BIOL 4142 - Ornithology

Predicting ecology from morphology - Labs 2, 3, 4, 5

Annotated with examples that you can see in Lowery Gallery

I. BILLS

A. Seed-crushers (almost all Emberizidae, Cardinalidae, Fringillidae, House Sparrow, Brown-headed Cowbird)

B. Carnivores (all Falconiformes and Strigiformes)

C. Large insect-small vertebrate eaters (Loggerhead Shrike; Blue Jay and crows are marginal)

D. "Standard" insectivores (warblers, thrushes, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, kinglets, pipits, wrens (Carolina is borderline prober), Mimidae, orioles; Vireonidae and grackles are on "border" between this type and "C" above)

E. Flying-insect-eaters
1) salliers (flycatchers; Whip-poor-will, Chick-will's widow)
2) screeners (Chimney Swift, Common Nighthawk, Hirundinidae)

F. Probers

1) mud-probers (all Scolopacidae except Ruddy Turnstone; ibises, King, Clapper, and Virginia rails)
2) ground-probers (Curve-billed Thrasher and Crissal Thrasher in desert exhibit)
3) bark-probers (Brown Creeper)
4) flower-probers (Ruby-throated Hummingbird; Rufous-tailed Hummingbird and Blue Honeycreeper in tropical rain forest exhibit)

G. Fish-eaters

1) dagger-shaped (Common Loon, most grebes, Anhinga, Ardeidae, terns, Belted Kingfisher)
2) hooked (cormorants, mergansers)

H. Bark-drillers (Picidae)

I. Seed-insect combination; demo only (Red-winged Blackbird, Seaside Sparrow, Paridae; tanagers)

J. Fruit-eaters; demo only (Cedar Waxwing; Red-capped Manakin and White-collared Manakin in rainforest exhibit; Phainopepla in desert exhibit)

II. WINGS

A. Specialized aerial-foragers (kites, Magnificent Frigatebird, terns, Apodidae, Caprimulgidae, Hirundinidae)

B. Sedentary species, infrequent fliers (Common Loon; grebes; Ruddy duck; Black Francolin, N. Bobwhite, Wild Turkey; King Rail, Clapper Rail; most wrens; Rufous-sided/Eastern Towhee)

III. TAILS

A. Forked tails for aerial maneuvering (Magnificent Frigatebird, Swallow-tailed Kite, several terns, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Barn Swallow)

B. "No" tails (terrestrial walkers) (N. Bobwhite, Black Francolin: Great Tinamou in tropical rain forest exhibit)

C. Tree-climbers (Picidae, Brown Creeper; Ivory-billed Woodcreeper in rainforest exhibit)

IV. FEET

A. Climbing (Picidae, Brown Creeper)
B. Killing (all Falconiformes and Strigiformes)
C. Swimming

1) palmate webbing (Gaviiformes, Procellariiformes, Pelecaniformes, Anseriformes, Laridae, Am. Avocet)
2) lobed webbing (Podicipedidae, American Coot, phalaropes)

D. Wading (Threskiornithidae, Ciconiidae, most herons, Greater Flamingo, larger Scolopacidae)
E. Running (loss or elevation of hind toe) (N. Bobwhite, Black Francolin)
F. Walking on "flimsy" substrate; demo only

V. COLORATION

Background matching

1) Gloger's Rule

2) white ventral coloration in fish-eating birds in open habitats (Ardeidae, terns)

3) striped backs in grassland birds (Long-billed Curlew, Upland Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Common Snipe, Sprague's Pipit, E. and W. Meadowlark, female Bobolink, Dickcissel, most sparrows)

4) green plumage in some tropical forest birds (White-fronted Parrot in tropical rain forest exhibit)