BIRD MORPHOLOGY

Beak Morphology
Beak consists of:
 Dorsal
 Jaw (Upper, Ventral & Lower)
 Beaks consist of the dorsal, upper, and ventral, lover ridge of the jaw.
Covered by a shell of keratin
Types of Beak morphology
SEED BEAKS
 Short and tall to maximize the force
 Helps in cracking seeds and nuts
 Sparrows, finches, cardinals, and juncos are all birds with seed beaks

PROBING BEAKS
 Long and very thick to withstand the pressure of being hammered against trees
 They taper to a chisel to chip away holes in trees
 The length allows them to reach inside trees to grab beetles and grubs hiding in the
wood
 Nuthatches and woodpeckers are the best example of such birds
INSECT BEAKS
 Long but thin beak which is best suited for digging insects and spiders
 Robins, wrens, and blue jays are all common birds with insect beaks
 Swallows and swifts have evolved a different beak for catching airborne insects
 The beak is wide at the base but very short. This allows it to scoop flying insects out
of the air
WATER BIRD BEAKS
 Bills are long wide and flat and are lined
 Small grinding edges and fringed to strain seeds, insects, and small animals from the
water.
 Wildfowl, ducks, swans, and Geese
 Flamingos have a specialized bill that’s curved. They use it to strain, in particular,
shrimp from the water.
FISHING BEAKS
 Long and narrow like a spear to catch fish.
 Herons, egrets, and loons have this kind of fishing beak.
 Other birds that eat fish like Gulls and Pelicans have shorter beaks but with a small
book on the end. This helps them hang on to fish and direct the fish down their throat.
HOOKED BEAKS
  Birds of prey, or raptors, have evolved hooked beaks for breaking bone and tearing
muscle
 The top section of the beak is larger and fits over the bottom scissoring food
 Red-Tail Hawk, Osprey, Cooper’s Hawk, Turkey Vulture, and owls, such as the
Great Horned Owl, Barn Owl and Eastern Screech Owl
NECTAR BEAKS
 Highly specialized to feed off of nectar from flowering plants
 Hummingbirds have a long very narrow beak and an even longer tongue
 They reach the beak into a flower and use their tongues to suck up nectar deed inside
flowers
 Lorikeets, a type of parrot, also eat nectar but go about it in a different way. Curved
short beaks but their tongue is covered in small hairs. This lets them lick up the nectar
much more efficiently.
 Lorikeets also use their tongues to eat fruit.

WING MORPHOLOGY
Birds have evolved to use different parts of the wing more than others to adapt them to their
chosen habitat.
ELLIPTICAL FLAPPING
 Elliptical wing is shaped like a narrow oval with a joint in the middle
 It’s ideal for tight manoeuvring, particularly in dense forests
 Most passerines, such as sparrows, starlings, finches, and robins have this wing shape
ELLIPTICAL GAME BIRD
 Wider elliptical wing is used by game birds to deal with their large body weight
 The wings can push down with a lot of force for quick take-off but lack the
aerodynamics to remain in flight for long periods of time.
 Most game birds roost at night but spent the rest of their time foraging on the ground.
 Turkeys, pheasants, and grouse are all game birds with elliptical wings.
HIGH SPEED
 High speed wings are long, narrow, and tapered to a point
 These birds are extremely agile and have rapid beats
 They are often found in open fields or over water
 Swifts and swallows are passerines that have high speed wings
 Falcons, a group of raptors, are some of the fastest birds in the world

HIGH ASPECT RATIO

  High aspect wings are wider than they are far longer than they are wide and used to
glide slowly in place using wind currents
 Gulls and albatross use this slow gliding flight to stay in one place and watch for fish
before diving into the ocean
SOARING
 Soaring wings have space between feathers to reduce drag. The shorter wings help
birds of large size take off easier
 Buteos, the genus of raptor that included birds such as the red-tail hawk,
eagles,vultures, cranes, and herons all have soaring wings
HOVERING
 Hummingbirds have specially adapted wings that move in an extremely fast forward
scooping motion
 This enables them to align their long beaks with the openings of flower.
 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds

LEG MORPHOLOGY
ANISODACTYL PLACEMENT
 This arrangement has 3 front toes and 1 rear toe.
 Perching birds have very flexible and fine toes in this arrangement for grabbing small
branches and perching.
SEMIPALMATE
 Wading birds use a modified anisodactyl arrangement to walk through shallow water
and mud.
 Their front toes are spread wider to disperse their weight.
 Cranes and Egrets are commonly seem semipalmates
PALMATE
 Palmate feet have webbing between the front 3 toes to increase surface area.
 Wildfowl, like ducks, geese, and swans, and gulls use this arrangement
TOTIPALMATE
 Totipalmates have webbing between all four toes to maximize water resistance
 The fourth toe is therefore closer to the front than in a true anisodactyl arrangement.
 Swimming birds like cormorants and pelicans are good examples
RAPTORIAL
 Most raptors use an anisodactly arrangement with specialized nails, called talons for
grabbing and stabbing prey
 Cooper’s Hawks have slim elongated nails for stabbing small prey
 Eagles, on the other hand, have thicker and more muscular feet to carry large prey
ZYGODACTYL PLACEMENT
  2 toes situated forward and 2 in the back.
 Woodpeckers and nuthatches use this arrangement to help cling vertically to trees
 Unlike most raptors, osprey have a zygodactyls arrangement to help hold onto fish
prey


NESTING
CUP NEST
 Grass and stick cup nests are the most common
 They are made by weaving bits of twig and leaves into a bowl shape wedged between
or woven around tree branches
 Pieces of hair, fabric, and plastic are used by birds in an attempt to insulate the nest
 Sparrows, starlings, and finches are all cup nest builders
ADHERENT NEST
 These nests made of mud, dirt, spit are often found in cliff areas or areas with few
trees
 Barn Swallows have difficulty taking off from an upright perching position hence
nesting under rock outcrops or manmade
CAVITY NEST
 Many birds either dig holes in trees or find existing holes to line with grass and debris
instead of building a nest
 Woodpeckers and owls both like nest in tree cavities, owls will take to living in
rundown buildings, like barns
MOUNDS OR GROUND NESTS
 Some birds will build a cup nest or a loose pile of grass and twigs on the ground in
tall grass
 They are more exposed to ground predators, the young chicks cannot fall out of the
nest
 Red Harrier, a type of hawk, and the Dark-eyed Junco, a song bird, prefer this
method
AQUATIC NEST
 These nests are built in shallow water or very close to shore
 Made of grasses, twigs, and often dried aquatic plants.
 Ducks, geese, and most wildfowl build these nests.
PLATFORM NEST
 Eagles, hawks, and many other raptors build huge nests of sticks and large limbs
 These nests can be shallow or very deep.
 The size is required to rear large chicks in and support the parents’ weight.
 PLUMAGE
FLIGHT FEATHERS:
 These stiff supporting feathers are used primarily for flight. They are broad and long.
 There are both primaries, attached to the “forearm” and secondaries attached to the
“upper arm”
 Remiges are used for wing support
 Rectrices are used for tail support
COVERTS:
 These are shorter and smaller feathers layered over the contour flight feathers
 To streamline the wing.
AFTER-FEATHER (DOWN)
 These small, fine, and fluffy feathers, called down
 Essential to trap heat close to body and keep birds warm.
• OTHER FEATHER USES
WATER RESISTANCE
 Most waterfowl, like ducks, have a gland at base of the tail with oil.
 They spread this oil into their feathers with their beaks to waterproof themselves.
SEXUAL DIVERSITY
 Males of many species have feathers in bright flashy colors and patterns to compete
with each other for their female’s attention
 Females of these species are normally very dull colors and speckled as camouflage to
blend in to their habitat and hide from predators.
 Backyard examples are Northern Cardinals and Purple Finches
JUVENILE COLORATION
 Similar to female coloration, juveniles of many species have speckled and brown
colorations intended to camouflage them and break up their outline.
 As they age, they molt, or drop, these feathers and grow in new ones of the adult color
and pattern.
 Red-Tail Hawk and American Robin young both have speckled brown feathers.