Birds Birds that sing with wings Swainson’s Hawk call albatross chick Birds of Paradise Intro Birds of Paradise dances

What amazing creatures birds are! They have hollow bones & air sacs in their lungs to allow flight. They walk on their toes, have gizzards to grind their food, and lack a bladder.

Big Bird! Birds range in size from the 2 inch bee hummingbird to the ostrich which can grow to 9 feet tall. Most flying birds average anywhere from 1-20 lbs. The largest bird was 22 feet long and weighed 175 lbs. (teratorn from South America).

Flight burns calories A hummingbird’s heart beats 1200 times a minute. Most birds burn an average of 300 calories per kg. Human burns 1/3 of this. Why?

Did you know? Eagle retinas have more light-detecting cells called cones than human retinas, enhancing their ability to see fine details. They also have a much deeper fovea, a structure in the backs of the eyes of both humans and eagles that detects light. This deep fovea allows their eyes to act like a telephoto lens, giving them extra magnification. They see colors as more vivid than we do, can discriminate between more shades, and can also see ultraviolet light — an ability that evolved to help them detect the UV-reflecting urine trails of small prey. Make origami cranes. Buy duck stamp at post office. Poster of duck dynasty from Walmart. Songs: Feed the Birds, Blackbird by Paul McCartney (find on Itunes), Bye bye blackbird by Joe Cocker. Canaries were used by coal miners to protect them in mines.

Can you hear me now? Birds also hear shorter notes than we can. Humans process sounds in bytes about 1/20 of a second long whereas birds discriminate up to 1/200 of a second. This means where we hear one sound only, a bird may hear as many as ten separate notes. Some birds such as pigeons can hear much lower sounds than us. Pigeons can be music buffs and can distinguish between human composers such as Bach and Stravinsky.

Food Their bill determines food they can eat and is also used to make their nest. Birds may eat animals, seeds, fruits, nectar, leaves, beeswax, bones, dung, & garbage. They eat ¼ of weight per day. Smaller birds need more food (based on percentage of body weight).

Flight Bird flight may be straight or undulating (jerky/smooth wing movements). Wings may be open or closed. Birds may fly in flocks or singles. The shape of their wings determines height and how they fly. Find videos of falcons and albatrosses in flight. How do they fly? Flapping birds include shorebirds, swifts, falcons, swallows. They have long narrow tapered wings while soarers have broad separated primary feathers (eagles, vultures, storks, cranes). Those with short rounded wings have rapid bursts of speed (grouse or pheasant). Those with long & narrow wings are dynamic soarers (albatross). Hummingbirds are hoverers.

Migration Why do birds migrate? Lack of food/loss of habitat (ponds freeze). They can handle the colder temps, though. How do birds know when to migrate? The photoperiod, which is the change in daylight/darkness, alerts birds to migrate. Hormones are released to tell them when to sing/mate, nest/molt, and to feed to lay on fat for their trip. One species gets the equivalent of 720,000 miles to a gallon of gas! They travel 20-45 miles/hr when migrating. Scientists believe birds fly certain number of nights before switching directions (in zigzag formation). We study this by bird banding on their legs in addition to using Doppler radar & radio transmitters to gather data.

Major Bird Routes One of the top long distance migrators is the Arctic Tern which flies 49,000 miles (Greenland to Antarctica).

Families include: Passerine (perchers or songbirds) Waterfowl (ducks) Herons & egrets (wading birds) Raptors (birds of prey that include hawks, eagles, falcons, owls) Shorebirds Gulls Perchers or songbirds

Birding Tips Land bird activity peaks 1-2 hours after sunrise. List habitat in field notes, along with weather. Move slowly and quietly. Listen to figure out where they are. Walk towards sound. Use eyes to look for movement. Stand still. Get as close as possible. Great birding aps include Merlin Bird Id and Audubon Bird guide. Feed the Birds