The Study of Birds
Since the beginning of man, humans have been fascinated with the magic and mystery of birds. Early ancient cultures and civilizations worshiped them as gods and spiritual beings. As man began to evolve, he studied birds and their behavior. In so doing, man attempted to emulate winged flight, and eventually, was successful. Thanks to our bird friends, the airplane was born. They are amazing, intelligent creatures and possibly some of the most intriguing creatures on our planet.
Birds are classified as Aves (Avians.) They are warm-blooded creatures and are very similar to mammals. Yet, birds are vertebrates with feathers modified for flight and for active metabolism. Similar to reptiles, birds lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young.
When it comes to parenting, bird parents are very attentive to their hatchlings. Most provide extensive care for their bird babies until they are fully grown. In some cases, a bird may take on a guardian to assist with parental care. And often times, both male and female bird parents are actively involved with "the raising of the children."
Most birds are able to fly, but not every species can! Just because a bird has wings doesn't mean it can necessarily soar the skies. Take the Ostrich for example. It can run at incredibly fast speeds, but does not get airborne due to its large size and unusual build.
Birds can vary greatly in their shapes, sizes, colors, and even in their behavior patterns. Today, there are well over 20,000 known species of birds around the world. Within these species, there are approximately 30 orders, 200 families and 2,000 genera. That's a whole lot of birds!
Birds are of a monophyletic lineage, which means they evolved once from a common ancestor and and a common origin. While we know that some birds don't fly, their ancestors most likely did! Scientific evidence continues to support the theory that birds are related to dinosaurs, and some dinosaurs species had feathers. This supports the theory that dinosaurs were either reptilian, avian and/or a combination of both.
For as long as our planet exists, nature will continuously modify the DNA structure within all life forms, in order to meet the needs of the current day. For example, how birds hunted for food a million years ago was very different than today. We can only imagine what a frightening world this must have been, with all kinds of huge creatures walking the Earth, millions of years ago!
As a result of the modern world, wing spans have considerably reduced in size, beaks are smaller, bodies are smaller and have significantly changed in shape and form. Some bird commonalities include a horny beak without teeth, large muscular stomach, feathers, and large-yolked hard-shelled eggs.
Just like the wing of an airplane, a bird's wing is aerodynamically curved from front to back, in the shape of what scientists call an airfoil. As the bird's wing flaps, air flows faster over the top of the wing, which is upward-curved, than it does across the bottom. Fast-moving air has less pressure than slow-moving air, so there is more pressure pushing up on the wing than there is pushing down. This creates what scientists call lift, which is what helps to get a bird into the air, and helps it stay there until it chooses to land.
Amazingly, when baby birds leave the nest for the very first time, they know instinctively how to flap their wings, right away! It takes time for a young bird to become good at flying, but that instinct is present from birth. The young bird must practice flying if it is to survive. In time, it will build and strengthen its flight muscles crucial to its existence.
Birds have four ways they can fly; they can glide, hover, soar, and flap.
To glide, a bird extends its strong wings completely outward and sails through the air without flapping, dropping slowly toward the ground. If you get the chance, watch a goose or duck drop down into a pond - that's a glide and they're surprisingly great at it.
The best hoverers are Hummingbirds. If you've ever observed these fascinating creatures, they can actually stop in mid air! It has been estimated that a hummingbird flaps its wings over 50 times per second. Hummingbirds can also fly backwards and sideways, whereas no other known bird can.
Soaring is like gliding, but a bird finds warm, rising air to carry it upward. Hawks, eagles, and vultures are all excellent soarers, as well as storks, cranes, and many other large birds.
Fast flyers like songbirds can fly about 20 to 30 miles per hour. The Common Eider can fly nearly 50 miles per hour, while Dunlins (or shorebirds) once caught up with and passed a plane clocked at flying 100 miles per hour! Hawks and Falcons are considered the fastest birds. Experts think they may reach up to about 200 miles per hour in dives.
Flapping is the most common kind of flight, but uses a lot of energy. Most really fast birds rely on flapping flight to do the job.
Birds are truly majestic, magnificent creatures and we have much to learn from them. Sadly, many bird species are disappearing from our planet. Some have been hunted to extinction, which adversely affects our ecosystems. It is only with the help of human beings working together, that can save our planet and its all of its inhabitants, in order for nature to continue to flourish and grow.
Learn more about birds on AnimalWeb
Find out more about animals and wildlife on AnimalWeb