Ornithology: Biology 201

Biology 201

Aves

The Origin, Diversity and Adaptations of Birds

Part 1. Diagnostic Features and Adaptations

1 bones

2 syrinx

3 eggs
Snipe egg (snipe nest on the ground, photo courtesy of Didier Descouens).

Nest of a Northern Saw-whet Owl. What are the advantages and disadvantages to the different colourations shown?

Unfertilized chicken egg (no shell).

4a feathers Long-tailed Duck, photo courtesy of SS Bushell

4b wings pterosaurs 1, 2, bat: Horned Grebe, photo courtesy of SS Bushell

4c Primary Feathers These are primary feathers from (top to bottom), Broad-winged Hawk, Killdeer and Northern Flicker.

4d feather microstructure

5 Primary Muscles of Flight The Pectoralis Major has been removed from the right side, exposing the supracoracoideus. Note the tendon of that muscle near the shoulder...it travels through the shoulder joint, then inserts on the dorsal surface of the humerus.

6 Aspect Ratio

7 Homologous? Analogous?        bat skeleton

8 Feeding on Invertebrates American Black Duck  Wilson's Snipe

9 Insect eaters Pileated Woodpecker     Wilson's Warbler

10 Meat Eaters Common Raven (a generalist)              a hawk

11 Fish Eaters
Osprey    Belted Kingfisher    Great Blue Heron

These photos are all from their respective Wikipedia pages. Why can the Osprey (and Bald Eagle) consume fish larger than they can swallow, but the other two birds, as well as mergansers, are restricted to catching fish only as big as they can swallow?

Walking Feet
Measuring Claw Curvature - the PowerPoint

Walking in pterosaurs:

Swimming
Most aquatic birds have webbed feet; the grebes, like this Horned Grebe, are lobate (have lobed toes).

Both photographs courtesy of SS Bushell.

Climbing Pileated Woodpecker, photo courtesy of L Klapstein.

14 Raptors
This Black Vulture (a dominantly southern species), was at my feeding station in 2011.

This is a young Boreal Owl, one of the species I work with.

Part 2. Taxonomy - draw a cladogram which incorporates all of the clades displayed in the smaller cladograms depicted in this part.

Need help with drawing an all encompassing bird cladogram? This one has all the right branches, you just need to fill in the crown clades and the names inside the boxes. Labelling "crown clades" is the same as labelling clades along the lines, as shown in lab.

R.F. Lauff
Department of Biology
St. Francis Xavier University
Antigonish, NS Canada B2G 2W5

1 bones
2 syrinx
3 eggs	Snipe egg (snipe nest on the ground, photo courtesy of Didier Descouens). Nest of a Northern Saw-whet Owl. What are the advantages and disadvantages to the different colourations shown? Unfertilized chicken egg (no shell).
4a feathers	Long-tailed Duck, photo courtesy of SS Bushell
4b wings	pterosaurs 1, 2, bat: Horned Grebe, photo courtesy of SS Bushell
4c Primary Feathers	These are primary feathers from (top to bottom), Broad-winged Hawk, Killdeer and Northern Flicker.
4d feather microstructure
5 Primary Muscles of Flight	The Pectoralis Major has been removed from the right side, exposing the supracoracoideus. Note the tendon of that muscle near the shoulder...it travels through the shoulder joint, then inserts on the dorsal surface of the humerus.
6 Aspect Ratio
7 Homologous? Analogous?	bat skeleton
8 Feeding on Invertebrates	American Black Duck Wilson's Snipe
9 Insect eaters	Pileated Woodpecker Wilson's Warbler
10 Meat Eaters	Common Raven (a generalist) a hawk
11 Fish Eaters	Osprey Belted Kingfisher Great Blue Heron These photos are all from their respective Wikipedia pages. Why can the Osprey (and Bald Eagle) consume fish larger than they can swallow, but the other two birds, as well as mergansers, are restricted to catching fish only as big as they can swallow?
Walking Feet	Measuring Claw Curvature - the PowerPoint Walking in pterosaurs:
Swimming	Most aquatic birds have webbed feet; the grebes, like this Horned Grebe, are lobate (have lobed toes). Both photographs courtesy of SS Bushell.
Climbing	Pileated Woodpecker, photo courtesy of L Klapstein.
14 Raptors	This Black Vulture (a dominantly southern species), was at my feeding station in 2011. This is a young Boreal Owl, one of the species I work with.