Bird

Bird diseases that can be contracted by humans include psittacosis, salmonellosis, campylobacteriosis, Newcastle's disease, mycobacteriosis (avian tuberculosis), avian influenza, giardiasis, and cryptosporidiosis. The first woman was Tyna Marie Robertson, who once sued Lord of the Dance star Michael Flatley for rape in a case tossed out of court. Colorful, particularly tropical, birds (e.g., parrots, and mynahs) are often kept as pets although this practice has led to the illegal trafficking of some endangered species; CITES, an international agreement adopted in 1963, has considerably reduced trafficking in the bird species it protects. In a weird news story in 2005, a DNA test proved that Urlacher had fathered a daughter by a woman within weeks of fathering a daughter by his ex-wife. As birds are very sensitive to toxins, the Canary was historically used in coal mines to indicate the presence of poisonous gases, allowing miners sufficient time to escape without injury. Robertson, 33, a former stripper and presently a real estate agent, is the same woman who sued dancer Michael Flatley for $35 million in March 2003, saying he had raped her, and also accused a Naperville, Illinois doctor of inappropriate touching in a story she later recanted. Chickens and pigeons are popular as experimental subjects, and are often used in biology and comparative psychology research. In court documents filed in August 2005, Urlacher expressed a willingness to support the child financially but was concerned with bankrolling "an enhanced lifestyle" for Robertson.

Falcons are still used for hunting, while cormorants are employed by fishermen. Urlacher also has two daughters from his first marriage. For example, Homing pigeons were commonly used to carry messages before the advent of modern instant communications methods (many are still kept for sport). Tyna Robertson, the mother of the child, has agreed in court that the Bears star is the baby's father. Other birds have long been used by humans to perform tasks. Genetic testing was completed to prove that he is the father. In North America, introduced House Sparrows, Common Starlings, and House Finches are similarly widespread. In June 2005, Urlacher filed suit to establish paternity of a child.

For example, the common pigeon or Rock Dove (Columba livia) thrives in urban areas around the world. Indianapolis defensive end Dwight Freeney came in second place with four votes and Pittsburgh safety Troy Polamalu in third place with three votes. Numerous species have come to depend on human activities for food and are widespread to the point of being pests. He received a majority of the votes with 34 out of a panel of 50 NFL sportswriters and broadcasters. Many species have become extinct through over-hunting, such as the Passenger Pigeon, and many others have become endangered or extinct through habitat destruction, deforestation and intensive agriculture being common causes for declines. On January 6, 2006, Urlacher was awarded with the Associated Press NFL Defensive Player of the Year award. At one time swans and flamingos were delicacies of the rich and powerful, although these are generally protected now. Sales of Urlacher replica jerseys have at times been the NFL's best seller, along with other stars like Randy Moss and Michael Vick.

Other birds that have been utilized for food include emus, ostriches, pigeons, grouse, quails, doves, woodcocks, songbirds, and others, including small passerines such as finches. He was the Bears leading tackler in 2000, 2001, and 2002. The most commonly eaten species is the domestic chicken and its eggs, although geese, pheasants, turkeys, and ducks are also widely eaten. He has surpassed the Bears single season tackle record with 214 tackles in 2002, previously held by Dick Butkus. Birds are an important food source for humans. Additionally, on January 6th,2006 Brian Urlacher was named the 2005 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, an honor that was fitting as he led one of the most dominant defenses in recent memory. This region is sometimes featherless, and the skin may be tinted (as in many species of the cormorant family). He has been selected to the Pro Bowl five times, and has continued the Bears' tradition of excellent linebackers which includes such past stars as Dick Butkus and Mike Singletary.

The region between the eye and bill on the side of a bird's head is called a lore. Urlacher was named 2000 NFL Defensive Rookie of The Year. See bird skeleton.. Upon being drafted by Chicago, he was converted to middle linebacker, where his tackling skills, speed, aggression, and intelligence made him an instant star. Birds also have skeletons possessing unique characteristics. He moved with his single mother to Albuquerque as a child, and later graduated from the University of New Mexico, where he starred as a strong safety. The use of gizzard stones is a similarity between birds and dinosaurs, which left gizzard stones called gastroliths as trace fossils. Brian Urlacher (born May 25, 1978 in Pasco, Washington) is a linebacker with the Chicago Bears of the National Football League.

For birds in captivity, only certain species of birds require grit in their diet for digestion. Depending on the species, the gizzard may contain small pieces of grit or stone that the bird has swallowed to aid in the grinding process of digestion. Birds possess a ventriculus, or gizzard, that is composed of four muscular bands that act to rotate and crush food by shifting the food from one area to the next within the gizzard. The active phase of respiration in birds is exhalation, requiring effort of the musculature.

A diaphram is absent in birds; the entire body cavity acts as a bellows to move air through the lungs. Air flows through the honeycombed walls of the parabronchi and into air capillaries, where oxygen and carbon dioxide are traded with cross-flowing blood capillaries by diffusion. Avian lungs do not have alveoli, as mammalian lungs do, but instead contain millions of tiny passages known as parabronchi, connected at either ends by the dorsobronchi and ventrobronchi. Thus the partial pressure of oxygen in a bird's lungs is the same as the environment, and so birds have more efficient gas-exchange of both oxygen and carbon dioxide than do mammals.

Since during inhalation and exhalation fresh air flows through the lungs in only one direction, there is no mixing of oxygen rich air and carbon dioxide rich air within the lungs as in mammals. Air flows through the air sacs and lungs as follows:. It takes a bird two full breaths to completely cycle the air from each inhalation through its lungs and out again. There are three distinct sets of organs involved in respiration:.

In addition to the lungs themselves, birds have posterior and anterior air sacs (typically nine) which control air flow through the lungs, but do not play a direct role in gas exchange. Birds ventilate their lungs by means of crosscurrent flow: the air flows at a 90° angle to the flow of blood in the lungs' capillaries. In other words, in bird species in which male incubation is common, females tend to select mates on the basis of parental behaviors rather than physical appearance. "This information then suggests that sexual selection may be less intense in taxa where males incubate, hypothetically because males allocate more effort to parental care and less to mating" (Ketterson and Nolan, 1994).

This extreme loss of mating opportunities leads to a reduction in reproductive success among incubating males. It takes time and also may require physiological changes that interfere with continued mating. Interestingly, male incubation is the most confining male parental behavior. The parental behavior most closely associated with monogamy is male incubation.

"In one form of monogamy such as with obligate monogamy a female cannot rear a litter without the aid of a male" (Gowaty, 1983). In birds, male care can be seen as important or essential to female fitness. In most groups of animals, male parental care is rare, but in birds it is quite common; in fact, it is more extensive in birds than in any other vertebrate class. One reason for the high rate of monogamy among birds is the fact that male birds are just as adept at parental care as females.

In some cases, the individuals may pair for life. Monogamous species of males and females pair for the breeding season. Polygyny constitutes 2% of all birds and polyandry is seen in less than 1%. Monogamy is seen in approximately 91% of all bird species.

The three mating systems that predominate among birds are polyandry, polygyny, and monogamy. Sources for this section include:. Some birds, such as pigeons, geese, and Red-crowned Cranes, remain with their mates for life (or for a long period) and may produce offspring on a regular basis. The process whereby a chick acquires feathers until it can fly is called "fledging".

The young of hole-nesters, on the other hand, are often totally incapable of unassisted survival. The chicks of many ground-nesting birds such as partridges and waders are often able to run virtually immediately after hatching; such birds are referred to as nidifugous. Precocial birds can care for themselves independently within minutes of hatching; altricial hatchlings are helpless, blind, and naked, and require extended parental care. After the eggs hatch, parent birds provide varying degrees of care in terms of food and protection.

The avian phallus differs from the mammalian penis in several ways, most importantly in that it is purely a copulatory organ and is not used for expelling urine. Except during copulation, it is hidden within the proctodeum compartment within the cloaca, just inside the vent. Many waterfowl and some other birds, such as the ostrich and turkey, do possess a phallus. The eggs will then continue their development in the nest.

Then, one by one, eggs will descend from the female's ovaries and become fertilized by the male's sperm, before being subsequently laid by the female. The sperm is stored in the female's cloaca for anywhere from a week to a year, depending on the species of bird. This can happen very fast, sometimes in less than one second. He moves the opening of his cloaca, or vent, close to hers, so that the sperm can enter the female's cloaca, in what is referred to as a cloacal kiss.

During copulation, the female moves her tail to the side and the male either mounts the female from behind or moves very close to her. In the males of species without a phallus (see below), sperm is stored within the proctodeum compartment within the cloaca prior to copulation. The female's ovaries also become larger, although only the left ovary actually functions. Although most male birds have no external sex organs, the male does have two testes which become hundreds of times larger during the breeding season to produce sperm.

See also: Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy. However, scientists are not in agreement as to the relationships between the orders; evidence from modern bird anatomy, fossils and DNA have all been brought to bear on the problem but no strong consensus has emerged. A preponderance of evidence seems to suggest that the modern bird orders constitute accurate taxa. Sibley & Ahlquist's Phylogeny and Classification of Birds (1990) is a landmark work on the classification of birds (although frequently debated and constantly revised).

The classification of birds is a contentious issue. See the chart for more information. The basal divergence from the remaining Neognathes was that of the Galloanseri, the superorder containing the Anseriformes (ducks, geese and swans), and the Galliformes (the pheasants, grouse, and their allies). Some scientists suspect that the ratites represent an artificial grouping of birds which have independently lost the ability to fly, while others contend that the ratites never had the ability to fly and are more directly related to the dinosaurs than other modern birds.

The ratites are large flightless birds, and include ostriches, cassowaries, kiwis and emus. The paleognaths include the tinamous (found only in Central and South America) and the ratites. Modern birds are classified in Neornithes, which are split into the Paleognathae and Neognathae. In fact, the bird-like hip structure also developed a third time among a peculiar group of theropods, the Therizinosauridae.

It should be noted that although ornithischian (bird-hipped) dinosaurs share the same hip structure as birds, birds actually originated from the saurischian (lizard-hipped) dinosaurs, and thus arrived at their hip structure condition independently. Evidence for this theory is currently inconclusive, but digs continue to unearth fossils (especially in China) of the strange feathered dromaeosaurs. dromaeosaurs evolved from birds and not the other way around. Because of this, some paleontologists have suggested that dromaeosaurs are actually basal birds whose larger members are secondarily flightless, i.e.

In fact, Cryptovolans makes a better "bird" than Archaeopteryx which is missing some of these modern bird features. The recently discovered dromaeosaur, Cryptovolans, was capable of powered flight, contained a keel and had ribs with uncinate processes. Other Mesozoic birds include the Confuciusornithidae, Enantiornithes, Ichthyornis, and Hesperornithiformes, a group of flightless divers resembling grebes and loons. It remains the most primitive known bird.

The basal bird Archaeopteryx, from the Jurassic, is well-known as one of the first "missing links" to be found in support of evolution in the late 19th century. Recent discoveries in northeast China (Liaoning Province) demonstrating that many small theropod dinosaurs had feathers contribute to this ambiguity. As more non-avian theropods that are closely related to birds are discovered, the formerly clear distinction between non-birds and birds becomes less so. Specifically, birds are members of Maniraptora, a group of theropods which includes dromaeosaurs and oviraptorids, among others.

Birds are generally considered to have evolved from theropod dinosaurs. A more recent, radically different classification based on molecular data has been developed (the so-called Sibley order) and is gaining acceptance. Note: This is the traditional classification (the so-called Clements order). Neognathae:.

Paleognathae:. The list of birds gives a more detailed summary, including families. This is a list of the taxonomic orders in the class Aves.
.

The class of birds separated early into two superorders, the Paleognathae (mostly flightless birds like ostriches), and the wildly diverse Neognathae, containing all other birds. According to the most recent consensus, Class Aves and a sister group, the family Crocodylidae, together form a group of unnamed rank, the Archosauria. The founding species of class Aves probably lived in the Jurassic period. Birds form a class, whose scientific name is Aves.

. Hundreds of academic journals and thousands of scientists are devoted to bird research, while amateur enthusiasts (called birdwatchers or, more commonly, birders) probably number in the millions. Birds are among the most extensively studied of all animal groups. The Great Auk, flightless rails, and the moa of New Zealand, for example, all became extinct due to human influence.

Flightless species are vulnerable to extinction when humans or the mammals they introduce arrive in their habitat. Flightless birds include the penguins, ostrich, kiwi, and the extinct Dodo. Most birds are characterised by flight, though the ratites are flightless, and several other species, particularly on islands, have also lost this ability. Common characteristics of birds include a bony beak with no teeth, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, high metabolic rate, and a light but strong skeleton.

Some, such as frigatebirds, stay aloft for days at a time, even sleeping on the wing. the Wandering Albatross). Many birds migrate long distances to utilise optimum habitats (e.g., Arctic Tern) while others spend almost all their time at sea (e.g. Some birds, such as the owls and nightjars, are nocturnal or crepuscular (active during twilight hours).

Most birds are diurnal, or active during the day. Birds are a very differentiated class, with some feeding on nectar, plants, seeds, insects, rodents, fish, carrion, or other birds. Depending on taxonomic viewpoint, there are about 8,800–10,200 living bird species (plus about 120–130 that have become extinct in the span of human history) in the world, making them the most diverse class of terrestrial vertebrates. Birds range in size from the tiny hummingbirds to the huge Ostrich and Emu.

Birds are bipedal, warm-blooded, oviparous vertebrates characterized primarily by feathers, forelimbs modified as wings, and hollow bones. The recent avian flu outbreaks is named after the word avian. The Latin word for bird is avian. Tubenoses can eject an unpleasant slime against an aggressor, and some species of pitohui, found in New Guinea, secrete a powerful neurotoxin in their feathers.

Few birds use chemical defences against predators. The birds of a region are called the avifauna. To preen or groom their feathers, birds use their bills to brush away foreign particles. Second exhalation: air flows from the anterior sacs back through the trachea and out of the body.

Second inhalation: air flows from the lungs to the anterior air sacs. First exhalation: air flows from the posterior air sacs to the lungs. First inhalation: air flows through the trachea, bronchi, parabronchi (in the lung) and into the posterior air sacs. the posterior air sacs (posterior thoracics and abdominals).

the lungs, and. the anterior air sacs (interclavicular, cervicals, and anterior thoracics),. Evolution 34(5): 973-982 (1980). Zeveloff, Samuel and Boyce, Mark: Parental Investment and Mating Systems in Mammals.

Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 25: 601-28 (1994). and Nolan, Val: Male Parental Behavior in Birds. Ketterson, Ellen D. The American Naturalist 121(2): 149-160 (1983).

Gowaty, Patricia Adair: Male Parental Care and Apparent Monogamy among Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia Sialis). Passeriformes, passerines. Coliiformes, mousebirds. Trogoniformes, trogons.

Piciformes, woodpeckers and allies. Coraciiformes, kingfishers. Trochiliformes, hummingbirds. Apodiformes, swifts.

Caprimulgiformes, nightjars and allies. Strigiformes, owls. Cuculiformes, cuckoos. Psittaciformes, parrots and allies.

Columbiformes, doves and pigeons. Pteroclidiformes, sandgrouse. Charadriiformes, plovers and allies. Gruiformes, cranes and allies.

Turniciformes, button-quail. Falconiformes, falcons. Accipitriformes, eagles, hawks and allies. Phoenicopteriformes, flamingos.

Ciconiiformes, storks and allies. Pelecaniformes, pelicans and allies. Sphenisciformes, penguins. Procellariiformes, albatrosses, petrels, and allies.

Podicipediformes, grebes. Gaviiformes, loons. Galliformes, fowl. Anseriformes, waterfowl.

Tinamiformes, tinamous. Struthioniformes, Ostrich, emus, kiwis, and allies.