One of the most notable characteristics of birds is their lightweight skeletal systems. Even though most bird bones are thin-walled and hollow relative to mammal bones, the wall of the bone itself is quite dense and the internal struts deter breaking. Some recent research tells us something that we had not known before: bigger birds …
The general assumption here is that the brightest, most active, aggressive, colorful males (and sometimes females) attract the best or most (for polygamous species) females, ensuring that their offspring have the best genes. It’s also reasoned that this is a tradeoff as the most obvious males would be most likely to attract predators and/or be …
Birds have evolved a number of anatomical and physiological adaptations to reduce weight for flight – lightweight skeleton, fused bones, no teeth, no sweat glands, few scales, an aerodynamic body, and, in most cases, no urinary bladder. Mammals have a urinary bladder, used to eliminate the products of protein digestion. Water in the bladder dissolves …
Beaks and bills are the same structure, although beak was once used when referring to hooked bills. The beak is the only tool a bird has, used in finding and capturing and manipulating animal or plant food, preening, courtship, defense, building nests, communicating, and feeding young. So the beak really defines a lot of the …
The uropygial gland, also called the preen gland or oil gland, is a bilobed structure on the dorsal base of a bird’s tail between the fourth caudal vertebra and the pygostyle, the structure formed by the fusion of the final caudal vertebrae. The pygostyle is surrounded by flesh, the fleshy structure commonly called the “pope’s …
A recent article in the New York Times posits an idea as to why people get fat; it isn’t their fault. Instead of blaming food choices, lack of exercise, slow metabolism, or simple gluttony, the authors believe that the availability of “junk food” makes us fat. High calorie fast food, snacks at the movies and …
Birds are homogeneous when it comes to egg laying, that is, they all lay eggs, differing from mammals which birth their young alive, with two exceptions (spiny anteater and platypus – the monotremes) and reptiles, mostly egg layers, but with a number of live-bearing species as well (sea snakes and boas, for example.) Live-bearers are …
Many parts of the world have eperienced record high temperatures. In the U.S., 92 all-time record high temperatures had been set through July 16, 2002, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Globally, 188 all-time heat records were broken. At least 1,000 people have died from heat-related illness in Portugal and Spain as …
A summary of recent research claims that “Migratory birds undertake long and challenging journeys that have selected for a suite of adaptations from sensory mechanisms that facilitate orientation to extreme feats of endurance that push physiological limits. Recent work on two distantly related species revealed that migrating individuals increase their flight altitude dramatically during the …
You may have marveled at the spectacular and elegant control albatrosses have over their above ocean flights. You may be familiar with dynamic soaring, the method albatrosses use to remain aloft over the ocean for days, covering as much as 3000 miles a week, as measured by bird-borne video flight loggers. Feeding at sea, young …
