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Search for your bird species

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Aves

Birds are vertebrate animals that have feathers, wings, and beaks. Like all vertebrates, they have bony skeleton. Most birds are able to fly, but some (like ostriches and penguins) cannot fly even though they still have wings. Other kinds of animals like insects and bats can fly too, but birds are the only animals with feathers. Birds have scales on their lower legs and feet, like reptiles. All birds reproduce by laying eggs with hard shells, and most build nests to help protect the eggs from weather and predators. Adult birds almost always sit on the eggs to keep them warm until they hatch.

Like mammals, birds are warm-blooded which means that they make their own body heat and can stay warm even when the sun is not out. Birds mostly eat high-energy foods like seeds and fruits, insects and other animals, nectar, or meat from dead animals. Very few birds eat other plant parts, like leaves or roots, which are more difficult to digest. Many birds feed insects to their babies to help them grow fast even if the adult birds eat seeds or fruits. The shape and size of bird beaks are adapted to the kinds of food they eat.

Birds can be found in all habitats above ground and there are even some species that make nests in underground burrows. Most birds try to lay their eggs in places that predators will not be able to reach easily.

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BioKIDS - Kids' Inquiry of Diverse Species, Aves, birds: INFORMATION

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Aves Birds are vertebrate animals that have feathers, wings, and beaks. Like all vertebrates, they have bony skeleton. Most birds are able to fly, but some (like ostriches and penguins) cannot fly even though they still have wings. Other kinds of animals like insects and bats can fly too, but birds are the only animals with feathers.

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Read on to find out!

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What's a bird?

Do you know what makes a bird different from other animals?

Blue Jay - bird

Karner Blue Butterfly - insect

Is it the pretty colors?

No -- other animals, like fish and insects, come in all sorts of beautiful colors too.

toucan - bird

platypus - mammal

Is it the bill or beak?

No -- other animals, like the duck billed platypus (a mammal), have bills too.

crocodile egg

Is it the eggs?

No -- other animals, like fish, amphibians, reptiles, insects and even some mammals, hatch from eggs as well.

bald eagle - bird

dragonfly - insect

Is it the wings?

No -- other animals, like insects and some mammals, have wings.

Then what is it!?

peacock - bird

All birds have feathers and birds are the only animals that do!

Feathers do many jobs for birds. Soft down keeps them warm, wing feathers allow flight and tail feathers are used for steering.

The color of the feathers can be used to hide the bird or to help the bird find a boyfriend or a girlfriend!

Scientific information: Birds are a scientific "class". The scientific name for the class is Aves.
< ANIMALS CLASSES BIRDS PAGE 2 >

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Do you know what makes a bird different from other animals? Blue Jay - bird Karner Blue Butterfly - insect No -- other animals, like fish and insects, come in all sorts of beautiful colors too. toucan - bird platypus - mammal No -- other animals, like the duck billed platypus (a mammal), have bills too.

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September 25, 2019

Female Lucifer Hummingbird Joins Feeding Frenzy In West Texas

Female hummingbirds can be hard to tell apart due to the fact that they often lack the conspicuous, iridescent flare of their male counterparts. However, female Lucifer Hummingbirds can be separated from the pack if you know what to look for. They are small hummingbirds who exhibit green upper-parts and cinnamon flanks, but their most defining characteristic is the downward curved bill! Can you spot the female Lucifer Hummingbird in this short clip from the West Texas hummingbird cam?

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Female hummingbirds can be hard to tell apart due to the fact that they often lack the conspicuous, iridescent flare of their male counterparts. However, female Lucifer Hummingbirds can be separated from the pack if you know what to look for.

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subscribe to Wow in the World podcast

subscribe to Wow in the World podcast

Reggie is away on his migration vacation! He's been all over the place; China, Hawaii, New Zealand! But how in the world do our avian friends pull of such feats of endurance? Join Mindy and Guy Raz as they explore the Who, What, When, Where, Why, How and Wow in the world of bird migration!

Want to learn more about the science of bird migration? Click here to see some of the resources we used to help write this episode!

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Reggie is away on his migration vacation! He's been all over the place; China, Hawaii, New Zealand! But how in the world do our avian friends pull of such feats of endurance? Join Mindy and Guy Raz as they explore the Who, What, When, Where, Why, How and Wow in the world of bird migration!

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SoundsWild Episode - Radio Program Alaska, Alaska Department of Fish and Game

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SoundsWild Episode - Radio Program Alaska, Alaska Department of Fish and Game

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SoundsWild Episode - Radio Program Alaska, Alaska Department of Fish and Game

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SoundsWild Episode - Radio Program Alaska, Alaska Department of Fish and Game

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SoundsWild Episode - Radio Program Alaska, Alaska Department of Fish and Game

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SoundsWild Episode - Radio Program Alaska, Alaska Department of Fish and Game

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Learning how to draw birds is an excellent tool for getting to know them better. Long before photography existed, naturalists have been drawing wildlife. Even today when photography is so popular and common, the art of drawing remains an important and fun way to capture nature.

Trying to capture birds can be difficult and drawing them can be approached in many ways. Below, it will be broken down into several techniques that have been proven effective in drawing a wide variety of subjects. I suggest working with a pencil, at least initially so that your work can be erased easily and so you can make your beginning sketches light. They are present in ink here for better clarity.

Observation

Good observation is the key to drawing anything. Before you attempt to draw any bird, sit down near a bird feeder or by a pond or other location that birds frequent and simply observe them. If that is not available to you, find a book, magazine or look online for photos of birds. Look closely at how the birds appears. Notice their bill, eyes, head, wing, feet, tail and other parts. See how those parts come together, and also - if you are watching a live bird - see how it moves its body as it explores or feeds. Notice how your subject's feathers can lay flat against the body or be fluffed out.

It is very helpful to have at least a basic understanding of how a bird is put together. For this, you need to learn some bird anatomy. Different birds have different shapes and lengths of bills, wings, tails, feet and legs and other parts. All of these are shaped so as to best serve that particular birds needs.

Visit this link on bird anatomy to you help you learn how to draw birds.

A bird is actually an extremely complex collection of parts and features, and this can leave the person trying to draw one in a state of frustration. It can help to see the bird as a collection of simple shapes such as circles, ovals, eggs and triangles when learning how to draw birds. Find an image of a bird, and try drawing it out in terms of its simplest shapes. Then, go from there an add some lines on top of that.

A good next step in learning how to draw birds might be to do a basic sketch of the bird you are viewing. One method to do this is to do high speed line drawing of what you see. This technique involves fast, repeating lines that loosely capture the subject. This is of great assistance when you are drawing a live bird, as they don't generally sit still for long. A variation on this technique is to keep your pencil on the paper from start to finish.

In learning how to draw birds, it also helps to break your subject down into parts, and do simple drawings of each part separately. Keep it simple and leave the detail work for later. If you are drawing a wild bird, do include at least some of the plumage patterns you see on the bird. These might be useful later on.

Shadow and Light

At this point we are moving into the realm of finer, more detailed work. You may choose to stop at the point of making a sketch. But if you choose to go on, look carefully at the areas on your subject that are darker and those that are lighter. You can try a simple exercise that can help you see those areas better. Take your drawing implement of choice and draw only the shadowed areas on the bird you are looking at. It can help to have a basic outline drawing to fill in, so that your shadows end up in relatively the appropriate places on the body. You can also try putting shadows over the sketch you have created earlier.

The bird that was drawn here happens to be an all black raven, but most birds have various colors spread in various blotches, spots, stripes and other markings on many parts of the bodies. If you are drawing in the field, making quick sketches to capture the field marks can be very helpful.

How to Draw Birds in Conclusion

Despite the popularity and relative simplicity of modern photography, drawing remains an indispensable means of recording what we observe in nature. Learning how to draw birds is also a wonderful teaching tool which encourages us to focus our attention on details in a manner that helps us retain the information more effectively, and also helps us develop a stronger search image for the species we focus on.

Grab a pencil and some paper, and try drawing a bird today!

Knowledge is Power - Grow Your Wilderness Skills! Get monthly updates on new wilderness skills articles, upcoming courses, and special opportunities. Join the free Alderleaf eNewsletter:

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How to Draw Birds for a Naturalist Journal

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Learning how to draw birds is an excellent tool for getting to know them better. Long before photography existed, naturalists have been drawing wildlife. Even today when photography is so popular and common, the art of drawing remains an important and fun way to capture nature.

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Hummingbird Habitat

Getting to know hummingbird habitat can help you to better understand these living jewels. Hummingbirds depend on the landscape to provide them with everything for their daily needs, including food, shelter, mates, nesting material and shelter. So, where are hummingbirds found?

Where Hummingbirds Live

Hummingbirds are found from as far North as Alaska, to as far South as the Tierra Del Fuego in far southern Argentina. They are also found on a variety of islands in Caribbean. This diverse group includes between 325 and 340 species, many of which fill unique ecological roles. So what is the key to good hummingbird habitat?

Good Food

Hummingbirds relay largely for nectar as a source of nutrients. Flowers, therefore, are of vital importance to them. Many flowers produce nectar as a source to draw in potential pollinators, and hummingbirds appreciate having a variety of flowers from which to feed. Their long bills are specially adapted to help them reach deeply into flowers to access this nectar, and some species of hummingbirds have very uniquely shaped bills to fit specific types of flowers.

Hummingbirds also consume insects and spiders. A few species of hummingbirds will also feed on sap from the wells created by sapsucker woodpeckers, especially when the hummingbirds arrive in early spring to far northerly locations where few flowers have opened.

What makes good habitat?

Hummingbirds live in many types of landscapes, including temperate woodlands, mountain meadows, cloud forests, tropical rainforests, and deserts. Hummingbird habitats consistently include an abundance of flowers, which more recently can be found in many urban and suburban gardens throughout the USA.

Shelter is also extremely important to hummingbirds, especially for nesting and for night-time resting. Hummingbirds walk a fine line because of their extremely high metabolism, so they have only enough energy stored to get them through a night. They live always only a few hours away from starvation and must eat very frequently. At night, hummingbirds go into a state of rest called "torpor." Torpor is a hibernation-like state, in which the bodies of animals experience a significant drop of metabolism. Without this state, hummingbirds would not survive a night without feeding.

How You Can Help

As increased urbanization, habitat alteration and habitat loss continue throughout the Americas, many hummingbirds are in decline. Some hummingbirds are able to adapt well to gardens, given the right conditions. Get to know what hummingbird species are native to your area, learn what kinds of plants they rely upon and put some feeders up as well. Don't use pesticides or herbicides in your gardens, as they both kill the insects and spiders that hummingbirds feed on as well as poisoning the hummingbirds themselves.

It really helps to have some native, hummingbird attracting plants included in your garden along with other non-native flowering plants.

Some great native Pacific Northwest hummingbird-friendly flowers you can put into your garden:

Remember that some plant species such as Trumpet Creeper ( Campsis radicans) and Butterflybush ( Buddleia davidii) have a tendency to be invasive in some areas. Be careful when introducing plants to your garden that are not native, and ask your local nursery about how to best contain them.

Another way to help is to preserve the hummingbird habitat that already exists in neighborhood or near where you live. The more quality habitat that exists out there, the more healthy hummingbirds there will be and the more everyone can enjoy seeing them.

Further Resources: Hummingbird Habitats Related Courses: The Alderleaf Wilderness Certification Program

Knowledge is Power - Grow Your Wilderness Skills! Get monthly updates on new wilderness skills articles, upcoming courses, and special opportunities. Join the free Alderleaf eNewsletter:

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Hummingbird Habitat Getting to know hummingbird habitat can help you to better understand these living jewels. Hummingbirds depend on the landscape to provide them with everything for their daily needs, including food, shelter, mates, nesting material and shelter. So, where are hummingbirds found?

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Great site for researching your bird

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Woodpeckers Browse by Shape, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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instant access to thousands of great kids books.

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Instantly access 25,000 high-quality books for kids

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The only kids' eBook subscription service that offers thousands of high-quality books from well known publishers like HarperCollins, National Geographic and others.

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Find information about your bird here!

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Type in the name of your bird and EXPLORE!

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Explore species, regions, and everything else eBird has to offer.

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Type in the name of your bird and see what comes up!

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Kiddle is a safe search engine, offering a safe web, image, and video search. Results are vetted by editors.

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Spring weather has finally arrived, ushering in a sensory feast of nature's sights, sounds and scents after the barrenness of winter. We humans feel joyful at the prospect of long days filled with warmth and promise, and we assume birds do, too.

And why not? They sound joyful: Think of a male cardinal perched on top of a leafless tree, beak pointed upward as he endlessly burbles his "wha - cheer" song. Or a robin sitting on a branch, whistling his bright, lilting notes each sunlit morning. It's easy to infer that they're happy that spring is here.

But those lovely spring bird songs have very little to do with expressing pleasure. Instead, they're all about asserting a bird's place in a small universe, the territory he's chosen to raise his brood.

Like arias

Birds lead very operatic lives, putting into song their most intimate thoughts and violent threats. A male cardinal sings softly to his mate, likely the same female who shared a nest with him last year. He's telling her that he's still able to warn off competitors and be a good provider for their offspring. Then he turns around and robustly roars to other cardinals that they'd better stay out of his way.

As for the robin, he's just back from the South and looking to attract this year's mate. He and the cardinal and all the other singing males of springtime are of one mind: Get and keep a territory and gain and keep a mate.

Although a number of other living things engage in singing (humpback and beluga whales, humans, some bats and mice), birds are the most accomplished in this line. About half of the world's 9,000-plus bird species are songbirds, including orioles, tanagers, wrens and thrushes. What makes songbirds unique is their divided voice box, or syrinx, sitting deep in their chest. Birds manipulate muscles to tighten or loosen the sides of the syrinx and pass air through them to make their sounds. They can vibrate the two sides of the syrinx separately or in tandem.

One-bird duets

Think about what this means: Many songbirds are able to sing duets with themselves. Listen to a veery (a kind of thrush) singing and you'll swear that two birds are singing at once (hear one here: www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/veery/sounds). But it's just one veery, creating his hauntingly beautiful song by moving air through both voice boxes at once. Listen closely to a robin and you may detect a slight "echo" within its song. Cardinals can switch from one voice box to the other in the middle of a song.

Since birds' songs are formed in their chest, they can sing even while carrying food or nesting material in their beak.

We used to think that bird song was instinctual, hard-wired into bird brains as they emerged from their eggshells. A great deal of research has gone into studying how birds make their songs, and it's becoming clear that most singing species must learn their songs from adult birds, most often their father.

Babbling like babies

At about three weeks of age, soon after leaving the nest, young male birds listen to and store their father's songs in their brain. They spend their first summer and early fall practicing over and over until they're finally satisfied that they're matching the song template in their brain.

What about a young bird that hatches late in the summer, after birds have stopped singing for the year?

Donald Kroodsma, one of the premier researchers in the field, says the "song-learning system in songbirds is flexible enough to adapt to different lifestyles and needs" (from his fascinating book, "The Singing Life of Birds"). If it's too late in the season for a chipping sparrow to memorize his father's song, he'll have to wait until the next spring, after migration, to learn from another male.

Birds in one region, even one neighborhood, can develop dialects after listening to each other. And even birds that all sound the same to us, such as robins, create their own, unique song by adjusting pitch and combining notes in changing patterns.

Very soon we'll hear all those males sending their songs out into spring mornings, making much more noise than at any other time of day. Is it because fewer predators are awake at this time, so it's safer to call attention to oneself? Or is this the best time for singing because the air is usually still and songs carry farther?

Maybe both are true, but we can be sure that birds are singing for serious reasons. If this happens to bring us joy and lift our hearts, there's no harm in that.

St. Paul resident Val Cunningham, who volunteers with the St. Paul Audubon Society and writes about nature for local, regional and national newspapers and magazines, can be reached at val​writes@comcast.net.

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Bird melodies sound sweet, but there's meaning to the music

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Spring weather has finally arrived, ushering in a sensory feast of nature's sights, sounds and scents after the barrenness of winter. We humans feel joyful at the prospect of long days filled with warmth and promise, and we assume birds do, too. And why not?

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Have you ever heard the old saying, " Birds of a feather flock together "? But what if birds had fur? Would they flock togeth...ur? No, that doesn't sound right! We guess it's a good thing birds have feathers.

Birds seem to think so, too. Their feathers are unique. In fact, you might say they're one of the bird's characteristics . If it's got feathers, it's a bird. If it's a bird, it's got feathers. And those feathers aren't just there for show! Scientists and bird lovers alike can tell you that feathers are very important.

Feathers allow birds to do one of their favorite things: fly. Without their aerodynamically -designed feathers, birds would be around on the ground like the rest of us!

However, even flightless birds need their feathers. For example, penguins rely on their feathers to keep them warm and dry in cold climates. Birds are warm-blooded creatures. That means their bodies maintain a healthy temperature to keep them alive. As insulators , feathers help with this. In this way, they're a bit like clothes for birds.

Birds aren't known to keep up with the latest fashion trends, though. Still, the colors of a bird's feathers can affect its ability to find a mate. In many species, male and female birds have differently colored feathers. This helps them tell each other apart. More brightly-colored birds may also find mates more easily.

Some birds use their coloring to attract other birds. But other feathers help make birds invisible...to predators, at least. In this way, feathers can serve as camouflage . For example, the winter feathers of the Willow Ptarmigan are pure white. This helps the bird to blend in with its snowy surroundings.

How did birds get their feathers? Scientists think they may have evolved from scales like you'd find on a reptile. This view is supported by the fact that some birds still have scales on their lower legs and feet. As feathers began to develop, they took on a few different forms.

The largest feathers on a bird are called feathers. These include the flight feathers and the tail feathers. They give birds their shape and color.

Underneath the feathers are soft, fluffy down feathers. They provide most of the insulation birds need to stay warm. They're so good at this that humans have used them for many years in down jackets and feather pillows.

A few other types of feathers found on many birds include semiplumes, filoplumes, and powder feathers. Semiplumes are like a cross between down and feathers. They provide insulation while helping to maintain a bird's shape.

Filoplumes are the simplest feathers. These sit under the feathers. They're hair-like and usually stiff. They also have receptors that help birds understand what's going on with their feathers.

Powder feathers can be found on certain birds, such as pigeons and herons. They grow continuously and disintegrate at their tips into a fine powder. The of this powder is not completely understood, but some scientists believe it may help with waterproofing.

Do you have a favorite species of bird? Maybe you like to look at flamingos or peacocks. Many of the world's birds have very colorful feathers. What about the birds where you live? The next time you're outside, try bird watching! You may just find a species you've never seen before.

NGSS.LS1.D, NGSS.LS4.B, CCRA.L.3, CCRA.L.6, CCRA.R.1, CCRA.R.2, CCRA.R.4, CCRA.R.10, CCRA.SL.1

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Why Do Birds Wear Feathers Instead of Fur?

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Have you ever heard the old saying, " Birds of a feather flock together "? But what if birds had fur? Would they flock togeth...ur? No, that doesn't sound right! We guess it's a good thing birds have feathers. Birds seem to think so, too. Their feathers are unique.

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While many people think most, if not all, birds fly south in the winter, all you have to do is take a look around to see that many of our feathered friends stick around through even the coldest months. Whether a particular type of bird flies south for the winter depends mainly on one thing: what type of food it eats.

In areas that have cold winters, some common bird foods, such as and , may not be available year-round. Birds that eat those foods must fly south to find food to . Other birds that eat or that live under tree often hang around, since they can continue to find food all winter long.

While some birds instinctively migrate at certain times of the year, scientists believe birds won't fly south without environmental , the reason being lack of food. As long as food remains available, some birds will delay or won't leave at all.

In fact, some experts believe the widespread use of bird feeders may allow some species of birds to stop migrating and become year-round residents.

The National Bird-Feeding Society sponsors National Bird-Feeding Month every February. Why February? It's one of the most difficult months in the United States for birds to .

Throughout February, the society encourages people to provide food, water, and shelter to help birds .

No matter where you live, there are always birds that you can feed. Many families have learned that backyard bird-feeding can become a fun, educational, and inexpensive .

Adults find watching birds to be relaxing and peaceful. Kids enjoy learning about different types of birds and what they eat.

Feeding birds in the backyard can be as as mounting a basic feeder outside a window and filling it with birdseed mix. Common birdseed blends usually contain a mixture of nine major seed types: black-oil , cracked corn, hearts, thistle, striped , red milo, safflower, white proso millet, and whole peanuts.

Of course, as you learn more about the birds in your area, you can always add additional feeders and experiment with different types of seed to try to attract new birds to your yard.

More than 55 million adults in the United States feed birds around their home, which makes bird-feeding the second most popular in the country after gardening.

Give it a try and you'll soon learn that bird-feeding isn't just for the birds. Your family also benefits by bringing nature's most beautiful sights and sounds to your backyard.

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Join us in Wonderopolis today and bring your appetite! We're going to take a big bite out of a Wonder of the Day that's really for the birds.

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When a crow dies, others feel sad.