POUL 1010E COMPREHENSIVE ANSWERS AND
QUESTIONS SET A+
✔✔Disadvantages of flight - ✔✔- You have to make all the power yourself, you don't
have the boost of an engine
- You have to do an annual molt, during which time your feathers are less efficient
- Some types of birds (E.G. Male peacocks) have developed feathers to attract females
at the expense of being able to fly. Some birds can't fly at all (E.G. Penguins)
- You have to spend most of your time feeding, refuelling, especially in the breeding
season when you have chicks to feed as well as yourself, so you cant fly when and
where you want
✔✔The need for torpor in hummingbirds (hibernation-like sleep) - ✔✔- Saves up to 60%
of their energy
- Makes their bodies more efficient
- Helps cope with unpredictable food supply (i.e. birds that catch insects or feed on
nectar or fruit)
✔✔Evolution of flightless birds - ✔✔- Evolved in areas where there were't as many
predators (i.e. islands)
✔✔Advantages of flightless birds - ✔✔- No restrictions to body size or body weight
- have powerful kicks
✔✔Disadvantages of flightless birds - ✔✔- Can't escape predators or invasive
species/diseases
✔✔Melanin - ✔✔Feather pigments
- Black coloration and most of the brown, rufous, gray, and buff colors
✔✔Carotenoids - ✔✔Feather pigments *only obtained through diet*
- red, orange, yellow of plumage
✔✔Porphyrins - ✔✔Feather pigments
, - Brown and rufous color for several birds including owls
✔✔Psittacofulvins - ✔✔Feather pigments
- Parrots synthesize these and they are responsible for red, orange, pink, and yellow
✔✔Molting - ✔✔- Shed old feathers to make way for new growth
- Replace old feathers with new feathers
- Occurs at least once a year
- Ensures that birds will be able to maintain flight ability in their adult lives
- Allows for seasonal change in appearance for mating or camouflage
- Occur right before reproductive reason
✔✔2 most important senses for birds - ✔✔- Vision
- Hearing
✔✔Ability to see in color and UV spectrum - ✔✔- Most birds have visual capability in the
ultraviolet range
- The typical again retina is capable of discriminating among many more wavelength
lights than humans and is less likely to perceive even the slightest color differences
✔✔Monocular Vision - ✔✔*Vision with one eye*
- Its association with wide visual fields allows birds to detect motion and potential
predators for their survival --> bird can see 300 degrees
✔✔Binocular Vision - ✔✔*Vision with both eyes* Excellent for depth perception, and
thus, judging distance, as the input from both eyes is needed to compute the distance of
the visual target
✔✔Unihemispheric Slow Wave Sleep (USWS) - ✔✔- Sleeping with one eye open and
half the brain awake
✔✔Basics of sound production by the Syrinx - ✔✔- Temporal pattern of vocalization is
determined in large part by contraction of the thoracic and abdominal muscles that
control the airflow coming from the respiratory system that passes through the syrinx
✔✔Crop (Basic function) - ✔✔*the out pocketing at the base of the neck*
- Can be unilobed, bilobed, spindle shaped, or absent
- Temporary storage space for potential food; Food can be stored and then digested,
reducing the length of the nighttime fast - This is critical for species with high
metabolism
- Transport food and water to nestlings/ produce nutritive crop milk to feed nestlings
✔✔Proventriculus (Basic function) - ✔✔*First/ True stomach*
- Comparable to mammalian stomach
QUESTIONS SET A+
✔✔Disadvantages of flight - ✔✔- You have to make all the power yourself, you don't
have the boost of an engine
- You have to do an annual molt, during which time your feathers are less efficient
- Some types of birds (E.G. Male peacocks) have developed feathers to attract females
at the expense of being able to fly. Some birds can't fly at all (E.G. Penguins)
- You have to spend most of your time feeding, refuelling, especially in the breeding
season when you have chicks to feed as well as yourself, so you cant fly when and
where you want
✔✔The need for torpor in hummingbirds (hibernation-like sleep) - ✔✔- Saves up to 60%
of their energy
- Makes their bodies more efficient
- Helps cope with unpredictable food supply (i.e. birds that catch insects or feed on
nectar or fruit)
✔✔Evolution of flightless birds - ✔✔- Evolved in areas where there were't as many
predators (i.e. islands)
✔✔Advantages of flightless birds - ✔✔- No restrictions to body size or body weight
- have powerful kicks
✔✔Disadvantages of flightless birds - ✔✔- Can't escape predators or invasive
species/diseases
✔✔Melanin - ✔✔Feather pigments
- Black coloration and most of the brown, rufous, gray, and buff colors
✔✔Carotenoids - ✔✔Feather pigments *only obtained through diet*
- red, orange, yellow of plumage
✔✔Porphyrins - ✔✔Feather pigments
, - Brown and rufous color for several birds including owls
✔✔Psittacofulvins - ✔✔Feather pigments
- Parrots synthesize these and they are responsible for red, orange, pink, and yellow
✔✔Molting - ✔✔- Shed old feathers to make way for new growth
- Replace old feathers with new feathers
- Occurs at least once a year
- Ensures that birds will be able to maintain flight ability in their adult lives
- Allows for seasonal change in appearance for mating or camouflage
- Occur right before reproductive reason
✔✔2 most important senses for birds - ✔✔- Vision
- Hearing
✔✔Ability to see in color and UV spectrum - ✔✔- Most birds have visual capability in the
ultraviolet range
- The typical again retina is capable of discriminating among many more wavelength
lights than humans and is less likely to perceive even the slightest color differences
✔✔Monocular Vision - ✔✔*Vision with one eye*
- Its association with wide visual fields allows birds to detect motion and potential
predators for their survival --> bird can see 300 degrees
✔✔Binocular Vision - ✔✔*Vision with both eyes* Excellent for depth perception, and
thus, judging distance, as the input from both eyes is needed to compute the distance of
the visual target
✔✔Unihemispheric Slow Wave Sleep (USWS) - ✔✔- Sleeping with one eye open and
half the brain awake
✔✔Basics of sound production by the Syrinx - ✔✔- Temporal pattern of vocalization is
determined in large part by contraction of the thoracic and abdominal muscles that
control the airflow coming from the respiratory system that passes through the syrinx
✔✔Crop (Basic function) - ✔✔*the out pocketing at the base of the neck*
- Can be unilobed, bilobed, spindle shaped, or absent
- Temporary storage space for potential food; Food can be stored and then digested,
reducing the length of the nighttime fast - This is critical for species with high
metabolism
- Transport food and water to nestlings/ produce nutritive crop milk to feed nestlings
✔✔Proventriculus (Basic function) - ✔✔*First/ True stomach*
- Comparable to mammalian stomach
