Groups of Birds Bird Groups Bird species are ofte

1
Groups of Birds
2
Bird Groups

• Bird species are often categorized into six
  groups based on the birds lifestyle
• Perching birds
• Birds of prey
• Flightless birds
• Water birds
• Wading birds
• Diving birds

3
Terrestrial (land) Birds

• Most perching birds, birds of prey, and
  flightless birds are terrestrial birds
• They live mainly on dry land
• Terrestrial birds have feet adapted to running,
  perching, or hunting and beaks adapted to eating
  fruits, seed, insects, or small animals

4
Perching Birds

• Are the most common group of birds
• In order to perch and grip onto branches
• One toe points backwards
• All other toes point forwards
• The beaks of perching birds are
• Strong for cracking open seeds and nuts
• Ex. Goldfinches
• Long thin beaks for catching insects in the air
  or digging them out of the ground or tree trunks
• Ex. Warbler

5
Birds of Prey

• Most Birds of prey are hunters with keen vision
• Eagles, hawks, and smaller birds of prey hunt
  during the day
• Owls have huge eyes and hunt for small prey
  during the night
• Some birds do not use vision to hunt
• Vultures rely on their incredible sense of smell
  to find dead animals

6
Birds of Prey

• Most birds of prey have sharp talons and curved
  beaks
• Talons are used to grasp prey
• Curved beaks are used for tearing flesh
• Most birds of prey hunt alone
• However, some birds of prey hunt in groups and
  flush prey towards their waiting partners

7
Flightless Birds

• Flightless birds are the largest birds
• The biggest flightless birds are ostriches, emus,
  rheas, and cassowaries
• There are some small flightless birds
• Example Flightless Kiwi is the size of a chicken
  
• They have small wings and are built to run on
  land
• Ostriches can run up to 55 km/h

8
Flightless Bird Legs

• Many flightless birds have long, strong legs
• Ostriches have two large, clawed toes on each
  foot
• Cassowary has powerful legs it uses to deliver
  blows and uses its claws to tear at attackers

9
Aquatic Birds

• Diving birds, water birds, and wading birds are
  aquatic birds
• Live mainly in water
• Aquatic birds have feet adapted to paddling and
  wading
• Aquatic birds have beaks adapted to eating
  aquatic organisms

10
Diving Birds

• Not all flightless birds live on land
• Penguins are flightless, and their wings and feet
  have been adapted for swimming
• All 17 species of penguins live in the Southern
  Hemisphere
• Some diving birds are found in the Northern
  Hemisphere
• Their wings can still be used for flight, so they
  CANNOT dive as well as penguins can

11
Diving Birds Penguins

• Their wedge-shaped wings work as flippers
• Webbed feet can be used as paddles
• Have a thick coat of feathers and a layer of fat
  beneath their skin that allows them to live in
  freezing temperatures
• A rich diet of krill and fish help penguins
  maintain the fat layer

12
Water Birds

• Swan, Geese, and Ducks are water birds, or birds
  found in or near the water
• Water birds have webbed feet for paddling
• Have long, flattened beaks with rounded tips
• Beaks are ideal for a variety of food such as
  small insects, fish, and grass

13
Seabirds

• Seabirds are an unrelated group of birds that
  also live near open waters, but they are found
  in oceans
• They have webbed feet like water birds
• However, their beaks are longer
• Beaks are made for catching their typical meal of
  fish or squid

14
Wading Birds

• Herons, storks, flamingos, and egrets are wading
  birds
• Wading birds feed in shallow waters that are rich
  with fish and invertebrates
• Wading birds have long, slender legs to feed in a
  range of depths
• Have long toes to keep them from sinking into the
  mud

15
Wading Birds

• Many wading birds have spear-shaped beaks for
  fishing
• Fishing waders stand motionless as they wait for
  fish
• When they see a fish they quickly snatch it in
  their beak or may even spear it
• Waders that feed on invertebrates in the mud may
  have beaks that are built for stabbing into the
  mud to find prey

16
Review Questions

• 1. Relate the bald eagles methods of hunting and
  feeding to its external body features
• 2. Compare and Contrast the foot structure of
  water birds and wading birds
• 3. Classify a bird that has delicate, curved feet
  with slender toes and a small, pointed beak (DO
  NOT just write terrestrial/aquatic bird). Explain
  how you know
• 4. Like most birds penguins have large,
  keel-shaped sternums, but ostriches do not.
  Provide an explanation for this difference