This document provides an overview of the characteristics, anatomy, taxonomy, and diversity of bird species found in the Philippines. It describes key physical traits of birds such as their feathered bodies, wings adapted for flying, and beak shapes adapted for different feeding methods. The document also outlines different types of plumage, feet, tails, calls and songs. It categorizes birds by order and family, and details the variety of habitats and behaviors of waterbirds, landbirds, and migratory species in the Philippines.
This document provides an overview of the characteristics, anatomy, taxonomy, and diversity of bird species found in the Philippines. It describes key physical traits of birds such as their feathered bodies, wings adapted for flying, and beak shapes adapted for different feeding methods. The document also outlines different types of plumage, feet, tails, calls and songs. It categorizes birds by order and family, and details the variety of habitats and behaviors of waterbirds, landbirds, and migratory species in the Philippines.
This document provides an overview of the characteristics, anatomy, taxonomy, and diversity of bird species found in the Philippines. It describes key physical traits of birds such as their feathered bodies, wings adapted for flying, and beak shapes adapted for different feeding methods. The document also outlines different types of plumage, feet, tails, calls and songs. It categorizes birds by order and family, and details the variety of habitats and behaviors of waterbirds, landbirds, and migratory species in the Philippines.
This document provides an overview of the characteristics, anatomy, taxonomy, and diversity of bird species found in the Philippines. It describes key physical traits of birds such as their feathered bodies, wings adapted for flying, and beak shapes adapted for different feeding methods. The document also outlines different types of plumage, feet, tails, calls and songs. It categorizes birds by order and family, and details the variety of habitats and behaviors of waterbirds, landbirds, and migratory species in the Philippines.
1. Body usually spindle shaped, with 4 divisions: head, neck,
trunk, and tail 2. Limbs paired; forelimbs usually modified for flying, hind limbs adapted for various locomotory functions such as perching, walking, swimming, also for grasping prey; foot usually with 4 toes 3. Epidermal covering of feathers and leg scales; thin integument of epidermis and dermis; no sweat glands; oil gland at root of tail; pinna of ear rudimentary
Characteristics of Class Aves
4. Fully ossified skeleton with air cavities; skull bones fused with one occipital condyle; each jaw covered with horny sheath, forming a beak; no teeth; ribs with strenghtening processes; tail not elongate; sternum well developed with keel or reduced with no keel; single bone in middle ear 5. Nervous system well-developed, with brain and 12 pairs of cranial nerves 6. Circulatory system of 4-chambered heart, with the right aortic arch persisting; reduced renal portal system; nucleated red blood cells
Characteristics of Class Aves
7. Endothermic 8. Respiration by slightly expansible lungs, with thin air sacs among the visceral organs and skeleton; syrinx (voice box) near junction of trachea and bronchi 9. Excretory system of metanephric kidney; ureters open into cloaca; no bladder; semisolid urine; uric acid main nitrogenous waste 10.Sexes separate; testes paired, with the vas deferens opening into cloaca; females with left ovary and oviduct only; copulatory organs in some
Avian Topography External parts of a bird mapping regions of avian body and notable features (crest) Distinct characters indicative of its name - bluenaped, white-bellied, blue-rumped, blacknecked, red-breasted, red-crowned Unique avian characters lore, auriculars, scapulars, primaries, secondaries, tertials, alula, culmen, gonys (A ridge along the mid-ventral line of the lower mandible of certain birds), rictus, supercilium
Topography
Avian body form
Size and shape
Long or short neck, long or short legs Sparrow-like or Thrush-like or Crow-like Pigeon-like or Chicken-like or Duck-like Reference point for comparative size Distinct avian groups - Swifts, Hawks, Kingfishers, Parrots, Rails, Terns, Plovers
Plumage patterns
Stiff flight feathers (remiges & retrices)
Contour and Down (natal or definitive) Filoplumes, Semiplumes and Bristles Plumage patterns pied, streaked, hooded, barred, silvery, striated, spotted, banded, masked, bibbed, ringed, browed, winged Juvenile and Adult, Winter and Summer Plumage colors pigment or structural
Types of tail
Color of Soft parts
Natural colors buff, rufous, citrine, ashy, cinnamon, slaty, olive, scarlet, sooty Structural colors glossy and metallic Soft parts and other unique features Wattles, comb, eye-ring (circumorbital), gular skin, cere, bare skin on head Color of soft parts bill, tarsus and iris
Soft parts in birds
Types of bird Feet
PALMATE 3 front toes webbed, hind toe unwebbed
TOTIPALMATE all 4 toes webbed
SEMIPALMATE (half-webbed) - anterior toes joined by
narrow webbing
LOBATE toes with lobed webbing
Types of bird feet:
RAPTORIAL toes
muscular and heavily clawed (talon)
ANISODACTYLOUS hind toe longer, nail elongated
HETERODACTYLOUS inner (3rd) toe reversed
ZYGODACTYLOUS outer toe (1st) toe reversed
SYNDACTYLOUS front toes joined at base
PAMPRODACTYLOUS all toes in front or pointing
forward
Distinguishing features in tarsus
leg spur
scuttellate (scaly) tarsus
booted tarsus
reticulate tarsus
Distinguishing features
Metallic band of speculum on ducks
Casque on hornbills Operculum on pigeons and doves Tarsal spur on pheasants and junglefowl Elongated toes on jacanas Gular pouch on pelicans and frigatebirds Facial disk on owls Tube-nose on shearwaters and petrels
Wing shape and Flight
Broad and round OR narrow and pointed
Slotted for soaring OR long for gliding Wings barred, spotted, blotched, banded Soaring thermals, dynamic soaring waves, Straight flapping flight or undulating pattern Silent or noisy, short burst or sustained Sweeping flight pattern, sallying/ fly-catching
Beak adapations: netting (fish)
Beak adaptations: netting (insect)
Beak adaptations: sifting
Beak adaptations: spearing
Beak adaptations: spearing
Beak adaptations: probing
Beak adaptations: probing
Beak adaptations: probing
Beak adaptations: probing, hammering
Beak adaptations: husking
Beak adaptations: nut cracking
Beak adaptations: seed cracking
Bill adaptations: meat tearing
Beak features: casque
fruit eaters
Head features: facial disc
Head features: frontal shield
Head features: gular pouch
Tail features: streamer
Tail features: forked
Tail features: loose webbing
Head features: bare skin around eyes,
neck wattles, crest
Beak features: tubular nose
Tail features: Needle tail
tail features: racquet
Sexual dimorphism Most monogamous birds are sexually monomorphic sexes look alike Some birds are sexually dimorphic sexes look different, often are polygamous Generally males more colorful and females have drab coloration sunbirds, pheasants Some females are colorful painted-snipe For raptors, females are large than males
Calls and Songs
Unique vocalizations indicative of species
Familiarity be used for field identification Call single notes, short and repetitive Alarm or threat call, flight call, territorial Song elaborate notes and melodious For courtship and display, show fitness Calls vary with island populations dialect
Trophic & Feeding guilds
Frugivore or Nectarivore or Graminivore
Piscivore or Insectivore or Vermivore Bark-gleaning or Foliage-gleaning Sweeper or Sallier, Probing or Stabbing Arboreal or Terrestrial or Aquatic Canopy or Understorey or Forest floor Omnivore as mixed insectivore-frugivore Arboreal insectivore-frugivore (AIF)
Endemic to Philippines Endemic to Faunal region or EBA Island endemic or Mountain endemic Near endemic - Philippines & some islands Non-endemic resident with endemic race Non-endemic resident, race occur beyond Restricted-range species (<50,000 sq km)
Migratory birds Some birds breed on temperate regions Summer breeding grounds (165 species) Migrate south to tropics to evade scarcity of food in winter Winter feeding grounds Winter migrant regular visitor Passage visitor (thru Asian flyway) Accidental Vagrant (noted once or twice) Most shorebirds, waders and waterfowl Some raptors, passerines, owls, cuckoos
Montane & lowland forms
Tall mountain massifs and volcanic peaks offer distinct montane and lowland forests Montane forests occur above 1,000 masl Birds restricted to lowland rainforests hornbills, bleedinghearts, babblers Birds restricted to montane forest bullfinch, lorikeet, shortwing, island thrush Montane and lowland congeneric species scops-owls, white-eyes, whistlers
Phases and Races
Color phases black and white forms of same species reef egret, hawk-eagle Geographic variation among island and mountain populations of a single species Vary in size or color from nominate form Monotypic Vs. Polytypic Colasisi has 10 races or subspecies Philippine Cockatoo uniform on all islands
Avian taxonomy Non-passerines and Passerines (songbirds) 29 avian families in Order Passeriformes 50 families in 18 orders (Kennedy et al., 2000) Peters et al., 1985 based on morphology Sibley & Monroe 1991 on biochemical Babblers, Warblers, Flycatchers and Creepers combined into Muscicapidae Hornbills as separate Order Bucerotiformes
Water birds shorebirds and
wading birds 1. Order Procellariformes Tube-noses, Gulls, Terns, Petrels and Shearwater Wedge-tailed Shearwater (Procellariidae) 2. Order Pelecaniformes Brown Booby (Sulidae) Spot-billed Pelican (Pelicanidae)
Waterbirds 3. Order Podicipediformes Grebes (Podicipedidae) Little Grebe 4. Order Anseriformes Ducks (Anatidae) Tufted Duck Philippine Duck 5. Order Gruiformes Slaty-breasted Rail (Rallidae)
Water birds 6. Order Ciconiiformes Woolly-necked Storck (Ciconiidae) Black-faced Spoonbill (Threskiornithidae) Chinese Egret (Ardeidae) 7. Order Charadriiformes Bridled Tern (Sternidae) Pheasant-tailed Jacana (Jacanidae)
Water birds Order Charadriiformes Redshank (Scolopacidae) Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropodidae) Oriental Plover (Charadriidae) Pied Avocet (Recurvirostridae)
Land Birds Gamefowl
8. Order Galliformes Tabon Scrubfowl (Megapodidae) Palawan Peacock-Pheasant (Phasianidae) Red Junglefowl
Land Birds Raptors 9. Order Falconiformes Philippine Falconet (Falconidae) Philippine Hawk-Eagle (Accipitridae) Philippine Eagle
Land Birds Pigeons & Doves 10. Order Columbiformes (Columbidae) Pink-bellied ImperialPigeon Nicobar Pigeon Yellow-breasted Fruitdove Luzon Bleedingheart
Land Birds Parrots 11. Order Psittaciformes Colasisi or Hanging Parrot (Psittacidae) Philippine Cockatoo (Cacatuidae) Mindanao Lorikeet (Loriidae)
Land Birds Cuckoos & Coucals 12. Order Cuculiformes (Cuculidae) Red-crested Malkoha Scale-feathered Malkoha Rufous Coucal
Land Birds Nocturnal Birds 13. Order Caprimulgiformes Long-tailed Nightjar (Caprimulgidae) Philippine Frogmouth (Podargidae) 14. Order Strigiformes Philippine Scops-Owl (Strigidae) Grass Owl (Tytonidae)
Land Birds Kingfishers & Swifts 15. Order Apodiformes Island Swiftlet (Apodidae) 16. Order Coraciiformes Blue-tailed Bee-eater (Meropidae) Hoopoe (Upupidae) Spotted Wood Kingfisher (Alcedinidae)
Land Birds Hornbills Order Coraciiformes *** some considered as Order Bucerotiformes Family Bucerotidae Palawan Hornbill Rufous Hornbill Mindanao Tarictic Hornbill Visayan Wrinkled Hornbill
Land Birds Trogons & Woodpeckers 17. Order Trogoniformes Philippine Trogon (Trogonidae) 18. Order Piciformes Coppersmith Barbet (Capitonidae) Greater Flameback (Picidae)
Land Birds Pittas & Broadbills 19. Order Passeriformes 1. Family Eurylaimidae Visayan Wattled Broadbill 2. Family Pittidae Whiskered Pitta Blue-winged Pitta Azure-breasted Pitta
Land Birds Swallows & Wagtails Order Passeriformes 3. Family Motacillidae White Wagtail Pechora Pipit 4. Family Artamidae White-breasted Wood-swallow 5. Family Hirundinidae Barn Swallow
Land Birds Larks and Crows 6. Family Alaudiae Larks
7. Family Corvidae Crows
Land Birds Graybirds & Orioles Order Passeriformes 8. Family Campephagidae Blackish Graybird 9. Family Oriolidae Black-naped Oriole Asian Fairy-Bluebird 10. Family Chloropseidae Philippine Leafbird
Land Birds Bulbuls & Babblers Order Passeriformes 11. Family Dicruridae Balicassiao Drongo 12. Family Pycnonotidae Mottle-breasted Bulbul 13. Family Timaliidae Flame-templed Babbler Chestnut-faced Babbler
Land Birds Thrushes & Flycatchers Order Passeriformes 14. Family Turdidae Island Thrush Cebu Black Shama 15. Family Muscicapidae Mountain Verditer-Flycatcher Snowy-browed Flycatcher
Land Birds
Monarchs & Whistlers
Order Passeriformes 16. Family Monarchidae Black-naped Monarch Rufous ParadiseFlycatcher 17. Family Pachycephalidae Yellow-bellied Whistler White-bellied Whistler
Land Birds Warblers & Tailorbirds Order Passeriformes 18. Family Sylviidae Yellow-breasted Tailorbird Grey-backed Tailorbird Tawny Grassbird Bright-capped Cisticola
Land Birds Nuthatches & Creepers Order Passeriformes 19. Family Paridae Elegant Tit White-fronted Tit 20. Family Rhabdornithidae Striped-headed Philippine Creeper 21. Family Sittidae Velvet-fronted Nuthatch
Land Birds Shrikes & Starlings Order Passeriformes 22. Family Laniidae Brown Shrike 23. Family Sturnidae Hill Myna Coleto or Bald Starling Crested Myna
Land Birds Sunbirds & Flowerpeckers Order Passeriformes 24. Family Nectariniidae Crimson Sunbird Plain-throated Sunbird 25. Family Dicaeidae Olive-backed Flowerpecker Red-keeled Flowerpecker Pygmy Flowerpecker Scarlet-collared Flowerpecker
Land Birds White-eyes & Sparrows Order Passeriformes 26. Family Estrildidae Java Sparrow 27. Family Ploceidae Tree Sparrow 28. Family Zosteropidae Everetts White-eye Cinnamon Ibon
Land Birds Crossbills, Finches and Buntings 29. Family Fringillidae Crossbills, Finches 30. Family Emberizidae Buntings
Problems with identification
Similar species search for distinguishing features, comparable size or unique behavior Cryptic birds always hidden and hard to see Congeners closely related, in same genus Island and Mountain variations races may show striking differences in color and call (dialect) Winter plumage migratory birds in between molts Estimation of size difficulty in observing distance Similarities of calls mimics or consistent in group
Birds as bio-indicators Bird Species Diversity useful representation for overall biodiversity and basis for evaluation Levels of endemism composition of endemics Keystone species indicators of change Threatened Island Endemics inherent rarity Intolerant forest dependent present/absent Restricted-range species limited distribution BSD is inversely proportional to altitude
