What are birds?

What Are Birds? a discussion of birds, by carly ho

But really, what is a bird?

Generally, a bird: ○ Has a beak ○ Reproduces by laying hard

shelled eggs ○ Has feathers ○ Is warm

blooded and has a spine ○ Has a four

chambered heart ○ Has pretty light bones

Things some birds do, but not all: ○ Talk ○ Use tools ○ Fly ○ Pass on knowledge across generations ○ Migrate

Birds are incredibly diverse

A selection of intriguing birds

Nightjars

Facts about the nightjar ○ Might be a cryptid

an old myth says they suck the milk from goats ○ So good at hiding that some species have only been seen literally once ○ Some of them can hibernate for weeks or months ○ Fancy wings ○ A close relative is the potoo

some nightjars males get these sweet wing decs during breeding season

(a potoo)

Pigeons

Facts about pigeons ○ Technically city

dwelling wild pigeons are called "feral pigeons" ○ Domesticated bird species, which means they are actually pretty good pets ○ Have served honorably in past wars, e.g., the highly

decorated Cher Ami

More facts about pigeons ○ They're some of the more intelligent birds ○ There are so many kinds of pigeons I could probably do a whole talk on just pigeons ○ While we consider city pigeons overabundant, passenger pigeons went extinct after being v numerous ○ Many species of pigeon are extinct in the wild

Polynesian ground dove (left), soccorro dove (right)

Parrotlets

Facts about parrotlets ○ The smallest new world parrot species ○ They form life

long pair bonds with mates and do the same with people in captivity sometimes ○ Parrots of any size (parrotlets included) have v powerful beaks and are not to be messed with ○ They can potentially live 20

30 years ○ They think glasses are a jungle gym

tumblr user flock

talk and the best encapsulation of parrotlet personalities possible

or: birding Let's look at a bird

What is birding? ○ Birding, or birdwatching, is going out and looking for birds for fun! ○ Birders try and view interesting birds, and/or identify them by sound, since types of birds have unique calls ○ There are many organizations dedicated to helping people appreciate birds in their community by birding

Birding resources In Chicago: chicagobirder.org American Birding Association: aba.org The Audubon Society: audubon.org/birding You'll probably want a field guide for IDing birds and some binoculars!

Help a bird! or: conservation

Bird conservation matters The biggest threats to bird populations are often generated by human populations. ○ Hunting, pre

Migratory Bird Treaty Act ○ Unsupervised outdoor cats ○ Window collisions ○ Congress

What you can do! ○ Go to audubon.org/takeaction ○ Find a local wildlife rescue to volunteer with ○ Keep any outdoor pets supervised ○ If you want a pet bird, consider adopting! ○ Help efforts to lobby for bird

safe windows in new buildings ○ Get involved in birding to learn more about birds!

this has been a discussion of birds @carlymho