Learn about using
bird feeders, bird houses, and bird baths to attract birds.
How to use flowers, plants and shrubs to attract birds.
Learn how to enjoy bird watching and where to get special
how to videos that will quickly teach your birds to
feed right out of your bare hand !
Birds are
two legged, warm-blooded,
egg laying, vertebrate
(have a backbone), animals characterized primarily by feathers, forelimbs modified as wings,
and hollow bones.
Birds range in size from the tiny hummingbirds to the huge Ostrich and Emu.
Depending on the taxonomic
viewpoint, there are about 8,800–10,200 living bird species (and
about 120–130 that have become extinct in the span of human
history) in the world, making
them the most diverse class of terrestrial
(land) vertebrates.
Birds feed on nectar, plants, seeds, insects, fish, mammals, carrion, or other birds.
Most birds are diurnal, or active during the day, but some birds, such as
the owls
and nightjars, are nocturnal
(active at night) or crepuscular (active during twilight hours), and many coastal waders feed when the tides are appropriate, by day or night.
Many birds
migrate long distances to
utilize optimum habitats (e.g.,
Arctic Tern) while others spend almost all their time at sea
(e.g. the
Wandering Albatross). Some, such as
Common Swifts, stay aloft for days at a time, even sleeping
on the wing.
Common characteristics of birds include a bony beak
with no teeth, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, high metabolic rate, a 4-chambered heart, and a light but strong skeleton. Most birds are characterized by flight, though the ratites are flightless, and several other species,
particularly on islands, have also lost this ability. Flightless
birds include the penguins, ostrich, kiwi,
and the extinct Dodo.
Flightless species are vulnerable to extinction when humans or
the mammals they introduce arrive in their habitat. The Great Auk, flightless rails, and the moa
of New Zealand, for example, all became extinct due to human
influence.
Birds are among the most extensively studied of all animal
groups. 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 have a body plan that shows so many unusual adaptations (mostly
aiding flight) that birds have earned their own unique class in the vertebrate phylum.
Nesting
Some birds will build nests in trees, some (such as vultures,
eagles, and many seabirds like Kittiwakes) will build them on
rocky ledges, and others nest on the ground or in burrows.
Redwing ground nest with
four newly hatched redwings and one remaining egg. Picture taken
at Þingvellir, Iceland on June 17th 2005 by Arndís
Þórarinsdóttir. Released by her under the
GNU Free Documentation
License.
Mud nest made by
swallows.
public domain photo
Nest Boxes
Boxes are usually wooden, though some
for birds are made from mixtures of wood and concrete, called
woodcrete. Metal nest boxes are also marketed, but these are
generally unsuitable for outdoor use, as they can overheat easily in
sunshine.
The majority are cuboid, and many have a sloping roof. Many have a
hinged top to provide access for cleaning, bird ringing or, when
used for domesticated species, to give the breeder access to the
young.
Typical nest box
public domain photo
Boxes may either have an entrance
hole or be open fronted. Some nest boxes can be highly decorated
and complex. Designs mimicking human house design are common in
some large gardens.
The size of a nest box should be suited for the animal for
which it is intended. Quite large boxes are used for ducks, owls
and other raptors.
Nest boxes for wild birds should be cleaned annually to remove
old nests and kill parasites.
Eggs
All birds lay eggs with hard shells made mostly of calcium carbonate.
Most passerines, sometimes known as
perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, lay
colored eggs.
Non-passerines typically have white eggs.
The brown or red protoporphyrin markings on passerine eggs reduce brittleness
and are a substitute for calcium when that element is in short
supply. The color of individual eggs is genetically influenced,
and appears to be inherited through the mother.
The eggs are laid in a nest,
which may be anything from a bare cliff ledge or ground scrape
to elaborately decorated structures such as those of the oropendolas.
Social systems and parental care
The three mating systems that predominate among birds are
polyandry, polygyny, and monogamy.
Polyandry is a type of breeding adaptation in which one
female mates with many males, and is seen in less than 1% of
birds.
Polygyny is when one male mates with many females
and constitutes 2% of all birds.
Monogamy is the custom or condition of having only one mate
during a period of time
Monogamy is seen in approximately 91% of all bird species and
is the custom or condition of having only one mate during the
breeding season. In some cases,
the individuals may pair for life.
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 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. In birds, male care
can be seen as important or essential to female fitness. "In one
form of monogamy such as with obligate monogamy a female cannot
rear a litter without the aid of a male".
The parental behavior most closely associated with monogamy
is male incubation. Interestingly, male incubation is the most
confining male parental behavior. It takes time and also may
require physiological changes that interfere with continued
mating. This extreme loss of mating opportunities leads to a
reduction in reproductive success among incubating males. "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".
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.
Birds and humans
Birds are an important food source for humans. The most commonly eaten species is the domestic chicken and its eggs, although geese, pheasants, turkeys, and ducks
are also widely eaten. 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. Birds grown for human consumption are referred to
as poultry.
At one time swans
and flamingos were delicacies of the rich and powerful, although
these are generally protected now.
Besides meat and eggs, birds provide other items useful to
humans, including feathers for bedding and decoration, guano-derived
phosphorus and nitrogen used in fertilizer and gunpowder, and
the central ingredient of bird's nest soup.
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.
Numerous species have come to depend on human activities for
food and are widespread to the point of being pests. For
example, the common pigeon or Rock Pigeon (Columba livia) thrives in urban areas
around the world. In North America, introduced House Sparrows, European Starlings, and House Finches are similarly widespread.
Other birds have long been used by humans to perform tasks.
For example, homing pigeons were used to carry messages before the advent
of modern instant communications methods (many are still kept
for sport). Falcons are still used for hunting, while cormorants are employed by fishermen. Chickens and pigeons are popular as experimental subjects, and are often
used in biology and comparative psychology research. As birds are very sensitive
to toxins, the Canary was used in coal mines to indicate the presence of poisonous gases,
allowing miners sufficient time to escape without injury.
Colorful, particularly tropical, birds (e.g. parrots, and mynas)
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.
Threats to birds
According to Worldwatch Institute, bird populations are
declining worldwide, with 1,200 species facing extinction in the
next century.
Among the biggest cited reasons are habitat loss,
predation by nonnative species,oil spills and pesticide use, hunting and fishing, and climate
change.
Trivia
To preen or groom their feathers, birds use their bills to
brush away foreign particles.
The birds of a region are called the
avifauna.
Few birds use chemical defenses against predators. Tubenoses can eject an unpleasant oil against an aggressor, and some species of pitohui, found in New Guinea, secrete a powerful neurotoxin in their skin and feathers.
Hummingbird News
and Articles About Interesting Hummingbird Facts
Rare hummingbird rescued after wings ice (Cape Cod Times)
Wed, 13 Jan 2010 18:01:51 GMT
A rare Allen's hummingbird that has been wintering over outside a
Harwich Port home was brought to a wildlife rescue facility after its
wings iced and it fell to the ground.
Allen's hummingbird placed in rehab center (Cape Cod Times)
Thu, 14 Jan 2010 07:02:46 GMT
Talk about a bad vacation. You stay a little too long on Cape Cod, until
there is only one place left to eat, you get diarrhea, crash in the snow
and wind up in the emergency room.
Harwich hummingbird in trouble! (Cape Cod Times)
Mon, 11 Jan 2010 18:04:20 GMT
On today's CapeCast: See amazing video of the vagrant Allen's
Hummingbird that is trying to survive winter in chilly Harwich--likely
thousands of miles from home!
Rare hummingbird winters on Cape Cod (Journal Inquirer)
Mon, 11 Jan 2010 06:38:31 GMT
HARWICH, Mass. ? A hummingbird almost never seen in Massachusetts
apparently has decided to spend the winter on Cape Cod. The Allen?s
hummingbird has survived freezing temperatures, high winds, and two
major snowstorms thanks in part to Christine Omar, who keeps feeders in
the yard of her home.
Craftsman brings custom-made guitars to life (This Week Hilliard)
Wed, 13 Jan 2010 21:07:52 GMT
A Hilliard craftsman makes custom acoustic guitars by hand as a hobby.
His handiwork ranges from carving a one-of-a-kind hummingbird on a
headstock to making an exact replica of a 1904 Martin 1-45.
Show takes you into the world of the hummingbird (Baltimore Sun)
Tue, 12 Jan 2010 19:43:43 GMT
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Dumping donations (Big Bear Grizzly)
Wed, 13 Jan 2010 07:52:23 GMT
Elaine Tennity wants people to know Hummingbird Thrift Store is not the
dump. Tennity manages the thrift store on Big Bear Boulevard that caters
low-to-moderate income residents offering clothes, shoes, home
furnishings and decor, even electronics.
Week in photos from Times staff (Cape Cod Times)
Tue, 12 Jan 2010 22:19:51 GMT
It was quite a week, what with a rare Calif hummingbird popping up in
Harwich Port, a gigantic buoy on a beach, the annual MMA cruise - and
Times photogs were there to capture it all!
Reader?s Photo of the Week (Sooke News Mirror)
Wed, 13 Jan 2010 01:10:37 GMT
Sooke News Mirror reader and photo contributor Jack Most caught this
year-round resident at the hummingbird feeder. Reader?s Photo of the
Week is sponsored by Ellen Bergerud. Send your good quality jpegs to:
editor@sookenewsmirror.com.
