Class-Aves
1) Study of bird is known as “Ornithology”.
2)Dr. Salim Ali was a great ornithologist from India and is known as “Birdman
of India”. In 1941, he published “The book of Indian birds” that popularized ornithology
among the common man.
3)All types of birds are included in this class.
4)Body is streamlined. It is divided into head, neck, trunk and tail. Neck is
flexible and long.
5)The characteristic features of Aves are the presence of feathers and most of them can fly
except for few flightless birds (e.g., Ostrich, Dodo, Emu, Penguin, etc).
6) They are warm blooded animals (homoiothermous), i.e., they are able to maintain constant
body temperature.
7) Feathers are derivative of Stratum corneum(outer layer of the skin. It serves as the primary
barrier b/w the body and environment. It is mostly made up of keratin).
8) Birds are feathered bipeds. Exoskeleton is in the form of feathers which is present all over
the places except in limbs.
9) Skin id dry without glands except for the oil glands or preen gland that is present at the base
of the tail
This gland secrets oil, which softens and lubricates the feathers.
10) Forelimbs are modified into wings which helps in flying and conserving heat. Scales are
found only in hind limbs
11)The digestive tract of birds has additional chambers
i.e., the crop and gizzard. Crop for quick food ingestion and storage and Gizzard for crushing
the food that was swallowed unmasticated.
12) A three chambered cloaca is present.( cloaca is divided into three main sections: the
coprodeum, the urodeum, and the proctodeum. The coprodeum collects the fecal matter from
the colon. The urodeum is the area that collects urine directly from the ureters or bladder. The
reproductive tract also connects with the urodeum).
13) Spongy lungs are present for respiration. Air sacs are also present. Air sacs are connected
to lung supplement respiration.
14) Teeth are absent in the jaw. Jaws are modified into horny beaks.
15) Sound producing organ at the junction of trachea and bronchi in birds is called “Syrinx”.
16) Heart is completely for chambered. Only right aortic arch is present.
17) Hepatic portal system is well developed.(The hepatic portal system is a series of veins that carry blood from the capillaries of the stomach,
intestine, spleen, and pancreas to capillaries in the liver. ... Its main function is to deliver de-oxygenated blood to the liver to be detoxified
further before it returns to the heart.)
18) Endoskeleton is fully ossified(bony). Long bones are hollow, having air cavities, in which air is filled. These bones are called “Pneumatic
bones”. They make the body light in weight and help in flying.
19) Some vertebrae of the posterior portion of the body joint together to form “Synsacrum”.
(synsacrum is a unit formed by the fusion of the posterior thoracic, lumbar, and sacral vertebrae. Fusions of these bones make birds sturdy and
indirectly lighter by decreasing the number of muscles necessary to control individual vertebrae.)
20) The last 4 or 5 caudal vertebrae fused to form “Pygostyle”.
21) Sternum is big. Swollen basal part of sternum is called “Keel”, this keel offers a plane
for connecting flight muscle in flying birds.
(Wish bone-Whenever the Etruscans slaughtered a chicken, they would leave the
furcula in the sun to dry out, preserving it in hopes of gaining some its divining powers.
Villagers would then pick up the furcula and gently stroke it while making a wish —
giving it its more common name, the wishbone. It is present to strengthen the thoracic
skeleton.)
22) Uncinate processes are present in ribs.(Bony projections that extend from the vertebral
ribs.)
23) Kidneys are metanephric. Ureters open into cloaca. Members of Aves are usually
Uricotelic. Uric acid is a semi solid substance. Excreta of marine birds is known as
“Guano”(used as manure).
24)Most of the birds do not have a urinary bladder and a copulatory organ.
25)Brain is large, smooth and well developed. Cerebellum is well developed for aerial
mode of life.
26) Cranial nerves are 12-pairs in mo.
27) A special comb like structure “Pecten” is found in the eyes of all birds except Kiwi’s. It
helps in accommodation of eye and provides nutrition to eye ball. It also controls the
pressure of liquid present in eye. Acute vision(helps them to have a great vision during
flight, where they can identify their food from every height during flight) and Telescopic
vision(to spot their prey from great heights and distances. The largest field of vision belongs
to the American woodcock with 360° in the horizontal plane and 180° in the vertical.)
American Woodcock
28) External ears are present but pinnae are absent. Columella
bone(Stapes) is found in the middle ear. Cochlea (uncoiled) is
present in internal ear.
29) Birds are monodelphic i.e., only left ovary and left
oviduct if functional in females. Birds are oviparous.
30) Birds are unisexual. Sexual dimorphism is present.
Copulatory organ usually absent in males. Fertilization is
internal.
31) Eggs are large, megalecithal (yolk containing egg) and
cleidoic (Cleidoic egg is often referred to as an amniotic egg
because it is characteristic of amniotes, which have a
protective shell that is made out of water). Shell is perforated.
32) Development is direct. Embryonic membranes are
present, so birds are included under grp “amniota”.
33) Birds form nests. Parental care is well marked.
EXAMPLES :
Vulture(Nephron) Hummingbird (smallest bird) Female koel bird
{ It can move both forward {organisms that rely on
and backward } others to raise their
young ones- Brood
Parasitism}
Thank you
