Look For The Characteristics Of Birds

The morphological characteristics of birds

Birds have a set of formal characteristics that distinguish them, and the following are the most important of these characteristics:

bird feathers

All birds have feathers on their bodies, which is the most prominent feature that distinguishes them from the rest of other living organisms .

Flight feathers

It is the feathers on the wings of birds, and its function is to assist in flight.

tail feathers

It is the feathers on the bird’s tail, and its function is to direct the bird’s body during flight.

body plumage

It is the feathers that completely surround the bird’s body, which acts as an aerodynamic structure.

down feathers

It is the feathers located in the lower part of the bird’s body, and its function is to regulate body temperature, and it is characterized by being soft and fluffy feathers.

decorative feathers

It is the colorful and distinctive feathers that a bird can use to flirt, such as the feathers of a peacock.

Bird beaks

Birds have beaks that can move their lower and upper jaws, unlike other living things. The beak consists of a compact layer of epidermal cells molded around the bony core of the bird’s jaw. The following are its types:

The long narrow beak

It is adapted to the function of searching for food in the soil such as worms, like the beak of the hoopoe.

Short thick beak

It is intended for eating seeds, like a bird’s beak.

Flat broad beak

It is able to filter food from the water, like a duck’s beak.

The curved beak

It possesses the ability to tear meat, like the beak of an eagle.

Bird wings

All birds have wings, which are in the form of an aerodynamic structure similar to the wing of an airplane, in order to help the bird to fly, but some types of birds are unable to fly such as penguins and ostriches, and the wings of birds differ in shape and size, as they adapt based on the nature of the flight behavior that Followed by the bird, and can be classified as follows:

The wings are wide and round

It is important for birds that live in forest areas, as it gives the bird the ability to maneuver over short distances, with the aim of capturing prey or escaping from predators, and it also gives it excellent guidance capabilities and great speed, and among the birds that have such wings are the jay and the woodpecker. .

Long, narrow and pointed wings

These wings adapt to the birds’ need for fast flight without wasting much energy, by canceling the drag force that slows down the bird’s speed, and is important for birds that spend a long time flying, such as; Swallow and albatross.

Long and broad wings

Such wings have large birds, as they help them fly for a long time without the need for a lot of energy, and among the birds that have such wings are the eagle and the swans.

Structural characteristics of the bodies of birds

The bodies of birds have a set of distinctive structural characteristics, and the following are the most prominent of them.

Skeletal structure of birds

Birds are distinguished by a skeleton with special structural characteristics, as it has adapted to help birds fly easier, as their skeletal system contains a relatively small number of bones, as some bones have disappeared in birds, and others have merged together, and the bones of the bird are characterized by being light in weight because they are hollow .

Bird respiratory system

Birds do not depend on their lungs in the breathing process, as they have air sacs connected with tubes that deliver oxygen to the lung cells, and birds are distinguished by this unique respiratory system to provide the large quantities of oxygen that the bird needs, and when it is filled with air, it helps to make the weight of the bird lighter, Which helps him fly better.

The size and number of air sacs that birds possess vary according to the nature of the birds. Some birds have air sacs that extend into their hollow bones, such as birds that fly at high distances. Others have a series of small air sacs parallel to the trachea, and some of them are submersible in water that are used The air stored in these bags when submerged.

The avian digestive system

The digestive system of birds differs because they do not have teeth to place the food, and their lack of a soft palate that pushes the food inside, so their digestive system has adapted with a set of structural characteristics. The bird pushes the food with the help of the muscles of the esophagus adapted to do this task. for the stomach.

The stomach in birds is divided into two parts: the glandular stomach or proventriculus, and the gizzard or ventricle, as the proventriculus works to produce digestive fluids that help break down food, then it moves to the gizzard that grinds food, and birds may swallow small stones and sand to help the crop in its work.

After that, the digested food moves to the intestines, which secrete enzymes that help complete the process of digesting the food, then it moves to the large intestine, the colon, and finally to the cloaca, which is an opening near the tail where the bird stores its liquid and solid waste before removing it.

The heart of birds is four-chambered

The heart of birds is divided into four chambers, namely; Two atria and two ventricles, as the right ventricle specializes in pumping blood to the lungs of the bird, while the left ventricle pumps it to the rest of its body, which makes its walls thicker and more muscular.

The task of the circulatory system in birds is not limited to transporting oxygen only, but also works to transfer nutrients, carbon dioxide, waste, hormones, and heat to the rest of the bird’s body.

Bird behavioral characteristics

Birds perform a set of behaviors that characterize them, and they can be summarized as follows:

Bird flight

Flying is one of the most prominent behaviors of the bird, as it is an instinctive behavior that helps the bird to search for food and catch prey, escape from animals that may try to prey on it, and migrate to warmer areas.

Bird singing

Most birds make a wide range of beautiful sounds that they make through the syrinx located at the lower end of the air larynx, as it works to change the air pressure in it to produce sounds in different degrees, and some of them have the ability to imitate sounds.

And the birds do this behavior with the aim of attracting the other partner, so the sounds that the birds make may decrease during the winter season because it is not a season for mating, and the birds use singing to protect the areas in which they live as a kind of setting boundaries, and they also use it as a method of communication with groups of birds to tell them where the food is. .

Bird migration

Birds usually migrate annually from one place to another , as they move in groups in search of basic resources, or because of a change in the weather in the area in which they are located. Some species may migrate for very long distances, while some migrate for short distances in the same place.

Birds have a set of physiological characteristics that differ from other living organisms, and the following are the most important of them.

High metabolic rate

The metabolism rates of birds rise dramatically, and the more active the bird is, the more it consumes food, and the bird helps in this by having a digestive system that is able to bear large amounts of food to compensate for the bird’s need for great energy.

The ability to regulate body temperature

Birds’ bodies can regulate their body temperature through a set of strategies. They have feathers that insulate heat, and the bird has the ability to flip its feathers to protect itself from the cold. Birds also use panting to cool their bodies.

Bird feeder

The diet of birds varies according to their species, and among the main foods that birds depend on are :

Seeds.
berries.
some types of fruit.
insects.
some types of birds.
eggs.
Small mammals.
fish.
Tree buds.
caterpillars.
Aquatic invertebrates.
Nuts.
Aquatic plants.
cereal.
dead animals.
Garbage.

Bird habitat

Birds are spread in many places, and the natural habitats in which they live have been confined to 7 types, namely:

forest lands.
Farmland.
grassland.
Freshwater wetlands.
Aquaculture ponds.
salt lands.
coastal lands.
Building areas inhabited by humans.

Bird breeding

Most birds reproduce through eggs, as the male fertilizes the egg in the female’s oviduct through direct communication between them, and this process results in sending sperm that touch the egg and fertilize it, and the egg grows inside the female to become covered with a protective shell, then she works to lay it in the nest.

The testicles of the bird grow up when mating, which is a distinctive feature of the birds that makes them lighter in weight, but some birds are able to lay eggs regularly without the need for fertilization by the male, such as chickens.