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The family Threskiornithidae includes 36 species of large wading birds. The family has been traditionally classified into two subfamilies, the ibises and the spoonbills; however recent genetic studies have cast doubt on this arrangement, and have found the spoonbills to be nested within the Old World ibises, and the New World ibises as an early offshoot.
The face mask of the female is gray to black and is less defined than that of the male. Both sexes possess prominent raised crests and bright coral-colored beaks. The beak is cone-shaped and strong. [11] Young birds, both male and female, show coloring similar to the adult female until the fall, when they molt and grow adult feathers. [13]
External anatomy of a typical bird: 1 Beak, 2 Head, 3 Iris, 4 Pupil, 5 Mantle, 6 Lesser coverts, 7 Scapulars, 8 Coverts, 9 Tertials, 10 Rump, 11 Primaries, 12 Vent, 13 Thigh, 14 Tibio-tarsal articulation, 15 Tarsus, 16 Feet, 17 Tibia, 18 Belly, 19 Flanks, 20 Breast, 21 Throat, 22 Wattle, 23 Eyestripe Topography of a typical passerine.
Bird ringing is the term used in the UK and in some other parts of Europe, while the term bird banding is more often used in the U.S. and Australia. [49] bird strike The impact of a bird or birds with an airplane in flight. [50] body down The layer of small, fluffy down feathers that lie underneath the outer contour feathers on a bird's body. [51]
The scales of birds are composed of keratin, like beaks, claws, and spurs. They are found mainly on the toes and tarsi (lower leg of birds), usually up to the tibio-tarsal joint, but may be found further up the legs in some birds. In many of the eagles and owls, the legs are feathered down to (but not including) their toes.
In modern birds this is formed by feathers anchored to the first digit of the hand, but this digit appears to have been free of feathers and independent of the body of the wing in Confuciusornis. [9] According to Dieter Stefan Peters, to compensate for the lack of an alula, the third finger might have formed a separate winglet below the main ...
Most species of birds have external nares located somewhere on their beak. The nares are two holes—circular, oval or slit-like in shape—which lead to the nasal cavities within the bird's skull, and thus to the rest of the respiratory system. [10] (p375) In most bird species, the nares are located in the basal third of the upper mandible.
Passerines, the "song birds". This is the largest order of birds and contains more than half of all birds. Family Acanthisittidae. Genus Acanthisitta - rifleman; Genus Xenicus - New Zealand wrens; Family Acanthizidae - scrubwrens, thornbills, and gerygones Genus Acanthiza – thornbill; Genus Acanthornis – scrubtit; Genus Aethomyias ...