Class Aves
Group 4:
Gabrielle Collado
Mozzart Petrola
Charie Mae Vila
Christine Supremido
Jennifer Calzo

Aves
There are two subclasses of birds:
Archaeornithes are, or were, primitive birds from
the Jurassic or early Cretaceous periods.
The Neornithes subclass includes all of the birds
alive today.

Characteristics:
 Waterproof skin covered in feathers
 Endothermic, warm blooded
 Hard shelled eggs that are waterproof (cleidoic - closed egg)
 Beak or bill rather than teeth
 Bipedal (walk on two legs only)
 Forelimbs developed into wings
 Most members are highly adapted for flight with forelimbs
modified as wings and many weight saving features such as
hollow bones

Kingdom - Animalia
Phylum - Chordata
Subphylum - Vertebrata
Class - Aves

ORDERS

 They can be found worldwide except for Antarctica.
 They have special characteristics for life in the water, like
broad bodies easier floating, medium to long necks for
catching food underwater, and shorter legs with webbed
feet for more efficient swimming.
 Families:
 Anhimidae (screamers)
 Anatidae (geese, swans and ducks)
 Anseranatidae (magpie goose),
Anseriformes (Waterfowls)

Examples ofAnseriformes (Waterfowls):
Crested Screamer
Mallard Duck
Magpie Goose

Apodiformes
 There are 400 species of birds in the Apodiformes order.
 The birds in this order are very small and have short legs and
tiny feet, in fact the word apodiformes means "footless" in
Latin.
 Unlike other birds that have scales or scutes on their feet, the
feet of the birds in this order are bare skin with no scales
 Their young are blind, naked, and helpless at birth.
 Families:
 Apodidae (swifts)
 Trochilidae (hummingbirds)
 Hemiprocnidae (crested swifts).

Fun Fact:
The smallest bird in the world with a mass of
approximately 1.6–2 g (0.056–0.071 oz.) and a
length of 5–6 cm (2.0–2.4 in), the bee
hummingbird of Cuba, is a member of this order.

Alcidae (auks, murres)
Burhinidae (thick-knees)
Charadriidae (plovers)
Chionidae (sheathbills)
Dromadidae (crab plover)
Glareolidae (pratincoles, coursers)
Haematopodidae (oystercatchers)
Ibidorhynchidae (ibisbill)
Jacanidae (jacanas)
Laridae (gulls, terns)
Pedionomidae (plains wanderer)
Pluvianellidae (Magellanic plover)
Recurvirostridae (avocet, stilts)
Rostratulidae (painted snipe)
Rynchopidae (skimmers)
Scolopacidae (sandpipers)
Stercorariidae (skuas)
Thinocoridae (seedsnipe)
Charadriiformes (Shorebirds)
 There are about 350 species of birds in this order.
 They are found in all parts of the world.
 The birds in this order live near or on the water and they
range in size from small to large.
 There are 18 families in the order:

Examples of Charadriiformes
(Shorebirds):
Herring Gull
Ringed PloverRazor-billed Auk

Columbiformes
 The only birds capable of drinking by sucking without
having to tilt the head back, able to produce "crop milk"
to feed the young.
 Families:
 Raphidae (dodo and solitaires)
 Columbidae (doves and pigeons)
 Pteroclididae (sandgrouse)

Examples of Columbiformes
Four-banded Sandgrouse
Fantailed Dove
Townsend’s Solitaire

Falconiformes
 They are medium to large-sized and have strong talons; strong,
curved beaks; and excellent eyesight.
 They are very good flyers and often glide overhead riding on warm
air or thermals.
 They can be found in all parts of the world except Antarctica, and
live in all habitat types including the desert, tundra, taiga, wetlands,
and rainforests.
 These are the birds of prey.
 Families:
 Accipitridae (eagles, hawks, and kites)
 Cathartidae (new world vultures, condors)
 Sagittariidae (secretary bird)
 Falconidae (falcons)

Examples of Falconiformes
Black Kite
King Vulture
Secretary Bird
Falke

Galliformes
 These birds are chicken-like in shape.
 They range in size from small to large; have plump, pear-shaped bodies;
rounded wings; small bills; and small, round heads.
 Some species, like the turkey, have wattles on their necks.
 They eat a variety of foods including: plants, seeds, leaves, insects, lizards,
worms, and rodents.
 Many of the species in this order have been domesticated, others are hunted
as game birds.
 Families:
 Cracidae (curassows, guans)
 Megapodiidae (brush-turkeys)
 Numididae (guineafowl)
 Odontophoridae (quails, bobwhites)
 Phasianidae (pheasants, turkeys)

Examples of Galliformes
Crested Guan Australian Brush-turkey
Helmeted
Guineafowl

Opisthocomiformes (Hoatzin)
 The young possess two large claws on each wing which
are shed during growth.
 It is a primitive chicken-sized bird of South American
swamps.
 It is the only bird with a digestive system that ferments
vegetation as a cow does.
 They feed on swamp plants, grinding foliage in a greatly
enlarged crop (not the gizzard, as in other birds).

The Hoatzin

Passeriformes
 songbirds or perching birds, usually smallish birds, more
than half of all bird species are in this order
 the largest and most unique family of birds
 containing more than half of all species
 have three toes that point forward and one toe that
points backward
Suborders:
Tyranni (suboscines), Passeri (oscines), and the basal Acanthisitti

Examples of Passeriformes
sparrow
drongo
crow

Pelicaniformes
 water birds that feed on marine life, webbed feet, some have a large throat pouch
 they are some of the most easily recognized birds in the world
 The feathers of the birds in this order are not very colorful
 The birds in this group also have air sacs under the skin that help cushion them when they plunge
into the water.
Families:
Fregatidae (frigatebirds)
Sulidae (gannets and boobies)
Phalacrocoracidae (cormorants and shags)
Anhingidae (darters)
Phaethontidae (tropicbirds)

Examples of Pelicaniformes
pelican
cormorant
frigate bird

Phoenicopteriformes
 long-legged, long-necked filter-feeding waders
 have oval-shaped bodies with pink or crimson-red
feathers covering their bodies
 have exceptionally long legs and necks, and their large
bills curve downward in the middle

Phoenicopteriformes(flamingoes)

Piciformes
 Mainly tree-dwelling
 Has special feature called zygodactylous feet, which have two toes in front and two toes behind
 They almost always contain combinations of black and white with accents of red and yellow
 They are small- to medium-sized birds
 Suborder Galbuli
 Family Galbulidae – jacamars (18 species)
 Family Bucconidae – puffbirds, nunbirds and nunlets (some 30 species)
 Suborder Pici
 Unresolved and basal taxa (all fossil)
 Genus Rupelramphastoides (Early Oligocene of Frauenweiler, Germany)
 Genus Capitonides (Early – Middle Miocene of Europe)
 Pici gen. et sp. indet. (Middle Miocene of Grive-Saint-Alban, France)[7]
 Family Miopiconidae (fossil)
 Family Picavidae (fossil)

Examples of Piciformes
woodpecker toucan

Procellariiformes
 tubenoses, most feed in the open sea, nostrils in tubes, nasal gland to
secrete excess salt, long narrow wings, webbed feet
 They are colonial, mostly nesting on remote, predator-free islands
 Procellariiformes have had a long relationship with humans
 They have been important food sources for many people, and continue to
be hunted as such in some parts of the world
Families:
albatrosses
petrels and shearwaters
storm petrels
diving petrels

Examples of Procellariiformes
petrel albatross

Psittaciformes
 mostly tropical and subtropical, strong curved bill, upright stance,
strong clawed feet, often bright or vivid colours
 Have a strong, hooked beak (maxilla) which has a hinge-like flexible
attachment to the skull
 Occur mainly in tropical and subtropical regions although a few
species inhabit temperate regions in the Southern Hemisphere
Families:
Psittacoidea ("true" parrots)
Cacatuoidea (cockatoos)
Strigopoidea (New Zealand parrots)

Examples of Psittaciformes
macaw
cockatoo
parakeet

Sphenisciformes
 aquatic flightless birds found in the southern hemisphere
only as far the equator
 have stiff wings and distinct coloration (black or gray
feathers on their backs and white feathers on their
bellies)
 Their wing bones are fused to form flipper-like limbs and
enable the birds to dive and swim with great skill

Sphenisciformes (Penguins)

Strigiformes
 sharp hooked beak, strong legs and feet with strong claws, large forward-
facing eyes in a characteristic and obvious circle of feathers, binocular
vision, the eyes can't move in the socket so the whole head moves
 medium to large birds with strong talons, a downward-curved bill, acute
hearing and keen eyesight
 Their eyes are large, enabling them to gather ample light under dim
conditions
Families:
true owls, Strigidae
barn-owls, Tytonidae

Strigiformes (Owls)

Struthioniformes
 ratites, large flightless birds, no "keel" on the breastbone
(sternum) which is used in other birds attach their flight
muscles
 weak-flying, partridge-like birds and giant
 They are all primarily herbivorous to omnivorous

Examples of Struthioniformes
emu
ostrich
kiwi