Study of Common Birds

Birds make up the scientific class Aves. They are warm-blooded, egg-laying vertebrate
animals that are covered with feathers and possess forelimbs that have modified to become
wings. Birds also have scaly legs, and no teeth (except in a few early fossil forms). They
maintain a constant body temperature of about 41 degrees C (106 degrees F).
All birds today have descended from their flying ancestors, but a few such as ostriches,
emus, some grebes, and cormorants have lost their capacity for aerial flight. Others, such as
penguins, have become adapted to flying in a much denser medium, water. Birds are found
in all habitats, from the icy shores of Antarctica to the hottest parts of the tropics, and from
mountains, deserts, plains, and forests to open oceans and densely urbanized areas.
They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds
range in size from the 5 cm (2 in) Bee Hummingbird to the 2.75 m (9 ft) Ostrich. The fossil
record indicates that birds evolved from theropod dinosaurs during the Jurassic period,
around 150–200 Ma (million years ago), and the earliest known bird is the Late Jurassic
Archaeopteryx, c 150–145 Ma. Most paleontologists regard birds as the only clade of
dinosaurs to have survived the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event approximately 65.5 Ma.
Modern birds are characterized by feathers, a beak with no teeth, the laying of hard-shelled
eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a lightweight but strong skeleton.
All living species of birds have wings - the now extinct flightless Moa of New Zealand were
the only exceptions. Wings are evolved forelimbs, and most bird species can fly, with some
exceptions including ratites, penguins, and a number of diverse endemic island species.
Birds also have unique digestive and respiratory systems that are highly adapted for flight.
Some birds, especially corvids and parrots, are among the most intelligent animal species; a
number of bird species have been observed manufacturing and using tools, and many social
species exhibit cultural transmission of knowledge across generations.
Many species undertake long distance annual migrations, and many more perform shorter
irregular movements. Birds are social; they communicate using visual signals and through
calls and songs, and participate in social behaviors including cooperative breeding and
hunting, flocking, and mobbing of predators. The vast majority of bird species are socially
monogamous, usually for one breeding season at a time, sometimes for years, but rarely for
life. Other species have breeding systems that are polygamous ("many females") or, rarely,
polyandrous ("many males"). Eggs are usually laid in a nest and incubated by the parents.
Most birds have an extended period of parental care after hatching.
Many species are of economic importance, mostly as sources of food acquired through
hunting or farming. Some species, particularly songbirds and parrots, are popular as pets.
Other uses include the harvesting of guano (droppings) for use as a fertilizer. Birds figure
prominently in all aspects of human culture from religion to poetry to popular music. About
120–130 species have become extinct as a result of human activity since the 17th century,
and hundreds more before then. Currently about 1,200 species of birds are threatened with
extinction by human activities, though efforts are underway to protect them.
Blue Jay

The Blue Jay is a common, large songbird is familiar to many people, with its perky crest;
blue, white, and black plumage; and noisy calls. Blue Jays are known for their intelligence
and complex social systems with tight family bonds. Their fondness for acorns is credited
with helping spread oak trees after the last glacial period.
Blue jays can make a large variety of sounds, and individuals may vary perceptibly in their
calling style. Like other corvids, they may learn to mimic human speech. Blue jays can also
copy the cries of local hawks so well that it is sometimes difficult to tell which it is.[4] Their
voice is typical of most jays in being varied, but the most commonly recognized sound is the
alarm call, which is a loud, almost gull-like scream. There is also a high-pitched jayer-jayer
call that increases in speed as the bird becomes more agitated. This particular call can be
easily confused with the chickadee's song because of the slow starting chick-ah-dee-ee. Blue
jays will use these calls to band together to mob potential predators such as hawks and
drive them away from the jays' nests.
Blue jays also have quiet, almost subliminal calls which they use among themselves in
proximity. One of the most distinctive calls of this type is often referred to as the "rusty
pump" owing to its squeaky resemblance to the sound of an old hand-operated water
pump. The blue jay (and other corvids) are distinct from all other songbirds for using their
call as a birdsong.
Song Sparrow

Aptly named, the Song Sparrow will sing as many as 20 different melodies with as many as
1,000 improvised variations on his basic theme. In areas where the birds migrate, the male
arrives on the breeding ground ahead of the female and starts to define a territory by
singing his song from three or four prominent perches.
The Song Sparrow is 5 to 6 inches in length, heavily streaked gray-brown upperparts. Dull
white underparts have dark central breast spot, thick streaks. Head has brown crown, paler
median stripe, pale gray eyebrow, white chin, dark brown moustache stripe. Rust-brown
wings. Tail is long, usually tinged rust-brown.
Birds in some areas will vary, with paler subspecies in the Southwest and darker subspecies
along the West Coast. In early spring the male sings constantly and defends his territory.
When the female first arrives, the male will dive at her as he does with any other intruder,
but the female does not flee. In time the male will accept this behavior and the two will
begin to move about the territory together. At this stage the male will reduce his singing to
only about ten Songs per hour.
Once the nest building has started, the male Song Sparrow will renew his singing. The nest is
cup-shaped and made of grasses and occasionally leaves, placed on the ground early in the
year, and up to 30 feet above the ground later in the season. Although the male may carry
nesting materials, it's the female who builds the nest. The female lays one egg each day until
the clutch of 3 to 5 greenish white with dark marks is complete.
Bald Eagle

The bald eagle, with its snowy-feathered (not bald) head and white tail, is the proud national
bird symbol of the United States—yet the bird was nearly wiped out there. For many
decades, bald eagles were hunted for sport and for the "protection" of fishing grounds.
Pesticides like DDT also wreaked havoc on eagles and other birds. These chemicals collect in
fish, which make up most of the eagle's diet. They weaken the bird's eggshells and severely
limited their ability to reproduce. Since DDT use was heavily restricted in 1972, eagle
numbers have rebounded significantly and have been aided by reintroduction programs.
These powerful birds of prey use their talons to fish, but they get many of their meals by
scavenging carrion or stealing the kills of other animals. (Such thievery famously prompted
Ben Franklin to argue against the bird's nomination as the United State's national symbol.)
They live near water and favor coasts and lakes where fish are plentiful, though they will
also snare and eat small mammals.
Bald eagles are believed to mate for life. A pair constructs an enormous stick nest—one of
the bird-world's biggest—high above the ground and tends to a pair of eggs each year.
Immature eagles are dark, and until they are about five years old, they lack the distinctive
white markings that make their parents so easy to identify. Young eagles roam great
distances. Florida birds have been spotted in Michigan, and California eagles have traveled
all the way to Alaska.
Peacock

Peacocks are large, colorful pheasants (typically blue and green) known for their iridescent
tails. These tail feathers, or coverts, spread out in a distinctive train that is more than 60
percent of the bird’s total body length and boast colorful "eye" markings of blue, gold, red,
and other hues. The large train is used in mating rituals and courtship displays. It can be
arched into a magnificent fan that reaches across the bird's back and touches the ground on
either side. Females are believed to choose their mates according to the size, color, and
quality of these outrageous feather trains.
The term "peacock" is commonly used to refer to birds of both sexes. Technically, only
males are peacocks. Females are peahens, and together, they are called peafowl.
Suitable males may gather harems of several females, each of which will lay three to five
eggs. In fact, wild peafowl often roost in forest trees and gather in groups called parties.
Peacocks are ground-feeders that eat insects, plants, and small creatures. There are two
familiar peacock species. The blue peacock lives in India and Sri Lanka, while the green
peacock is found in Java and Myanmar (Burma).
Peafowl such as the blue peacock have been admired by humans and kept as pets for
thousands of years. Selective breeding has created some unusual color combinations, but
wild birds are themselves bursting with vibrant hues. They can be testy and do not mix well
with other domestic birds.