59-629: A kinglet is a small bird in the family Regulidae . Species in this family were formerly classified with the Old World warblers . "Regulidae" is derived from the Latin word regulus for "petty king" or prince, and refers to the coloured crowns of adult birds. This family has representatives in North America and Eurasia . There are six species in this family; one, the Madeira firecrest , Regulus madeirensis ,
118-459: A mixed-species foraging flock . It has been shown that individual birds feeding in flocks are able to spend more time looking for food and less time looking for predators. On the other hand, it is not a universal trait of gleaning birds to join with other species or even to be gregarious with their own kind. The leafbirds of Asia are foliage-gleaners, but are often found singly or in pairs. Also, where multiple species of gleaning birds forage in
177-698: A better sense of smell. A third stage of bird evolution starting with Ornithothoraces (the "bird-chested" avialans) can be associated with the refining of aerodynamics and flight capabilities, and the loss or co-ossification of several skeletal features. Particularly significant are the development of an enlarged, keeled sternum and the alula , and the loss of grasping hands. † Anchiornis † Archaeopteryx † Xiaotingia † Rahonavis † Jeholornis † Jixiangornis † Balaur † Zhongjianornis † Sapeornis † Confuciusornithiformes † Protopteryx † Pengornis Ornithothoraces † Enantiornithes Gleaning (birds) Gleaning
236-473: A definition similar to "all theropods closer to birds than to Deinonychus ", with Troodon being sometimes added as a second external specifier in case it is closer to birds than to Deinonychus . Avialae is also occasionally defined as an apomorphy-based clade (that is, one based on physical characteristics). Jacques Gauthier , who named Avialae in 1986, re-defined it in 2001 as all dinosaurs that possessed feathered wings used in flapping flight , and
295-442: A group called Paraves . Some basal members of Deinonychosauria, such as Microraptor , have features which may have enabled them to glide or fly. The most basal deinonychosaurs were very small. This evidence raises the possibility that the ancestor of all paravians may have been arboreal , have been able to glide, or both. Unlike Archaeopteryx and the non-avialan feathered dinosaurs, who primarily ate meat, studies suggest that
354-416: A habitat is associated with behaviors and morphological adaptations (physical traits of size and shape). Tiny birds are lightweight enough to hang onto the ends of twigs and pluck small prey; the goldcrest of Europe and its counterpart the golden-crowned kinglet of North America exhibit this feeding style. The related common firecrest is very similar in size and shape, but slightly bulkier, and has less of
413-439: A high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart , and a strong yet lightweight skeleton . Birds live worldwide and range in size from the 5.5 cm (2.2 in) bee hummingbird to the 2.8 m (9 ft 2 in) common ostrich . There are over 11,000 living species and they are split into 44 orders . More than half are passerine or "perching" birds. Birds have wings whose development varies according to species;
472-442: A long hind toe and claw for clinging vertically. The two generalists, ruby-crowned kinglet and common firecrest, hunt more in flight and have smoother soles, shorter hind claws and a longer tail. The kinglets are a small group of birds sometimes included in the Old World warblers but frequently given family status, especially as recent research showed that, despite superficial similarities, the crests are phylogenetically remote from
531-445: A preference for gleaning in tangles of vines. The ash-browed spinetail of South America specializes in gleaning among epiphytes on moss-covered tree branches. Many hummingbirds take small insects from flowers while probing for nectar, and some species glean actively among bark and leaves. The Puerto Rican emerald is one such hummingbird. Found only on the island of Puerto Rico , the female subsists on insects and spiders, while
590-406: A sister group, the order Crocodilia , contain the only living representatives of the reptile clade Archosauria . During the late 1990s, Aves was most commonly defined phylogenetically as all descendants of the most recent common ancestor of modern birds and Archaeopteryx lithographica . However, an earlier definition proposed by Jacques Gauthier gained wide currency in the 21st century, and
649-414: A tendency to glean along twigs and more of a habit of flying from perch to perch. Having a very small bill seems to be good for taking tiny prey from the surfaces of leaves, and small-billed birds such as the blue tit forage in broad-leafed woodlands. The long-billed gnatwren and speckled spinetail of Central and South America , and the ashy tailorbird and striped tit-babbler of South Asia, show
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#1732870045338708-518: A third of their body weight in twenty minutes and may starve to death in an hour. Kinglets are insectivores, preferentially feeding on prey such as aphids and springtails that have soft cuticles. Prey is generally gleaned from the branches and leaves of trees, although in some circumstances prey may be taken on the wing or from the leaf litter on the ground. Kinglet nests are small, very neat cups, almost spherical in shape, made of moss and lichen held together with spiderwebs and hung from twigs near
767-717: A time, sometimes for years, and rarely for life. Other species have breeding systems that are polygynous (one male with many females) or, rarely, polyandrous (one female with many males). Birds produce offspring by laying eggs which are fertilised through sexual reproduction . They are usually laid in a nest and incubated by the parents. Most birds have an extended period of parental care after hatching. Many species of birds are economically important as food for human consumption and raw material in manufacturing, with domesticated and undomesticated birds being important sources of eggs, meat, and feathers. Songbirds , parrots, and other species are popular as pets. Guano (bird excrement)
826-433: Is a common feeding strategy for some groups of birds, including nuthatches , tits (including chickadees), wrens , woodcreepers , treecreepers , Old World flycatchers , Tyrant flycatchers , babblers , Old World warblers , New World warblers , Vireos and some hummingbirds and cuckoos . Many birds make use of multiple feeding strategies, depending on the availability of different sources of food and opportunities of
885-461: 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 ticks and lice, from living animals. This behavior is contrasted with hawking insects from the air or chasing after moving insects such as ants. Gleaning, in birds, does not refer to foraging for seeds or fruit. Gleaning
944-419: Is a highly visual activity, and as such has some implications for birds. First, to see requires light, and thus time allotted to gleaning is limited to daytime. Second, while a bird focuses on examining an area for prey items, it must necessarily divert its attention from scanning its surroundings for predators. Birds that glean in tree branches will often join together in a flock, and often with other gleaners in
1003-533: Is called ornithology . Birds are feathered theropod dinosaurs and constitute the only known living dinosaurs . Likewise, birds are considered reptiles in the modern cladistic sense of the term, and their closest living relatives are the crocodilians . Birds are descendants of the primitive avialans (whose members include Archaeopteryx ) which first appeared during the Late Jurassic . According to recent estimates, modern birds ( Neornithes ) evolved in
1062-588: Is characteristic of the bay-breasted warbler and many vireos . Another tactic is to hang upside-down from the tips of branches to glean the undersides of leaves. Tits such as the familiar black-capped chickadee are often observed feeding in this manner. Some birds, like the ruby-crowned kinglet and red-eyed vireo of North America use a combination of these tactics. Gleaning birds are typically small with compact bodies and have small, sharply pointed bills . These features are even seen in gleaning birds that are not closely related. For example, in flycatchers of
1121-511: Is found along mountain streams, where birds such as the Louisiana waterthrush of North America and the forktails of Asia pick over stream-side rocks and exposed roots for aquatic insects and other moisture-loving prey. Foraging for invertebrate prey on the ground often involves gleaning the leaf litter of the forest floor, sometimes flicking, flipping, or scratching through dead leaves. Birds can use their bills to flick or toss dead leaves from
1180-429: Is harvested for use as a fertiliser. Birds figure throughout human culture. About 120 to 130 species have become extinct due to human activity since the 17th century, and hundreds more before then. Human activity threatens about 1,200 bird species with extinction, though efforts are underway to protect them. Recreational birdwatching is an important part of the ecotourism industry. The first classification of birds
1239-503: Is not considered a direct ancestor of birds, though it is possibly closely related to the true ancestor. Over 40% of key traits found in modern birds evolved during the 60 million year transition from the earliest bird-line archosaurs to the first maniraptoromorphs , i.e. the first dinosaurs closer to living birds than to Tyrannosaurus rex . The loss of osteoderms otherwise common in archosaurs and acquisition of primitive feathers might have occurred early during this phase. After
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#17328700453381298-466: Is overall grey-green, offset by pale wingbars, and the tail tip is incised . Five species have a single stiff feather covering the nostrils, but in the ruby-crowned kinglet this is replaced by several short, stiff bristles. Most kinglets have distinctive head markings, and the males possess a colourful crown patch. In the females, the crown is duller and yellower. The long feathers forming the central crown stripe can be erected; they are inconspicuous most of
1357-516: Is synonymous to Avifilopluma. † Scansoriopterygidae † Eosinopteryx † Jinfengopteryx † Aurornis † Dromaeosauridae † Troodontidae Avialae Based on fossil and biological evidence, most scientists accept that birds are a specialised subgroup of theropod dinosaurs and, more specifically, members of Maniraptora , a group of theropods which includes dromaeosaurids and oviraptorosaurs , among others. As scientists have discovered more theropods closely related to birds,
1416-492: Is that of the oxpeckers of Africa . They perch on living animals and glean parasites from the animals' hides. On furry animals, such as buffalo , giraffe , and donkey , these birds run their bills through the fur of the animal, using a scissors-like motion to extract ticks and lice from near the skin. When they pull the insect out to the end of the fur, they catch it and eat it. (On animals with bare hides, such as rhinoceros and hippopotamus , oxpeckers pick at any open wounds
1475-530: Is used by many scientists including adherents to the PhyloCode . Gauthier defined Aves to include only the crown group of the set of modern birds. This was done by excluding most groups known only from fossils , and assigning them, instead, to the broader group Avialae, on the principle that a clade based on extant species should be limited to those extant species and their closest extinct relatives. Gauthier and de Queiroz identified four different definitions for
1534-613: The Bewick's wren and worm-eating warbler of North America have long bills well-suited for probing them, as do certain Asian babblers , such as the rusty-cheeked scimitar-babbler . In Central and South America, foliage-gleaners such as the red-faced spinetail and buff-throated foliage-gleaner are also examples of birds that glean clusters of dead leaves. Crevice-gleaning is a niche particular to dry and rocky habitats. Adaptations for crevice-gleaning are similar to that of bark-gleaning. Just as
1593-531: The Caribbean employ a distinct version of sally-gleaning. These small birds choose a perch within their lush forest and plantation habitats in the Greater Antilles , from which they scan the undersides of leaves above them. Upon spotting an insect or spider, they fly up in an arcing sally, pluck their prey item without stopping, and complete the arcing movement to land on a new perch. An unusual feeding strategy
1652-715: The Late Cretaceous and diversified dramatically around the time of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ago, which killed off the pterosaurs and all non- ornithuran dinosaurs. Many social species preserve knowledge across generations ( culture ). Birds are social, communicating with visual signals, calls, and songs , and participating in such behaviour as cooperative breeding and hunting, flocking , and mobbing of predators. The vast majority of bird species are socially (but not necessarily sexually) monogamous , usually for one breeding season at
1711-717: The Nearctic and Palearctic realms , with representatives in temperate North America, Europe and Asia, northernmost Africa, Macaronesia and the Himalayas . They are adapted to conifer forests, although there is a certain amount of adaptability and most species will use other habitats, particularly during migration. In Macaronesia, they are adapted to laurisilva and tree heaths . The tiny size and rapid metabolism of kinglets means that they must constantly forage in order to provide their energy needs. They will continue feeding even when nest building. Kinglets prevented from feeding may lose
1770-660: The Tiaojishan Formation of China, which has been dated to the late Jurassic period ( Oxfordian stage), about 160 million years ago. The avialan species from this time period include Anchiornis huxleyi , Xiaotingia zhengi , and Aurornis xui . The well-known probable early avialan, Archaeopteryx , dates from slightly later Jurassic rocks (about 155 million years old) from Germany . Many of these early avialans shared unusual anatomical features that may be ancestral to modern birds but were later lost during bird evolution. These features include enlarged claws on
1829-454: The jungle babbler of India . Some birds, such as hummingbirds , will use their wings to create a blast of air to roll leaves over. Other birds rake a foot through the leaf litter, like a chicken, for the same purpose. This has been observed in buttonquails . Some American sparrows , such as the green-tailed towhee , perform a double-scratch by raking both legs simultaneously through the leaf-litter. They then catch prey items dislodged by
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1888-404: The rufous-chested flycatcher and brown fulvetta are birds of the mid-storey forest, the yellow-breasted warbler gleans in the mid- to upper-storey, and the greater green leafbird specializes in the upper-storey forest. The Javan white-eye is a bird of coastal scrub and mangroves , while the related black-capped white-eye is restricted to montane forest . Further specialization within
1947-500: The Bewick's wren, as mentioned in the preceding paragraph, has a long bill suited for poking around in the small places of woods and gardens, another North American wren, the canyon wren , has an even longer bill, which allows it to probe crevices in rocky cliffs. It also has skeletal adaptations to aid it in reaching deep into small spaces. These same traits are useful for gleaning the sides of buildings, as well. Another kind of rocky habitat
2006-647: The animals happen to have, consuming blood and pus, and possibly keeping the wounds free of maggots.) Historically, rhinoceros and other large wild mammals have been among the favored hosts, but as the populations of large mammals in the African savanna have declined in modern times, the population and range of both red-billed and yellow-billed oxpecker have also changed, and now the birds will use donkeys and domestic cattle as hosts. There are other tactics. Dippers forage underwater in fast-moving streams. Common grackles have been observed to follow farmers’ plows to glean
2065-428: The appearance of Maniraptoromorpha, the next 40 million years marked a continuous reduction of body size and the accumulation of neotenic (juvenile-like) characteristics. Hypercarnivory became increasingly less common while braincases enlarged and forelimbs became longer. The integument evolved into complex, pennaceous feathers . The oldest known paravian (and probably the earliest avialan) fossils come from
2124-509: The birds that descended from them. Despite being currently one of the most widely used, the crown-group definition of Aves has been criticised by some researchers. Lee and Spencer (1997) argued that, contrary to what Gauthier defended, this definition would not increase the stability of the clade and the exact content of Aves will always be uncertain because any defined clade (either crown or not) will have few synapomorphies distinguishing it from its closest relatives. Their alternative definition
2183-570: The disturbance. Ground-foraging birds can be very hard for humans to observe, as they often occupy densely vegetated habitat, as in the case of the Bornean wren-babbler , which specializes in gleaning leaf litter in gullies in the forest of Southeast Asia. A feeding technique that is somewhere between gleaning and hawking is where a bird flies from a perch and takes prey off foliage; this is called "sally-gleaning". The pygmy tyrants of South America are tiny flycatchers that feed this way. The todies of
2242-665: The earliest members of Aves, is removed from this group, becoming a non-avian dinosaur instead. These proposals have been adopted by many researchers in the field of palaeontology and bird evolution , though the exact definitions applied have been inconsistent. Avialae, initially proposed to replace the traditional fossil content of Aves, is often used synonymously with the vernacular term "bird" by these researchers. † Coelurus † Ornitholestes † Ornithomimosauria † Alvarezsauridae † Oviraptorosauria Paraves Most researchers define Avialae as branch-based clade, though definitions vary. Many authors have used
2301-469: The eggs. A unique feature of kinglets is the "size hierarchy" among eggs, with early-laid eggs being smaller than later ones. Eggs hatch asynchronously after 15 to 17 days. The young stay in the nest for 19 to 24 days. After being fed, nestlings make their way down to the bottom of the nest, pushing their still-hungry siblings up to be fed in their turn (but also to be cold). Kinglets are the most fecund and shortest-living of all altricial birds, and probably
2360-461: The end of a high branch of a conifer. They are lined with hair and feathers, and a few feathers are placed over the opening. These characteristics provide good insulation against the cold environment. The female lays 7 to 12 eggs, which are white or pale buff, some having fine dark brown spots. Because the nest is small, they are stacked in layers. The female incubates; she pushes her legs (which are well supplied with blood vessels, hence warm) down among
2419-444: The family Tyrannidae , in which some member species are more adapted for hawking insects on the wing and others for gleaning, the gleaners have bills that resemble those of tits and warblers, unlike their larger-billed relatives. Also, some members of the woodpecker family, particularly piculets such as the rufous piculet of Southeast Asia, are similarly adapted for gleaning, with small, compact bodies and sharp bills, rather than
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2478-451: The first avialans were omnivores . The Late Jurassic Archaeopteryx is well known as one of the first transitional fossils to be found, and it provided support for the theory of evolution in the late 19th century. Archaeopteryx was the first fossil to display both clearly traditional reptilian characteristics—teeth, clawed fingers, and a long, lizard-like tail—as well as wings with flight feathers similar to those of modern birds. It
2537-455: The genus Regulus are similar in size and colour pattern. The exception is the ruby-crowned kinglet , the largest species, which has a strongly red crest and no black crown stripes. It has distinctive vocalisations, and is different enough from the Old World kinglets and the other American species, the golden-crowned kinglet, to be assigned to a separate genus, Corthylio . Kinglets are birds of
2596-458: The ground to reveal prey residing beneath. The leaftossers of Central and South America and the pittas and laughingthrushes of Asia do this. An example of a bird that employs flipping is the ovenbird , a species of North American wood-warbler. It deliberately turns over leaves on the ground to search for spiders, worms, and such underneath. In other parts of the world, similar leaf-flipping behavior has been observed in unrelated birds, such as
2655-407: The grubs exposed in the fresh soil. Similarly, on the island of Borneo, the Bornean ground-cuckoo will follow wild pigs and sun bears as they turn up soil while foraging in the forest. Brewer's blackbirds are often seen in parking lots, where they pick off dead insects from car grilles. Some hummingbirds are known to take prey items from spiderwebs. Gleaning, like other methods of foraging,
2714-409: The long, supportive tails and wedge-shaped bills more typical of woodpeckers. Birds such as the aforementioned piculet are specialized for gleaning the bark of trees, as are nuthatches, woodcreepers, and treecreepers. Most bark-gleaners work their way up tree trunks or along branches, though nuthatches are well known as the birds that can go the opposite direction, facing down and working their way down
2773-514: The male has a typical hummingbird diet of nectar. Hummingbirds and other gleaners are also sometimes attracted to the sap wells created by sapsuckers . Sapsuckers, which are in the woodpecker family, drill small holes in living tree branches to get the sap flowing. The sap and the insects it attracts are then consumed, and rufous hummingbirds have been observed to follow the movements of sapsuckers and take advantage of this food source. Clusters of dead leaves also often harbor invertebrate prey, and
2832-617: The moment. Foliage gleaning, the strategy of gleaning over the leaves and branches of trees and shrubs, can involve a variety of styles and maneuvers. Some birds, such as the common chiffchaff of Eurasia and the Wilson's warbler of North America , feed actively and appear energetic. Some will even hover in the air near a leaf or twig while gleaning from it; this behavior is called "hover-gleaning". Other birds are more methodical in their approach to gleaning, even seeming lethargic as they perch upon and deliberately pick over foliage. This behavior
2891-523: The only known groups without wings are the extinct moa and elephant birds . Wings, which are modified forelimbs , gave birds the ability to fly, although further evolution has led to the loss of flight in some birds , including ratites , penguins , and diverse endemic island species. The digestive and respiratory systems of birds are also uniquely adapted for flight. Some bird species of aquatic environments, particularly seabirds and some waterbirds , have further evolved for swimming. The study of birds
2950-402: The outermost half) can be seen in the evolution of maniraptoromorphs, and this process culminated in the appearance of the pygostyle , an ossification of fused tail vertebrae. In the late Cretaceous, about 100 million years ago, the ancestors of all modern birds evolved a more open pelvis, allowing them to lay larger eggs compared to body size. Around 95 million years ago, they evolved
3009-528: The previously clear distinction between non-birds and birds has become blurred. By the 2000s, discoveries in the Liaoning Province of northeast China, which demonstrated many small theropod feathered dinosaurs , contributed to this ambiguity. The consensus view in contemporary palaeontology is that the flying theropods, or avialans , are the closest relatives of the deinonychosaurs , which include dromaeosaurids and troodontids . Together, these form
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#17328700453383068-452: The same biological name "Aves", which is a problem. The authors proposed to reserve the term Aves only for the crown group consisting of the last common ancestor of all living birds and all of its descendants, which corresponds to meaning number 4 below. They assigned other names to the other groups. Lizards & snakes Turtles Crocodiles Birds Under the fourth definition Archaeopteryx , traditionally considered one of
3127-545: The second toe which may have been held clear of the ground in life, and long feathers or "hind wings" covering the hind limbs and feet, which may have been used in aerial maneuvering. Avialans diversified into a wide variety of forms during the Cretaceous period. Many groups retained primitive characteristics , such as clawed wings and teeth, though the latter were lost independently in a number of avialan groups, including modern birds (Aves). Increasingly stiff tails (especially
3186-407: The shortest-lived apart from a few smaller galliform species. Adult mortality for the goldcrest is estimated at over 80 percent per year and the maximum lifespan is only six years. Bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves ( Latin: [ˈaveːs] ), characterised by feathers , toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs,
3245-628: The time, but are used in courtship and territorial displays when the raised crest is very striking. There are two species of different genera in North America with largely overlapping distributions, and two in Eurasia that also have a considerable shared range. In each continent, one species (goldcrest in Eurasia and golden-crowned kinglet in North America) is a conifer specialist; these have deeply grooved pads on their feet for perching on conifer twigs and
3304-483: The trunk, as well. This requires strong legs and feet on the part of the nuthatch and piculet, while birds that face upwards tend to have stiff tail feathers to prop them up. Birds often specialize in a particular niche, such as a particular stratum of forest or type of vegetation. In South and Southeast Asia , for example, the mountain tailorbird is often found gleaning in thickets and stands of bamboo , Abbott's babbler gleans lower-storey foliage in lowland forest,
3363-428: The warblers. The name of the family derives from the Latin regulus , a diminutive of rex , "a king", and refer to the characteristic orange or yellow crests of adult kinglets (aside from the red crest of Corthylio ). The kinglets were allocated to the warbler genus Sylvia by English naturalist John Latham in 1790, but moved to their current genus by French zoologist Georges Cuvier in 1800. Most members of
3422-461: Was developed by Francis Willughby and John Ray in their 1676 volume Ornithologiae . Carl Linnaeus modified that work in 1758 to devise the taxonomic classification system currently in use. Birds are categorised as the biological class Aves in Linnaean taxonomy . Phylogenetic taxonomy places Aves in the clade Theropoda as an infraclass or a subclass, more recently a subclass. Aves and
3481-470: Was only recently split from common firecrest as a separate species. One species, the ruby-crowned kinglet , differs sufficiently in its voice and plumage to be afforded its own genus, Corthylio . Kinglets are among the smallest of all passerines , ranging in size from 8 to 11 cm (3 to 4.5 in) and weighing 6–8 g (0.21–0.28 oz); the sexes are the same size. They have medium-length wings and tails, and small needle-like bills . The plumage
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