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The span between precocial and altricial species is particularly broad in the biology of birds. Precocial birds hatch with their eyes open and are covered with downy feathers that are soon replaced by adult-type feathers. [17] Birds of this kind can also swim and run much sooner after hatching than altricial young, such as songbirds. [17]
Most bird species often blend into their environment, due to some degree of camouflage, so if the species habitat is full of colors and patterns, the species would eventually evolve to blend in to avoid being eaten. Birds' feathers show a large range of colors, even exceeding the variety of many plants, leaf, and flower colors. [48]
The tail feathers are used to control flight acting as rudder and brake, only some of these feathers are as firmly attached as the bird's primaries. Contour feathers are arranged on the body of the bird in the manner of roof tiles. The tips of these feathers are waterproof and help protect the bird from the elements, while the inner parts of ...
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (Latin:), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight skeleton.
The newly born young are altricial, either lacking feathers or with sparse white down. The young spend three weeks to four months in the nest, depending on species, and may receive parental care for several months thereafter.
A bird that is naturally white, such as a swan, goose, or egret, is not an albino, nor is a bird that has seasonally alternating white plumage. [17] Four degrees of albinism have been described. The most common form is termed partial albinism, in which local areas of the bird's body, such as certain feathers, are lacking the pigment melanin ...
The proposal to change the names of roughly 150 bird species from across North America is ruffling feathers among ornithologists and other bird lovers as a simmering debate grows increasingly heated.
A turning point came in the early twentieth century with the writings of Gerhard Heilmann of Denmark.An artist by trade, Heilmann had a scholarly interest in birds and from 1913 to 1916, expanding on earlier work by Othenio Abel, [12] published the results of his research in several parts, dealing with the anatomy, embryology, behavior, paleontology, and evolution of birds. [13]