General Characters and Flight or Aerial Adaptations’ in Birds

General Characters and Flight or Aerial Adaptations’ in Birds

The birds get a living by moving in the air , which is the most difficult medium of all and also the most rewarding for freedom of movement. Birds are active animals. Flight enables them to avoid their enemies and to seek new habitats. They low weight and high power. The lightness and strength are achieved by using thin sheets and tubes of bones and extending air sacs into them. There no teeth or heavy jaws and the food eaten is quickly digested and of high energy value. Accumulation of fat is very low. They have high temperature, metabolic rate rapid heartbeats and high performance respiratory and muscular system.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CLASS –AVES

1.     Birds are feather clad, warm blooded, and air breathing, oviparous, bipedal vertebrates.

2.     Body is boat shaped and divided into head, neck, trunk and tail.

3.     Limbs are two pairs. Fore limbs are modified into wings.

4.     Exoskeleton is epidermal and horny. Legs are covered by scales. No skin gland except oil gland

5.     Skin is dry.

6.     Endoskeleton is spongy bones, light in weight containing air cavities.

7.      Skull is monocondylic. Cranium is large and sutures indistinct.

8.     Lower jaw is composed of five or six bones.

9.     Modern birds have no teeth. A horny beak is present.

10.            Vertebral column short.

11.            Vertebral ribs are double headed, provided with uncinate process.

12.             Both clavicles and single interclavicles are fused to form U or V shaped furcula.

13.            In pectoral girdle, the coracoids are more or less pillar like.

14.            Pelvic girdle is large and elongated.

15.            In the leg, the ankle joint is inter- tarsal.

16.            Lungs are spongy and non –distensible with thin walled air sacs.

17.            The heart is four chambered. RBCs are oval, nucleated and biconvex, warm blooded.

18.            Kidneys are metanephric and urecotelic.

19.            Eyes are large with nictitating membrane.

20.            Sexes are separate, fertilization is internal, oviparous

21.            Parental care is highly developed.

a.     Examples- Sparrow, parrot.

 

 

 

Flight or Aerial Adaptation in birds

Morphological Adaptations

1.     Body Contour

The birds have a spindle-shaped body to offer less air resistance during flight. This helps the birds to conserve energy and become more efficient at flying.

2.     Compact Body

The body of a bird is compact, dorsally strong and ventrally heavy to maintain equilibrium in the air. Their wings are attached on the thorax, the light organs like lungs and sacs are positioned high, the heavy muscles placed centrally are other features that help in flight.

3.     Body Covered With Feathers

The feathers are smooth, directed backwards, and closely fitting which make the body streamlined and reduce friction during flight. It lightens the body weight and protects it from the effect of environmental temperature. They also have a wide surface area for striking the air.

Feathers add to the body buoyancy. It insulates the body and prevents any loss of heat from the body. This helps the birds to bear low temperatures at higher altitudes.

4.     Forelimbs Modified into Wings

The forelimbs are modified into wings, which is the only organ of flight. These consist of a framework of bones, muscles, nerves, feathers, and blood vessels.

The wings have a large surface area. They also support the bird in the air. The wings have a thick, strong leading edge with a concave lower surface and a convex upper surface. This helps in increasing the air pressure below and reducing the air pressure above. Thus the bird can fly upward and forward during flight.

5.     Mobile Neck and Head

The birds have a long and flexible neck, which helps in the movement of head important for various functions. They possess a horny beak which helps them to pick the grains and insects while feeding.

6.     Bipedal Locomotion

The anterior part of the body of a bird helps in taking off during flight. The anterior part of the body also helps birds to land. The hindlimbs help in the locomotion on land. They can support the entire body weight of a bird.

7.     Perching

When a bird sits on the branch of a tree, its toes wrap around the twig. This is known as perching. The muscles are so well-developed that a bird can sleep in that position without falling.

8.     Short Tail

The tail bears long feathers that spread like a fan and function as a rudder during flight. They also help in balancing, lifting, and steering while flying and perching.

Anatomical Adaptations

1.     Flight Muscles

The well-developed muscles control the action of the flight muscles. It weighs about 1/6th of the entire bird. The flight muscles are striated. The muscles on the wings are large. Other muscles help the above muscles in functioning.

2.     ght and Rigid Endoskeleton

The birds have a very stout and light skeleton. The bones are hollow, filled with air sacs. They are provided with a secondary plastering to increase their rigidity. The bones are fused and lack bone marrow.

The birds lack teeth. The thoracic vertebrae are fused except for the last one. This plays an essential role in the action of wings striking the air.

3.     Diestive System

The birds have a very high rate of metabolism. Therefore, food digests rapidly. The length of the rectum is reduced because of the minimum undigested waste. They have no gall bladder which reduces the weight of the bird.

 

4.     Respiratory System

The respiratory system of birds is designed in such a manner that the food is oxidised rapidly and a large amount of energy is liberated. Since the metabolism rate is higher, a large number of oxygen molecules are required by the body. For this, the lungs are provided which occupy the entire space between the internal organs.

5.     Circulatory System

Rapid supply of oxygen is required by the blood due to rapid metabolism rate in birds. Therefore, birds require an efficient circulatory system. Birds have a four-chambered heart that performs double circulation. This prevents the mixing of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood. Also, the birds contain a large amount of haemoglobin in their red blood cells, which helps in the quick aeration of body tissues.

6.     Warm Blooded

The temperature of the body of a bird remains high and does not change with the change in the environment. This facilitates the birds to fly at very high altitudes.

7.     Excretory System

The nitrogenous waste is converted to less toxic organic compounds such as uric acid, and urates. They have no urinary bladder. The uriniferous tubules efficiently absorb water.