The following
outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to birds:
Bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
s (
class
Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to:
Common uses not otherwise categorized
* Class (biology), a taxonomic rank
* Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects
* Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...
Aves) –
wing
A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...
ed,
biped
Bipedalism is a form of terrestrial locomotion where an animal moves by means of its two rear (or lower) limbs or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a bipedal manner is known as a biped , meaning 'two feet' (from Latin ''bis'' ' ...
al,
endothermic
An endothermic process is a chemical or physical process that absorbs heat from its surroundings. In terms of thermodynamics, it is a thermodynamic process with an increase in the enthalpy (or internal energy ) of the system.Oxtoby, D. W; Gillis, ...
(
warm-blooded
Warm-blooded is a term referring to animal species whose bodies maintain a temperature higher than that of their environment. In particular, homeothermic species (including birds and mammals) maintain a stable body temperature by regulating ...
),
egg-laying,
vertebrate
Vertebrates () are animals with a vertebral column (backbone or spine), and a cranium, or skull. The vertebral column surrounds and protects the spinal cord, while the cranium protects the brain.
The vertebrates make up the subphylum Vertebra ...
animals. There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most varied of
tetrapod
A tetrapod (; from Ancient Greek :wiktionary:τετρα-#Ancient Greek, τετρα- ''(tetra-)'' 'four' and :wiktionary:πούς#Ancient Greek, πούς ''(poús)'' 'foot') is any four-Limb (anatomy), limbed vertebrate animal of the clade Tetr ...
vertebrates. They inhabit
ecosystem
An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...
s across the globe, from the Arctic, to the Antarctic.
Extant
Extant or Least-concern species, least concern is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to:
* Extant hereditary titles
* Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English
* Exta ...
birds range in size from the
bee hummingbird
The bee hummingbird, zunzuncito or Helena hummingbird (''Mellisuga helenae'') is a species of hummingbird, native to the island of Cuba in the Caribbean. It is the smallest known bird. The bee hummingbird feeds on nectar of flowers and bugs foun ...
to the
ostrich
Ostriches are large flightless birds. Two living species are recognised, the common ostrich, native to large parts of sub-Saharan Africa, and the Somali ostrich, native to the Horn of Africa.
They are the heaviest and largest living birds, w ...
.
What type of thing is a bird?
A bird can be described as all of the following:
*
Life form
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to life forms:
A life form (also spelled life-form or lifeform) is an entity that is living, such as plants (flora), animals (fauna), and fungi ( funga). It is estimated tha ...
– entity or being that is living or alive.
**
Animal
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Biology, biological Kingdom (biology), kingdom Animalia (). With few exceptions, animals heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, ...
– multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia (also called Metazoa). Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their lives. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and independently.
Biological classification
* Kingdom:
Animal
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the Biology, biological Kingdom (biology), kingdom Animalia (). With few exceptions, animals heterotroph, consume organic material, Cellular respiration#Aerobic respiration, breathe oxygen, ...
ia
* Phylum:
Chordata
A chordate ( ) is a bilaterian animal belonging to the phylum Chordata ( ). All chordates possess, at some point during their larval or adult stages, five distinctive physical characteristics (Apomorphy and synapomorphy, synapomorphies) th ...
* Class:
Aves
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight ...
Nature of birds
Bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
Bird anatomy
Bird anatomy
Bird anatomy, or the physiological structure of birds' bodies, shows many unique adaptations, mostly aiding flight. Birds have a light skeletal system and light but powerful musculature which, along with circulatory and respiratory systems capa ...
*
List of terms used in bird topography
*
Beak
The beak, bill, or rostrum is an external anatomical structure found mostly in birds, but also in turtles, non-avian dinosaurs and a few mammals. A beak is used for pecking, grasping, and holding (in probing for food, eating, manipulating and ...
*
Caruncle
*
Comb
A comb is a tool consisting of a shaft that holds a row of teeth for pulling through the hair to clean, untangle, or style it. Combs have been used since prehistoric times, having been discovered in very refined forms from settlements dating ba ...
*
Feather
Feathers are epidermal growths that form a distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on both avian (bird) and some non-avian dinosaurs and other archosaurs. They are the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates and an exa ...
s
**
Alula
The alula , or bastard wing, (plural ''alulae'') is a small projection on the anterior edge of the wing of modern birds and a few non-avian dinosaurs. The word is Latin and means "winglet"; it is the diminutive of ''ala'', meaning "wing". The a ...
**
Barb (feather)
Feathers are epidermis (zoology), epidermal growths that form a distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on both Bird, avian (bird) and some non-avian dinosaurs and other archosaurs. They are the most complex integumentary structures found in ...
**
Barbule
**
Covert (feather)
A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail.
Ear coverts
The ear coverts are small feathers behind t ...
**
Crest (feathers)
The crest is a prominent feature exhibited by several bird species on their heads. It is distinct from features such as casques and cockscombs - sometimes erroneously referred to as "crests", which are bony and fleshy structures respectively.
...
**
Down feather
The down of birds is a layer of fine feathers found under the tougher exterior feathers. Very young birds are clad only in down. Powder down is a specialized type of down found only in a few groups of birds. Down is a fine thermal insulator and p ...
**
Ear tuft
**
Feather holes
**
Feather-plucking
Feather-plucking, sometimes termed feather-picking, feather damaging behaviour or pterotillomania, is a Adaptive behavior, maladaptive, behavioural disorder commonly seen in captive birds that chew, bite or pluck their own feathers with their be ...
**
Flight feather
Flight feathers (''Pennae volatus'') are the long, stiff, asymmetrically shaped, but symmetrically paired pennaceous feathers on the wings or tail of a bird; those on the wings are called remiges (), singular remex (), while those on the tai ...
**
Pennaceous feather
The pennaceous feather is a type of feather present in most modern birds and in some other species of maniraptoriform dinosaurs.
Description
A pennaceous feather has a stalk or quill. Its basal part, called a ''calamus'', is embedded in the sk ...
**
Pin feather
**
Plumage
Plumage () is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, there can b ...
**
Quill
A quill is a writing tool made from a moulted flight feather (preferably a primary wing-feather) of a large bird. Quills were used for writing with ink before the invention of the dip pen/metal-Nib (pen), nibbed pen, the fountain pen, and, event ...
**
Speculum feather
*
Gape
*
Gizzard
The gizzard, also referred to as the ventriculus, gastric mill, and gigerium, is an organ found in the digestive tract of some animals, including archosaurs (birds and other dinosaurs, crocodiles, alligators, pterosaurs), earthworms, some gast ...
*
Preen gland
*
Syrinx
In classical Greek mythology, Syrinx () was an Arcadian nymph and a follower of Artemis, known for her chastity. Being pursued by Pan, she fled into the river Ladon, and at her own request was metamorphosed into a reed from which Pan then mad ...
*
Vision
Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to:
Perception Optical perception
* Visual perception, the sense of sight
* Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight
* Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain und ...
**
Nictitating membrane
The nictitating membrane (from Latin '' nictare'', to blink) is a transparent or translucent third eyelid present in some animals that can be drawn across the eye from the medial canthus to protect and moisten it while maintaining vision. Most ...
**
Pecten oculi
The pecten or pecten oculi is a comb-like structure of blood vessels belonging to the choroid in the eye of a bird. It is a non- sensory, pigmented structure that projects into the vitreous humor from the point where the optic nerve enters the ...
*
Uropygial gland
The uropygial gland, informally known as the preen gland or the oil gland, is a bilobed sebaceous gland possessed by the majority of birds used to distribute the gland's oil through the plumage by means of Preening (bird), preening. It is locate ...
*
Wattle
Bird behavior
Bird behavior
*
Bird colony
A bird colony is a large congregation of individuals of one or more species of bird that nest or roost in proximity at a particular location. Many kinds of birds are known to congregate in groups of varying size; a congregation of nesting bir ...
*Feeding
**
Feeding of birds
**
Food plants
**
Gleaning (birds)
Gleaning is a feeding strategy by birds and bats in which they catch invertebrate prey, mainly arthropods, by plucking them from foliage or the ground, from crevices such as rock faces and under the eaves of houses, or even, as in the case of ti ...
**
Hawking
**
Hoarding
Hoarding is the act of engaging in excessive acquisition of items that are not needed or for which no space is available.
Civil unrest or the threat of natural disasters may lead people to hoard foodstuffs, water, gasoline, and other essentials ...
**
Pellet (ornithology)
A pellet, in ornithology, is the mass of undigested parts of a bird's food that some bird species occasionally regurgitate. The contents of a bird's pellet depend on its diet, but can include the exoskeletons of insects, indigestible plant m ...
**
Plucking post
*
Flight
Flight or flying is the motion (physics), motion of an Physical object, object through an atmosphere, or through the vacuum of Outer space, space, without contacting any planetary surface. This can be achieved by generating aerodynamic lift ass ...
**
Flightless birds
Flightless birds are birds that cannot Bird flight, fly, as they have, through evolution, lost the ability to. There are over 60 extant species, including the well-known ratites (ostriches, emus, cassowary, cassowaries, Rhea (bird), rheas, an ...
**
Flocking
*
Migration
Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration
* Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another
** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...
**
Flyway
A flyway is a flight path used by large numbers of birds while migrating between their breeding grounds and their overwintering quarters. Flyways generally span continents and often pass over oceans. Although applying to any species of migrat ...
***
Atlantic Flyway
***
Central Flyway
***
Central Asian Flyway
***
East Asian - Australasian Flyway
***
East Atlantic Flyway
***
Mississippi Flyway
The Mississippi Flyway is a bird migration route that generally follows the Mississippi, Missouri, and Lower Ohio Rivers in the United States across the western Great Lakes to the Mackenzie River and Hudson Bay in Canada. The main endpoints of t ...
***
Pacific Flyway
The Pacific Flyway is a major north-south flyway for migratory birds in the Americas, extending from Alaska to Patagonia. Every year, migratory birds travel some or all of this distance both in spring and in fall, following food sources, heading ...
***
West Pacific Flyway
**
Pigeon intelligence
Pigeons have featured in numerous experiments in comparative psychology, including experiments concerned with animal cognition, and as a result there is considerable knowledge of pigeon intelligence.
Available data show, for example, that:
*Pige ...
*
Abnormal behaviour of birds in captivity
*
Aggression
Aggression is behavior aimed at opposing or attacking something or someone. Though often done with the intent to cause harm, some might channel it into creative and practical outlets. It may occur either reactively or without provocation. In h ...
*
Anting (bird activity)
Anting is a maintenance behavior during which birds rub insects, usually ants, on their feathers and skin. A bird may hold a single ant in its beak to rub over the body, or lie in an area of high insect density and wallow as when dust bathing. ...
*
Begging behavior in birds
*
Distraction display
Distraction displays, also known as diversionary displays, or paratrepsis are antipredator adaptation, anti-predator behaviors used to attract the attention of an enemy away from something, typically the nest or young, that is being protected by a ...
*
Dust bathing
*
Feather-plucking
Feather-plucking, sometimes termed feather-picking, feather damaging behaviour or pterotillomania, is a Adaptive behavior, maladaptive, behavioural disorder commonly seen in captive birds that chew, bite or pluck their own feathers with their be ...
*
Fecal sac
A fecal sac (also spelled faecal sac) is a mucous membrane, generally white or clear with a dark end, that surrounds the feces of some species of nestling birds. It allows parent birds to more easily remove Feces, fecal material from the bird n ...
*
Intelligence
Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It can be described as t ...
*
Mobbing
Mobbing, as a sociological term, refers either to bullying in any context, or specifically to that within the workplace, especially when perpetrated by a group rather than an individual.
Psychological and health effects
Victims of workplace mo ...
*
Moult
In biology, moulting (British English), or molting (American English), also known as sloughing, shedding, or in many invertebrates, ecdysis, is a process by which an animal casts off parts of its body to serve some beneficial purpose, either at ...
*
Preening
Preening is a found in birds that involves the use of the beak to position feathers, interlock feather that have become separated, clean plumage, and keep ectoparasites in check. Feathers contribute significantly to a bird's insulation, waterp ...
*
Reproduction
Reproduction (or procreation or breeding) is the biological process by which new individual organisms – "offspring" – are produced from their "parent" or parents. There are two forms of reproduction: Asexual reproduction, asexual and Sexual ...
**
Avian incubation
Egg incubation is the process by which an egg, of oviparous (egg-laying) animals, develops an embryo within the egg, after the egg's formation and ovipositional release. Egg incubation is done under favorable environmental conditions, possi ...
**
Bird-nesting
**
Brood parasite
Brood may refer to:
Nature
* Brood, a collective term for offspring
* Brooding, the incubation of bird eggs by their parents
* Bee brood, the young of a beehive
* Individual broods of North American periodical cicadas:
** Brood X, the largest ...
**
Clutch (eggs)
A clutch of eggs is the group of eggs produced by birds, amphibians, or reptiles, often at a single time, particularly those laid in a nest.
In birds, destruction of a clutch by predators (or removal by humans, for example the California con ...
**
Egg
An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...
**
Egg tossing
**
Fledgling
**
Homosexual behavior in birds
**
List of birds displaying homosexual behavior
**
Sexual behaviour
Human sexual activity, human sexual practice or human sexual behaviour is the manner in which humans experience and express their sexuality. People engage in a variety of sexual acts, ranging from activities done alone (e.g., masturbation) t ...
**
Nest
A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold Egg (biology), eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of ...
***
Altricial
Precocial species in birds and mammals are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. They are normally nidifugous, meaning that they leave the nest shortly after birth or hatching. Altricial ...
***
Nest box
A nest box, also spelled nestbox, is a man-made enclosure provided for animals to nest in. Nest boxes are most frequently utilized for birds, in which case they are also called birdhouses or a birdbox/bird box, but some mammals such as bats ma ...
***
Precocial
Precocial species in birds and mammals are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. They are normally nidifugous, meaning that they leave the nest shortly after birth or hatching. Altricial ...
**
Siblicide
Siblicide (attributed by behavioural ecologist Doug Mock to Barbara M. Braun) is the killing of an infant individual by its close relatives (full or half siblings). It may occur directly between siblings or be mediated by the parents, and is dr ...
*Roosting
**
Communal roosting
*
Tracks
*
Vocalization
Types of birds
Orders
Families
Subfamilies
Genera
History of birds
*
Bird evolution
The evolution of birds began in the Jurassic Period, with the earliest birds derived from a clade of theropod dinosaurs named Paraves. Birds are categorized as a biological class, Aves. For more than a century, the small theropod dinosaur ''Arch ...
**
Origin of birds
The scientific question of which larger group of animals birds evolved within has traditionally been called the "origin of birds". The present scientific consensus is that birds are a group of maniraptoran theropod dinosaurs that originated du ...
**
Origin of avian flight
Around 350 BCE, Aristotle and other philosophers of the time attempted to explain the aerodynamics of avian flight. Even after the discovery of the ancestral bird '' Archaeopteryx'' which lived over 150 million years ago, debates still persist ...
**''
Archaeopteryx
''Archaeopteryx'' (; ), sometimes referred to by its German name, "" ( ''Primeval Bird'') is a genus of bird-like dinosaurs. The name derives from the ancient Greek (''archaîos''), meaning "ancient", and (''ptéryx''), meaning "feather" ...
''
**
Extinct birds
__NOTOC__
''Extinct Birds'' (complete title: ''Extinct birds. An attempt to unite in one volume a short account of those Birds which have become extinct in historical times—that is, within the last six or seven hundred years. To which are adde ...
Study of birds
*
Avian ecology field methods
**
Bird census
***
Breeding bird survey
***
Christmas Bird Count
The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is a census of birds in the Western Hemisphere, performed annually in the early Northern-hemisphere winter by volunteer birdwatchers and administered by the National Audubon Society. The purpose is to provide popula ...
*
Bird collections
Bird collections are curated repositories of scientific Biological specimen, specimens consisting of birds and their parts. They are a research resource for ornithology, the science of birds, and for other scientific disciplines in which informa ...
*
Bird feeding
**
Bird feeder
A birdfeeder, bird table, or tray feeder is a device placed outdoors to supply bird food to birds ( bird feeding). The success of a bird feeder in attracting birds depends upon its placement and the kinds of foods offered, as different species ...
**
Bird food
Bird food or bird seed is food intended for consumption by wild, commercial, or pet birds. It is typically composed of seeds, nuts, dry fruits, flour, and may be enriched with vitamins and proteins.
Bird food can vary depending upon dietary ha ...
**
Mealworm
Mealworms are the larval form of the yellow mealworm beetle, ''Tenebrio molitor'', a species of darkling beetle.
The yellow mealworm beetle prefers a warmer climate and higher humidity. Male mealworm beetles release a sex pheromone to attract ...
**
Niger
Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...
**
Safflower
Safflower (''Carthamus tinctorius'') is a highly branched, herbaceous, thistle-like annual plant in the family Asteraceae. It is one of the world's oldest crops; today, it is commercially cultivated for vegetable oil extracted from the seeds. ...
**
Suet
Suet ( ) is the raw, hard fat of beef, lamb or mutton found around the loins and kidneys.
Suet has a melting point of between and solidification (or congelation) between . Its high smoke point makes it ideal for deep frying and pastr ...
**
Sunflower seed
A sunflower seed is a seed from a sunflower (''Helianthus annuus''). There are three types of commonly used sunflower seeds: linoleic (most common), high oleic, and sunflower oil seeds. Each variety has its own unique levels of monounsatura ...
*
Bird ichnology
**
Bird tracks
*
Bird observatory
A bird observatory is a centre for the study of bird migration and bird populations. They are usually focused on local birds, but may also include interest in far-flung areas. Most bird observatories are small operations with a limited staff, many ...
*
Bird ringing
Bird ringing (UK) or bird banding (US) is the attachment of a small, individually numbered metal or plastic tag to the leg or wing of a wild bird to enable individual identification. This helps in keeping track of the movements of the bird an ...
**
Cannon net
**
Mist net
*
Bird watching
Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescop ...
**
Bird hide
**
Field guide
A field guide is a book designed to help the reader identify wildlife (flora or fauna or funga) or other objects of natural occurrence (e.g. rocks and minerals). It is generally designed to be brought into the " field" or local area where suc ...
**
Field mark
**
List of birdwatchers
**
List of birding books
**
Seawatching
Seawatching is a type of birdwatching where participants observe seabirds from a fixed point on the mainland. They may do this from a coastal location, usually a headland, looking out to sea, or from a boat or ship.
Seawatching is commonly per ...
***
List of seawatching locations by country
__NOTOC__
The following is a list of notable seawatching locations, by country:
Australia New South Wales
* Magic Point
Queensland
* Point Lookout, Queensland, Point Lookout
Victoria
* Cape Schanck, Victoria, Cape Schanck
* Point Addis
* Point ...
*
Oology
Oology (; also oölogy) is a branch of ornithology studying bird eggs, Bird nest, nests and breeding behaviour. The word is derived from the Greek ''oion'', meaning egg. Oology can also refer to the hobby of collecting wild birds' eggs, sometime ...
**
Jourdain Society
The Jourdain Society is or was a controversial society based in the United Kingdom, its aims being "the advancement of the science of oology", the collection and study of intact birds' eggs. Established in 1922 as the British Oological Associatio ...
**
Palaeooölogy
Aviculture
Aviculture
Aviculture is the practice of keeping and breeding birds, especially of wild birds in captivity.
Aviculture
Aviculture is the practice of keeping birds (class '' Aves'') in captivity in controlled conditions, normally within the confines of a ...
*
Falconry
Falconry is the hunting of wild animals in their natural state and habitat by means of a trained bird of prey. Small animals are hunted; squirrels and rabbits often fall prey to these birds. Two traditional terms are used to describe a person ...
**
Day-old cockerel
**
Falconry (training)
Training raptors (birds of prey) is a complex undertaking. Books containing advice by experienced falconers are still rudimentary at best.
Many important details vary between individual raptors, species of raptors and between places and times. ...
**
Lure (falconry)
**
Takagari
is Japanese falconry, a sport of the noble class, and a symbol of their nobility, their status, and their warrior spirit.
History
In Japan, records indicate that falconry from Continental Asia began in the fourth century.Nihon Rekishi Daijiten ...
*
Pigeon racing
Pigeon racing is the sport of releasing specialized, trained homing pigeons, which then return to their homes over a carefully measured distance. The time it takes the animal to cover the specified distance is measured and the bird's rate of t ...
*
Pinioning
*
War pigeon
Homing pigeon, Homing pigeons have long played an important role in war. Due to their homing ability, speed, and altitude, they were often used as military messengers. Carrier pigeons of the Racing Homer breed were used to carry messages in Worl ...
**
Cher Ami
**
Commando (pigeon)
**
G. I. Joe (pigeon)
**
Paddy (pigeon)
Paddy (Pigeon number NPS.43.9451) was an Irish carrier pigeon awarded the Dickin Medal after being the fastest pigeon to arrive back in England with news of the success of the D-Day invasion, out of hundreds dispatched. He flew 230 miles (37 ...
**
William of Orange (pigeon)
*
Wing clipping
Wing clipping is the process of trimming a bird's primary wing feathers or ''remiges'' so that it is not fully flight-capable, until it moulting, moults, sheds the cut feathers, and grows new ones.
This procedure is usually carried out by avi ...
Bird diseases and parasites
:
*
Aspergillosis
Aspergillosis is a fungal infection of usually the lungs, caused by the genus ''Aspergillus'', a common mold that is breathed in frequently from the air, but does not usually affect most people. It generally occurs in people with lung diseases su ...
*
Avian influenza
Avian influenza, also known as avian flu or bird flu, is a disease caused by the influenza A virus, which primarily affects birds but can sometimes affect mammals including humans. Wild aquatic birds are the primary host of the influenza A viru ...
*
Avian malaria
*
Bird louse
A bird louse is any chewing louse (small, biting insects) of order Phthiraptera which parasitizes warm-blooded animals, especially birds. Bird lice may feed on feathers, skin, or blood. They have no wings, and their biting mouth parts distingu ...
*
Feather mite
Feather mites are the members of diverse mite Superfamily (zoology), superfamilies:
* superorder Acariformes
** Psoroptidia
*** Analgoidea
*** Freyanoidea
*** Pterolichoidea
* superorder Parasitiformes
** Dermanyssoidea
They are ectoparasites on ...
*
Psittacosis
Psittacosis—also known as parrot fever, and ornithosis—is a zoonotic infectious disease in humans caused by a bacterium called '' Chlamydia psittaci'' and contracted from infected parrots, such as macaws, cockatiels, and budgerigars, and ...
Threats and conservation
*
Avicide
An avicide is any substance (normally a chemical) used to kill birds.
Commonly used avicides include strychnine (also used as rodenticide and predacide), DRC-1339 (3-chloro-4-methylaniline hydrochloride, Starlicide) and CPTH (3-chloro-p-toluidi ...
*
Bird conservation
Bird conservation is a field in the science of conservation biology related to threatened birds. Bird conservation efforts aim to protect species and mitigate the decline of threatened bird population numbers. According to Worldwatch Institute, ...
**
Bird sanctuary
An animal sanctuary is a facility where animals are brought to live and to be protected for the rest of their lives. In addition, sanctuaries are an experimental staging ground for transformative human–animal relations. There are five types of ...
**Bird conservation groups
***
Bird Protection Quebec
***
BirdLife International
BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...
***
Fundación ProAves
Fundación ProAves is a nonprofit environmental organization in Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. Th ...
***
National Audubon Society
The National Audubon Society (Audubon; ) is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation of birds and their habitats. Located in the United States and incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such orga ...
***
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a Charitable_organization#United_Kingdom, charitable organisation registered in Charity Commission for England and Wales, England and Wales and in Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, ...
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Important bird area
An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.
IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...
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Bird control
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Bird control spike
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Bird netting
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Bird scarer
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Goose egg addling
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Scarecrow
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Bird strike
A bird strike (sometimes called birdstrike, bird ingestion (for an engine), bird hit, or bird aircraft strike hazard (BASH)) is a collision between an airborne animal (usually a bird or bat) and a moving vehicle (usually an aircraft). The term ...
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Towerkill
Persons influential in the field of birds
Artists
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Lars Jonsson
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David Allen Sibley
Ornithologists
List of ornithologists
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John Gould
John Gould (; 14 September 1804 – 3 February 1881) was an English ornithologist who published monographs on birds, illustrated by plates produced by his wife, Elizabeth Gould (illustrator), Elizabeth Gould, and several other artists, includ ...
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James Clements
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James Audubon
John James Audubon (born Jean-Jacques Rabin, April 26, 1785 – January 27, 1851) was a French-American Autodidacticism, self-trained artist, natural history, naturalist, and ornithology, ornithologist. His combined interests in art and ornitho ...
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Chris Mead
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Killian Mullarney
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Roger Tory Peterson
Roger Tory Peterson (August 28, 1908 – July 28, 1996) was an American natural history, naturalist, Conservationist (biology), conservationist, citizen scientist ornithology, ornithologist, artist and illustrator, educator, and a founder of th ...
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Pamela C. Rasmussen
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Alexander Skutch
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David Snow
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Alexander Wilson
Writers
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Mark Cocker
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Pete Dunne
Birds in culture
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Featherwork
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Quill
A quill is a writing tool made from a moulted flight feather (preferably a primary wing-feather) of a large bird. Quills were used for writing with ink before the invention of the dip pen/metal-Nib (pen), nibbed pen, the fountain pen, and, event ...
See also
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Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...
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Outline of dinosaurs
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birds
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Birds
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
Birds
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...