What is a bird?

Розділ I

 

Птахи

Лабораторно-методичний комплекс для вивчення текстів спеціального призначення

 

Зміст:

- 1 Мета та завдання комплексу.

- 2 Загальна характеристика птахів.

- 3 Особливості будови птахів.

- 4 Пристосування для польоту та стилі польоту.

- 5Харчування птахів. Особливості травної системи птахів.

- 6Полювання птахів.

- 7Період спаровування птахів.

- 8Висиджування яєць і вигодовування пташенят.

- 9Сімейне життя птахів.

- 10 Прийоми та засоби побудови гнізд.

- 11Догляд за пір’ям.

- 12 Стислий огляд вивченого.

- 13 Питання для самоконтролю.

- 14 Роздатковий матеріал.

- 15 Відео матеріали.

- 16 Глосарій.

- 17 Словник.

- 18 Словник назв птахів з ілюстраціями.

- 19 Прислів’я та приказки про птахів.

- 20 Веб-сайти про птахів.

 

Part I

Birds

Complex lab-arrangement of ESP- texts for study

Contents:

- 1 Objectives/Birds

 

- 2 What is a bird?

- 3 Built for flight

- 4 Up and away

- 5 Bird food

- 6 Fisher kings

- 7 The mating game

- 8 Eggs

- 9 Family life

- 10 Master builders

- 11 Body care

 

- 12 Summary

- 13 Test yourself

- 14 Worksheet

- 15 Lab materials: films (Птицы-Lepeuple Migrateur.-2002 France television distribution ; Птицы- National Geographic.), video clips(ARKive e-images of life on Earth. www.arkive.org)

- 16 Glossary

- 17 Vocabulary

- 18 Bird Vocabulary

- 19 Websites on the birds

- 20 Proverbs about birds

Objectives / Birds

After completing the section, you should know:

 

- general characteristics of birds

- the structure of feathers, bones and how wings work

- birds’ styles of flight, landing

- what kind of food birds eat and their food storage

- the ways birds use to catch fish

- the phases of mating period, laying eggs and family life

- the ways and materials birds use to build their nests

- ways of bathing, oiling, preening the feathers

What is a bird?

 

Birds are the most successful flying animals that have ever existed. They make up the scientific class Aves, distinguished from other animals by one feature: feathers. Birds almost certainly evolved from small, predatory dinosaurs called theropods more than 150 million years ago. Over time, the theropods’ scales were transformed into feathers, their front legs stretched and became wings, their bony tails withered away, and their snouts and teeth were replaced by lightweight bills. Evolution made them masters of the sky, and they soon spread across the planet.

A coat of feathers.Birds are the only animals with feathers. These are not just for flight – they also provide a warm coat to trap heat in the body. Birds are warm blooded, which means they maintain a constant internal temperature, rather than warming up and cooling down with the surroundings, as happen in reptiles.

Fitting the bill. Bills (or beaks) evolved because they are lighter than toothed jaws and so make flying easier. They are also simpler than jaws, consisting merely of thin bone coated with the tough protein that forms human fingernails. As a result, evolution can change their shape relatively easily, giving each species a design adapted to its way of life. Flesh-eaters, for example, have hooked bills for tearing flesh.

Digestive system. Since they have no teeth, birds must break up food inside their bodies. They have a special stomach chamber called a gizzard, with powerful muscular walls that squeeze and grind the food. Less frequent flyers swallow grit or stones to help the gizzard do its job .Many birds also have a food storage chamber, or crop, in the throat. This helps them to wolf down food quickly and then bring it up again later to feed their chicks or to lose weight when fleeing danger.

Senses. Vision is the most important sense in birds. Many can see colours invisible to our eyes or tiny details that we would need a telescope to notice. When they sleep, birds can keep one eye open and half the brain stays awake, wary for danger. Most birds have a poor sense of smell but excellent hearing. What sounds to us like a single note of birdsong might be heard by a bird as 10 separate notes.

Global domination. Flight has allowed birds to colonize almost every environment, from deserts and cities to remote islands, mountain peaks, and the freezing wastes of Antarctica. Birds can endure colder weather and thinner air than any other animals. The only habitat they haven’t conquered is the deep sea.

Reproduction. While mammals carry babies inside the body, birds lay eggs, like their reptilian ancestors. But, unlike most reptiles, which simply abandon their eggs, birds care for both eggs and chicks. Usually both parents cooperate to keep the young warm, and to protect and feed them.

External anatomy of a bird:

External anatomy of a bird:

1 Beak 12 Vent

2 Head 13 Thigh

3 Iris 14 Tibio-tarsal articulation

4 Pupil 15 Tarsus

5 Mantle 16 Foot

6 Lesser coverts 17 Tibia

7 Scapulars 18 Belly

8 Median coverts 19 Flanks

9Tertials 20 Breast

10 Rump 21 Throat

11 Primaries 22 Wattle