Biology 4620 Ornithology mid-term outline Characteristics of modern birds – eleven: feathers, no teeth, bone fusion, pneumatic bones, bipedal, digitigrades, small size, forelimbs for flight, centralized mass, high metabolic rate, extreme nervous system and vision Naming – Aves – Common and Latin name format e.g., Hairy Woodpecker Picoides villosus Faunal regions - Nearctic, Neotropical, Palaearctic, Ethiopian, Oriental, Australasian, Oceanic – endemic taxa of different regions Toucan, Ostrich, Emu, Fairy Bluebird, Kagu et c. Origin and early evolution of birds Shared characteristics of birds and reptiles – six: single occipital condyle, single ear bone, multiple bones in lower jaw, scales on legs, ankle in tarsus, females are heterogametic sex When? Jurassic Example taxon: Archaeopteryx litographica/ Solhofen Quarry/ Hermann von Meyer Bird and reptile characteristics of Archaeopteryx – bird: feathers; reptile: teeth, tiny sternum, clawed forlimb digits, unfused tail bones, no uncinate process on ribs 1990-2016 Liaoning China (proto-)bird (Avialae) discoveries Jurassic Cretaceous Caudipteryx, Anchiornis, Microraptor, Sinornithosaurus, Sinornis santensis, indicating birds descended directly from Coelurosaurian Theropod dinosaurs Speciation and adaptive radiation of birds Speciation: genetic divergence of isolated populations - colonization of oceanic islands - isolation within continental landmasses Linnaeus, Systema Naturae, 1758 birds named by general similarity lumping and splitting trends Biological species concept (BSC) (def’n) Ernst Mayr issues with BSC extinction, Blue/Snow Goose, Mallard/Black Duck, Osprey, crows et c. Phylogenetic Species Concept (def’n) Darwin taxonomic characters, cladistic analysis, parsimony, derived&primative characters ‘fox’ sparrows, murrelets convergent evolution grebe/loon, longclaw/meadowlark, diving petrel Dovekie, Turkey Vulture/Black Vulture molecular genetic techniques – allozymes, mtDNA, DNA-DNA hybridization and melting point analysis (radical reanalysis of avian phylogeny Sibley and Ahlquist), genome sequencing Feathers and flight Feather composition keratin composite Feather functions: lifting surface, smooth coat, insulation, camouflage, communication, sensory Feather structure: calamus/rachis, barb, barbicel, barbule, pennaceous, plumulaceous, velcro homology Feather types: flight, contour, down, filoplume, semiplume, bristle (functions) and ornamental feathers Growth and maintenance – molt, molts basic and alternate, follicle, inferior umbilicus, preening, uropygial gland Crested Auklet, Pitahui Ectoparasites Analgesidae, Sarcoptidae, Mallophagidae Feather colouration melanin carotenoid porphyrin, psittacofulvin, gull flamingo turaco parrot Structural colour iridescence hummingbird Flight and aerodynamics – airfoil, Bernoulli’s Principle, gliding versus flapping flight wing shape, loading, aspect ratio (high versus low), dihedral curvature albatross eagle hawk Northern Harrier grouse, Dovekie specialized wings penguin auk shearwater swift hummingbird variation in raptor wing shape tail shape and function normal, graduated, forked and streamer (aerodynamic lift&drag and wear consequences); crow, raven, pheasant, Barn Swallow, Arctic Tern, tropicbird/jaeger ornamental pin tail: Northern Pintail, Long-tailed Duck, Long-tailed and Parasitic Jaegers, tropicbirds Avian physiology High metabolic rate and body temperature 38-44ºC (control by insulation and blood flow adjustment, panting and gular flutter Double-crested Cormorant), energetic, endurance and nervous consequences Respiratory system – 6-12 air sacs, lung anatomy, alkaline blood (low in CO2) Circulatory system – 4-chambered heart, 2x larger, low heart rate, high volume and efficiency, 300- 400mmHg blood pressure, adaptations for diving e.g., bradycardia Thick-billed Murre 4 minute dives Metabolic rate – basal (BMR) versus flying/active, high BMR, inverse relationship with body size, relationship with flight styles (gliding albatross versus Sooty Tern versus Least Auklet flapping, torpor Poorwill, hummingbird Excretion and water balance – uric acid, desert bird metabolic water source, salt gland Northern Fulmar Digestion – gizzard, gizzard stones, pellet formation and regurgitation, bone dissolving acidic stomach raptors, stomach oil energy concentration Northern Fulmar Avian Brain Large, based on evolutionary expansion of corpus striatum, partitioned fore- mid- hind-, functional laterization, functional compartimentalization Spatial memory – hippocampus – interspecific variation in size - Black-capped Chickadee, Pinyon Jay food caching David Sherry Control of bird song – 4 brain nuclei – size/volume increases with song repertoire size Marsh Wren Avian senses vision - eye anatomy, pectin, rod, cone, fovea, ultraviolet sensitivity, Bluethroat hearing - not so great (why?), exceptions: echolocating Oilbirds and Swiftlets, owls, owl skull and facial and ear location asymmetry for prey location at night and under snow Barred Owl taste & smell – not so great (why?) – exceptions: Procellariiformes ‘tube-noses’ prey location Crested Auklet social communication, Kiwis prey location Mallard courtship, Honeyguides beehives, vultures (Old and New World) carrion touch - filoplume magnetic sense – experimental evidence for compass navigation, magnetite (brain) rhodopsin (eyes) Bird sounds and their meaning Physical properties of sound, frequency, harmonics, consequences for ‘acoustical environment’, adaptations to this, measurement of sound via spectrogram, occillogram Sound production – syrinx, tympaniform membrane, intraclavicular air sac Calls (def’n) versus Song (def’n), call types and functions (alarm, contact, warning, courtship, aggressive) Functions of vocalization: species and individual recognition, evolution when needed Bank Swallow, Rough-winged Swallow, Ancient Murrelet, Common Murre, Atlantic Puffin Song - lengthy, complex, repeated vocal displays often performed by territorial males during the breeding season for purpose of mate attraction and territorial defense superb: Hermit Thrush, Northern Mockingbird, not so complex Henslow’s Sparrow Song learning, ‘imitative vocal learning’, when it occurs, Passeriformes ‘song birds’ critical learning period, silent period, subsong period (babbling), song crystallization Song repetoire – explanations for evolution: anti-habituation, different song different function (Black- throated Green Warbler), Beau Geste (Great Tit), badge of status, location confusion, sexual selection, functionless epiphenomenon Song dialects White-crowned Sparrow social status signal and ecological adaptedness hypotheses Mating systems Defined by duration of pair attachment, number of partners Monogamy dominates (why?) – bird’s constraints developmental and anatomical, female control, it takes two, male confidence of paternity Monogamy Thick-billed Murre, Common Crow, Barn Swallow Polgamy versus Polygyny, Polyandry, Polygynandry definitions Polygyny two patterns – male territorial defence and leks Red-winged Blackbird, Ruff (with satellite males), Andean Cock-of-the-Rock Polyandry two patterns – Classic and Cooperative; why? Females can produce more eggs/clutches than they can care for Classic Sanderling, Red Phalarope; Cooperative Harris’s Hawk, gallinules Polygynandry Smith’s Longspur .