Birds Essay: What Are Birds

What Are Birds? Did you know that birds have the second numerous population of vertebrates in the world? All birds have feathers, which separates them from any other living organism. Birds also have over 10,000 species, which is about 2x more than mammal species. Furthermore, all birds lay eggs, although some are larger than others. Also, the largest group of birds are passerines or perching bird in Latin. Excluding the vestigial-winged kiwi bird, all birds have visible wings. Although nearly all birds have wings, not all can fly. Take the ostrich, the world’s biggest bird, for example. The ostrich is too heavy to fly because it does not have hollow bones. As you can see, birds have many unique characteristics.
Structure Of Birds

Their bones are hollow, so they can fly. Their beaks and feet have adapted to the environment. Some bills have sharp ends, while others have flat ends. Pointy or not, birds need beaks to eat, even though they do not have any teeth. To grind up their food, they must eat rocks. Sometimes, they just swallow sand, depending on where they live. A bird must have feet fit for where they live. Owls have sharp talons and four toes in order to catch mice. There are two toes in front, and two in the back of the foot. Prairie chickens have three toes in the front of the foot, and one toe in the back, with a SUPER long claw on the back. Ducks have webbed feet in order to swim, same applies for geese and swans. Perching birds have four toes in order to grab onto tree branches. Hummingbirds have such tiny feet, they can not land on the ground. Instead, they can

There are passerines and non-passerines. Passerines are perching birds, and range in size from three to a little over one foot. They can sing or call, and have similar sized feet. Non- passerines vary in size from two inches to eight feet! There are more non-passerines than passerines, due to the number of orders and families. Birds belong to the class Aves, or birds in Latin. In the non-passerines, there are the orders Anseriformes, or ducks, geese, and swans, Accipitriformes, or, hawks, eagles, and falcons, are birds of prey, and prey on other animals. The ostrich, the tallest bird in the world, can grow up to eight feet long! The bumblebee hummingbird can only grow up to two inches. Big or small, all birds are very