, so they have a digestive system adapted for the digestion of whole pieces , often using small stones that they swallow and store in the gizzard, to crush the food and facilitate the digestion.
Sociability
Many birds prefer a solitary existence or small family nuclei , especially those dedicated to predation. While most small birds are organized in flocks that can reach significant proportions.
Given their high capacity for intelligent thinking, birds are capable of efficient modes of socialization, as far as food and safety are concerned, and can even embark on symbiotic or commensal relationships with members of other species, as do herons that are they feed on the parasites in the fur of large size.
Reproduction
Birds are oviparous, so that once fertilized during intercourse, the female lays eggs with a calcareous shell , which are then hatched until the moment of hatching.
What is interesting about the intercourse of birds are their complex mating rituals , in which the male usually attracts the female by showing off the colors of his plumage, his song and even building the best possible nest with branches and material that he collects from the birds. surroundings.
95% of bird species are monogamous , which allows extensive biparental care until the brood is made. In this way, in addition, the territory around the nest can be defended, guaranteeing food for the chicks.
Migrations
Many of the bird species migrate, taking advantage of the climatic difference between both hemispheres to optimize their food sources or to carry out the breeding season. Some of these migrations are annual, for which the animals prepare by maximizing their reserves of y.
Considering that land birds have a maximum autonomous flight radius of about 2,500 km and waders of about 4,000 km, it is understood that a total distance that often exceeds 10,000 km is a significant energy investment in the life of the bird.
Distribution
There are around 9,000 species of birds , which makes them the most numerous in the world, well above those of mammals. They have colonized all possible habitats:, insular,,,, Mediterranean, polar.
Zoological classification
The taxonomic group of birds is considered as a class in traditional zoological systematics, but not in modern classifications, for which it is located within the superclass of tetrapods .
Many of these discrepancies with respect to their classification have reason to be in the various existing theories about their evolutionary origin, and the blurred boundaries between avian and non-avian animals as a result of the successive archaeological discoveries of primitive birds and intermediate links prior to their existence.
Relationship with man
Birds have fascinated man since the earliest ages . His ability to fly has been a source of inspiration for, like the Greek story of Icarus, and for inventions like the paraglider and the airplane. Conquering that inaccessible frontier in the sky and rubbing shoulders with birds has been a human obsession that could only be realized in the last century.
Some are considered to be heavenly messengers or emissaries of good news , while others, such as the vulture or the raven, are considered evil or ominous. The eagle and the hawk have inspired numerous imperial banners and have been part of the western imagination since early: the griffins (half-half), the rocs (giant birds) or the mythical phoenix, capable of reviving from its ashes.
Other more domestic birds are still part of the human habitat, such as parrots and cockatoos whose imitative capacity for human language has opened a place for them as companion animals; or chickens, turkeys, ducks and other farmed birds that play an important role in the human food industry and in the manufacture of numerous products, such as pillows from feathers.
Threat
More than 120 species of birds have become extinct since the seventeenth century and there are more than 1200 species threatened today , which points to the violent interference of man in their natural habitats, hunting and capture, due to the decorative nature of their plumage and many times to the harmony of their song.
Avian species are among the most affected by oil spills and other high-impact ecological accidents, which is why the main ecological efforts in the world focus on the conservation of these animals. It is estimated that 16 species have been saved from extinction between 1994 and 2004, but many others have no alternative other than disappearance.
Update date: February 18, 2021.