Birds are a subclass of vertebrates in taxonomy.

The main characteristics of birds are: their bodies are streamlined, and most of them live by flying. The body surface is covered with feathers, and the forelimbs generally become wings (some kinds of wings degenerate); The pectoral muscles are developed; Short rectum, large appetite and fast digestion, that is, the digestive system is developed, which helps to lose weight; The heart has two atria and two ventricles, and its heartbeat is fast. The body temperature is constant. In addition to the lungs, the respiratory organs also have airbags protruding from the lung wall to help the lungs breathe twice. When laying eggs, the body temperature is high, usually 42℃. There is a well-developed keel process on the sternum of birds, and the bones are hollow and inflated, which is the skeletal structural feature of birds to adapt to flying life.

Birds are bipedal, constant-temperature, egg-laying vertebrates, covered with feathers. Birds' feathers are divided into normal feathers (mainly used for flying) and down feathers (mainly used for keeping warm). The forelimbs evolved into wings with hard beaks (bird mouths). Birds vary in size, from tiny hummingbirds to giant ostriches and emus (a big flightless bird from Australia).

There are many kinds of birds, which are distributed all over the world and have diverse ecology. Now birds can be divided into three major families. Flat-chested suborder includes a bird that is good at walking but can't fly, such as ostrich. Penguins include a class of birds that are good at swimming and diving but can't fly, such as penguins. The order Convex Chest includes birds with developed wings that can fly, and most birds belong to this order.

Most birds can fly, but a few flat-breasted birds can't, especially the birds living on the island, which have basically lost their ability to fly. Birds that can't fly include penguins, ostriches, kiwis (a wingless bird from New Zealand) and extinct dodos. When humans or other mammals invade their habitats, these flightless birds will be more likely to become extinct, such as the fear birds in great auk and New Zealand.

There are many kinds of birds, second only to fish among vertebrates. At present, there are more than 9,000 known species of birds in the world, among which there are more than 1300 recorded in China alone, and many of them are endemic to China (see the list of endemic birds in China). About 120~ 130 species of birds have become extinct. Compared with other terrestrial vertebrates, birds have many unique physiological characteristics. These birds are quite different in size, shape, color and living habits. Among so many birds, the largest is the ostrich, which is the "giant" among birds. The African ostrich is 2.75 meters tall and weighs up to 165.5 kg. The smallest hummingbird in South America is only 50 mm long and weighs the same as a coin. Birds can fly, but not all birds can fly. For example, the ostrich's wings have degenerated, its sternum is small and flat, and there is no keel protrusion, so it can't fly. Penguins are specialized seabirds, whose wings have become fins and lost the ability to fly. Although some birds can fly, they don't fly very far. For example, a chicken has short wings and can't fly high, but it can fly at least tens of meters. However, domestic ducks have completely lost the ability to fly. Among the birds, the vulture flies the highest, which can fly over 9000 meters. The fastest flight is the goshawk, and the fastest speed of short-distance flight can reach more than 600 kilometers per hour. The longest flight distance is tern, which can fly from the South Pole to the far North Pole, with a journey of about 1.76 thousand kilometers. Birds have strong metabolism and digestion, so they eat more. Hummingbirds, for example, consume twice their body weight in a day. Some birds eat 10% ~ 30% of their body weight every day. Most birds are omnivorous and not very picky. Every spring and autumn, birds fly in groups in the sky, covering the sun. This seasonal phenomenon of changing habitats in different seasons, or moving from nesting sites to wintering sites, or returning from wintering sites to nesting sites is called bird migration. Every spring, birds begin a series of activities, such as courtship, reproduction, nesting, hatching and brooding.

Birds eat all kinds of food, including nectar, seeds, insects, fish, carrion or other birds. Most birds move during the day, and some birds (such as owls) move at night or at dusk. Many birds migrate long distances to find the best habitat (such as Arctic terns), and some birds spend most of their time at sea (such as albatrosses). Birds feed on beaks, which are generally long and narrow and have no teeth in their mouths.

Birds (4 14 BC) is also one of aristophanes's representative works, and it is the only existing comedy with the theme of myth and fantasy. In the play, two Athenians and a flock of birds set up a "country of birds in the clouds" between heaven and earth. This country is an ideal society, there is no distinction between rich and poor, there is no exploitation, and labor is the only condition for survival. This comedy satirizes the parasitic life in Athens and is the earliest work describing the ideal society in the history of European literature. As far as artistry is concerned, Birds is undoubtedly aristophanes's best work. The plot in the play is rich and colorful, and the birds played by the chorus go in and out of the forest with colorful colors. The whole play is full of fantasy and lyrical atmosphere. Among aristophanes's plays, this comedy has the most complete structure.

In nature, birds are the most beautiful in appearance and pleasant in sound among all vertebrates, and are deeply loved by people. From the poles of ice and snow, to the roof of the world, from the rough sea to the dense jungle, from the barren desert to the densely populated cities, almost all birds are found. Birds are a kind of higher vertebrates adapted to flying in the air, which evolved from a branch of reptiles.

Many birds will form a "V" shape during migration. This is because the distance in bird migration is very long, and the physical consumption is particularly high. The "V" formation helps birds to save energy during long-distance travel. Birds will have a "slipstream" during flight, and the bird following the first bird will reduce its body consumption if it is in the "slipstream". If the leading bird is tired, a bird behind it will automatically take its place, so few birds fall behind because of lack of physical strength during migration.

The most birds in the world

The fastest bird: ostrich, with an average speed of 72 kilometers per hour.

The fastest bird to swim: the Papua penguin, averaging 27.4 kilometers per hour.

The smallest bird and the smallest bird's egg: Many people know that hummingbirds are the smallest birds in the world, but this statement is not very accurate, because there are about 365,438+05 species of hummingbirds in the world, which are distributed from Alaska in North America to strait of magellan in South America and many islands in the middle. Their bodies are also very different. The largest hummingbird is 2 1.5 cm long, but it can't be said to be the smallest bird in the world. The African wheat grain bird is only 5.6 cm long, of which the beak and tail account for about half, and the weight is only about 2 grams, which is about the size of insects such as bees. This hummingbird is the smallest bird in the world, and its egg is also the smallest bird's egg in the world, not much bigger than a full stop. Hummingbirds' feathers are mostly bright and metallic. Their flying skills are superb, they can fly upside down, take off and land vertically, and their wings vibrate very fast, up to 50 ~ 70 times per second, so they are called "God Birds", "Comets", "Goddess of the Forest" and "Corolla". In recent years, many places in China have claimed to have found hummingbirds, but they are all misinformed.

The largest bird: The largest bird in the world is the African ostrich that lives in Africa and Arabia. He is 2-3 meters tall and weighs about 56 kilograms, with a maximum weight of 75 kilograms. But it can't fly. Its egg weight is about 1.5 kg and its length is about 17.8 cm, which is equal to the total weight of 30~40 eggs. It is the largest bird egg at present.

Bird with the widest wingspan: wandering albatross, 3.63 meters.

The largest bird: Cory bird, which lives in southeast Africa, has a wing length of 2.56 meters and weighs about 18 kg, making it the heaviest bird in the world.

The heaviest bird: Great bustard, male weight 18kg.

The smallest raptor: Borneo Falcon, with a body length of 150 cm and a weight of 35 grams.

Birds with the most feathers: swans, more than 25,000.

Birds with the least feathers: hummingbirds, less than 1000.

The bird with the longest feathers: Rhododendron paradise, whose tail feathers are more than twice as long.

Longest-lived bird: There are many long-lived birds. For example, the average life span of large seabird albatross is 50-60 years old, and large parrot can live to about 100 years old. There is an Amazon parrot named Jamie in Liverpool, England. Born in1870,65438+February 3rd, died in 1975,165438+1October 5th, at the age of 104. It is worthy of being the "longevity star" among birds.

Wang Albatross, the longest-lived ringed seabird, lived for more than 60 years.

The longest-lived caged bird: cockatoo sunflower, over 80 years old.

Fastest bird: Swift with a pointed tail usually flies at a speed of 170km/h, and the fastest can reach 352.5km/h, so it can be called the fastest bird.

The fastest sprinting bird: peregrine falcon, which can reach 180 km/h when diving to catch prey.

The slowest bird: woodchuck, 8 km/h.

The bird with the highest flapping frequency: horned hummingbird, 90 times/second.

The slowest flapping bird: vultures glide for hours without flapping their wings.

The bird with the longest flight time: the golden pheasant of North America, flew for 35 hours at a speed of 90 km/h and crossed the sea surface of more than 2,000 km.

The highest flying bird: Swan and alpine vulture are the highest flying birds. They can both fly over Mount Everest, the roof of the world, flying over 9000 meters, or they may hit a steep ice cliff and die.

The farthest bird: Arctic tern is the farthest bird. It is a medium-sized bird, used to living in the daytime, so it is called "daytime bird". When night falls in the Antarctic, it flies to the distant North Pole. Because the day and night in the North and South poles are just the opposite, and the North Pole is the day. Every June, he gave birth to a child in the North Pole. In August, he led the child to migrate to the south, flew over the earth, arrived near the South Pole in June+February, 5438, stayed until the beginning of March of the following year, and then went north again. Arctic terns travel back and forth between the poles every year, flying over 40 thousand kilometers. Because it always lives in a place where the sun never sets, people also call it a "daytime bird".

The fiercest bird: the vulture in the Andes, which lives between the cliffs of the Andes in South America, can reach 1.2 meters in length and spread its wings up to 3 meters. It has a strong and curved "iron mouth" and sharp claws, and specializes in eating live animals, not only small and medium-sized animals such as deer, sheep and rabbits, but also large mammals such as cougars, so it is also called "the bird that eats lions" and "the king of birds".

Bird with the longest tail feather: Japanese long-tailed chicken bred by artificial hybridization, the tail feather length is amazing, generally 6-7 meters, and the longest record is1one bred in 974, which is 12.5 meters. If it stands on a four-story balcony, its tail feather can be dragged to the bottom, so it is also the longest bird feather in the world.

Birds with the biggest difference between male and female weight: Great bustard living in the northern part of Eurasia has the biggest difference between male and female weight. The male body weight is 1 1 ~ 12 kg, while the female body weight is only 5 ~ 6 kg.

Birds with the longest beak peak: Toucans living in South America are the birds with the longest beak peak, and its beak peak length is about 1 meter, which is very strange.

Longest beak: Australian pelican, 47 cm long.

The widest beak: the whalebone, with a width of 12 cm.

Bird who learned the most words: african grey parrot, who learned more than 800 words.

The best bird to sing: wetland reed warbler, imitating more than 60 kinds of birds.

The most complex nest: the nest of the African weaver bird, which is also the largest male nest with more than 300 nests.

The largest bird's nest: the vulture's nest, 6 meters long and 2.9 meters wide.

The smallest nest: the hummingbird's nest, only the size of a thimble.

Birds that lay the fewest eggs: Albatrosses only lay one egg every year, which is the bird that lays the fewest eggs.

Birds that lay the most eggs: grey partridge (a kind of chicken), each nest 15 ~ 19.

Birds with the longest incubation period: Albatrosses are also birds with the longest incubation period, which usually takes 75 ~ 82 days.

Birds with the latest sexual maturity: albatross chicks also have the longest sexual maturity process among birds, which takes 9 ~ 12 years.

The largest bird egg fossil:1Before the middle of the 7th century, there was an elephant bird in life in south, Madagascar, which is now extinct. The fossil egg of elephant bird is 35.6 cm long, which is equivalent to the size of 148 eggs. This is by far the largest bird egg fossil found in the world.

The largest bird fossil: The largest bird fossil is a dinosaur, estimated to be 5 meters high. It first lived in Madagascar and became extinct in the 7th century.

The origin of birds

The research on the origin of birds has gone through several stages.

1868, Huxley put forward the hypothesis that birds originated from dinosaurs. Huxley is a famous British biologist and a staunch supporter of Darwin's theory of evolution. At the same time, he was also the first scholar to put forward the theory that birds originated from dinosaurs.

1927, Danish paleontologist Hailmann published a very classic book "The Origin of Birds" in his 1927, in which he pointed out that although birds and dinosaurs are very similar, dinosaurs have been very specialized, so birds may not have originated directly from dinosaurs, but have a * * * ancestor with dinosaurs, that is, teeth. The so-called Serrat is a more primitive fossil group than dinosaurs. This group is considered as a large group, which has produced some major modern vertebrates, such as dinosaurs, birds and crocodiles. It may have appeared earlier than Jurassic and Cretaceous in Triassic. This theory has been popular for about half a century since it was put forward.

From 1973 to 1985, the theory of dinosaur origin revived again. When studying vertebrate fossils, scholars found that a fossil identified as pterosaur had feathers, and then another archaeopteryx fossil was discovered. This accidental discovery made scholars associate the relationship between birds and dinosaurs. Since 1986, the theory of dinosaur origin has been prevailing, and more and more fossil evidence supports this hypothesis.

Restoration of sauropod dinosaurs: hairy dinosaurs from China. For example, sauropods are the first dinosaur fossils with truly bifurcated feathers. The discovery of this fossil has caused a great sensation in the field of paleontology in the world, and it is considered as the most important and latest evidence of the theory that birds originated from dinosaurs. Some scholars even suggested that dinosaurs were not extinct, and all the living birds we saw were dinosaurs. Hummingbirds living in South America naturally became the smallest dinosaurs.

The origin of birds is a complicated problem. When more evidence is found, there may be other explanations (it is generally believed that the Chinese dragon bird is the earliest ancestor of birds).

[Edit this paragraph] Diseases of birds and humans

Bird diseases that can be transmitted to humans include psittacosis, salmonella, campylobacter, Newcastle disease, mycobacterial disease (avian tuberculosis), avian influenza, Giardia and cryptosporidiosis. bird

1, Ling Boxian-Stray Birds

Birds are good at flying, diving and foraging in water, but they are not good at walking. There are more than 70 species of migratory birds, mostly distributed in Jianghan Lake Group such as Honghu Lake, Shenhu Lake, Longgan Lake and Liangzi Lake, which are winter migratory birds. The famous "Honghu wild ducks and geese" belong to this category.

2, the god of wetlands-wading birds

Wetland is the richest natural environment on the earth, including aquatic insects, mollusks, crustaceans, fish, shrimps, frogs and other animals and plants, which provide abundant food for wading birds, and those lush aquatic plants provide good hiding places for wading birds. Most wading birds have the characteristics of long mouth, long neck and long legs. The water ecological environment is more suitable for wading birds. In recent years, the number of wading birds has greatly increased and their distribution has become wider and wider. There are common egrets.

3. Eagle in the air-Raptor

Raptors have powerful wings, sharp curved mouths, claws and keen eyes. They can rise and fall quickly, silently and freely, and hunt prey accurately. There are 5 1 species of raptors, including golden eagle, white-tailed sea eagle and kestrel.

4. Climbing champion-Climbing bird

The climbing ability of a bird is well-deserved. With strong toes and tight tail feathers, they can firmly attach themselves to the trunk. Among the climbing birds, there are many insect-eating birds, such as woodpeckers, cuckoos and nighthawks.

5. Race walkers-land birds

Terrestrial birds have thick legs and feet, dull claws suitable for digging, strong physique, hard mouth, short and round wings and are not good at flying far. There are obvious differences between male and female feathers, and males are generally more gorgeous. During the breeding period, there are often one male and many females, and there are fierce courtship behaviors and complex courtship performances among males. Such as white-crowned long-tailed pheasant, red-bellied golden pheasant, white-necked long-tailed pheasant and so on. Land birds are divided into quail chickens and pigeons.

6. The uncrowned king-songbirds

In the bird kingdom, songbirds are a large group with great vitality and color. There are the most kinds of songbirds, and most of them feed on insects. They are natural enemies of agricultural and forestry pests, such as grey magpie, magpie and oriole. Songbirds are light in posture, bright in feathers and euphemistic in singing, which can be appreciated.

"Novice" is still used to describe a beginner who is doing something.

[Edit this paragraph] Bird species in China

There are about 156 families and more than 9,000 species of birds in the world. China has 8 1 family (accounting for 5 1.9%) and186 species, accounting for 13% of the total number of birds in the world, surpassing India, Europe and North America, which is one of the countries with the largest number of birds in the world. There are 56 species of wild pheasants in China, accounting for about 0/5 of the world's pheasants. There are 15 species of cranes in the world, and there are 8 species in China, accounting for about 53% of the world total; There are 46 species of thrush in the world, and 34 species in China, accounting for 74% of the world total.

There are not only many kinds of birds in China, but also many precious specialties. For example, Yuanyang and love birds with gorgeous feathers, Brown Pheasant in Shanxi and Hebei, Blue Pheasant in Gansu and Sichuan, Golden Pheasant in Southwest China, Black-tailed Pheasant and Blue-bellied Pheasant in Taiwan Province Province, Long-tailed Pheasant in Central China, White-necked Pheasant, Yellow-bellied Pheasant and Green-tailed Pheasant in Southeast China. Many birds, not native to China, are mainly produced in China, such as red-crowned cranes and black-necked cranes.

I. Northeast China

It produces loons, grouse, woodfinches, rock wrens, wrens and peaceful birds. Among them, the grouse family has the greatest economic value. Partridges and pheasants are also very prosperous, and they are also the habitat of many migratory birds.

Second, North China.

Brown pheasant, long-tailed pheasant, stone pheasant, etc. Flat-billed puffins breed in the eastern coastal areas. There are also some species widely distributed in Palaearctic realm, such as rock snipe, lark, wren, mountain crow, bouquet and so on. In summer, many southern birds will move to their nests to breed their offspring, such as water pheasants, mountain pepper birds, capuchins, orioles and embroidered birds.

Third, Meng Xin District.

Birds produced in this area adapt to desert life, mainly including bustard, pheasant, sand lark, sand peng, sand finch and so on. Red-crowned cranes breed in the marshes in the eastern part of this area.

Four. Tibetan area

There are alpine species such as snow chicken, snow quail, plateau partridge, Tibetan finch, high tit and vulture in this area, as well as plateau grassland species such as Tibetan sand chicken, sand lark and snow finch. Snow finches inhabit pikas' caves, just like Shapeng in Meng Xin and Daour Citellus "share their caves with birds and mice", which is a special adaptation phenomenon.

Verb (abbreviation of verb) Southwest China.

In this area, Thrushsubfamily and Pheasant are dominant in species and quantity, and there are many endemic species. There are also many northern birds entering this area along the Hengduan Mountains, such as hawksbill, spiny finch, swallow, long-tailed finch and so on. There are also southern birds in this area, such as snipes, sunbirds, pecking flowers and birds, etc.

Intransitive verb central China

This belt has varieties produced in the north, such as grey magpie, white-headed snipe, crawling sparrow and so on. There are many kinds in the south, if necessary? Many genera and species in the family, such as mountain pepper birds, thrush, pecking flowers and birds. The only specialties are golden pheasant, golden pheasant with yellow belly, golden pheasant with red belly, kestrel, white-necked pheasant and so on.

Seven, South China

Birds are very abundant in this area. In addition to many famous families in Central China, there are parrots, grasshoppers, hornbills, cuckoos, broad-billed birds, eight-colored thrushes, peaceful birds, sunbirds and so on. In addition, there are other tropical species, such as pheasant, green peacock, Ye Ying and so on. There are also some species endemic to Taiwan Province Province, such as blue thrush and fire crown daisy. Baby boomers breed in groups in Xisha Islands.

[Edit this paragraph] Does the bird sleep or not?

Of course, birds need to sleep, not only sleeping, but some birds still sleep on one foot. What is even more surprising is that people seem to be able to hypnotize birds and let them sleep as they please. As long as a blanket is put on the cage to create a small environment at night, the birds will soon fall asleep. The most interesting thing is that Swift can sleep like this when flying. However, seabirds involved in poultry sleep not according to the rising and falling law of the sun, but according to the tidal rhythm.

[Edit this paragraph] Why do birds fly?

First of all, birds have light and warm feathers outside their bodies. Feathers can not only keep warm, but also streamline the bird's shape, which has little resistance in air movement and is beneficial to flying. When flying, the wings keep flapping up and down, and the black beans drive the airflow, which will produce great downward pressure resistance and make the bird fly forward quickly.

Secondly, the bones of birds are thin and light, and they are hollow and full of air. By dissecting the bones of birds, we can also see that the skull of birds is a complete bone fragment, and the bones and vertebrae of different parts of the body are also healed together, and there are hooked protrusions on the ribs, which are hooked together to form a strong chest. This unique bird bone structure reduces the weight and strengthens the ability to support flight.

Third, the pectoral muscles of birds are very developed and have a unique respiratory system, which is suitable for flying life. The bird's lungs are solid spongy and have nine thin-walled airbags. In the morning of flight, after birds inhale air through their nostrils, part of it is used to exchange carbon and oxygen directly in the lungs, and the other part is stored in the air and then discharged through the lungs, so that birds can inhale once and the lungs can exchange gas twice when flying. this is

In addition, I think that in birds, the structures of bones, digestive organs, excretory organs and reproductive organs tend to lose weight and enhance their flying ability, so that birds can overcome the gravity of the earth and fly very high.

Birds' wings are the first condition for them to have flying skills. Under the same conditions with wings, some birds can fly very high, fast and far; Some birds can only hover, glide, or even fly at all. Visible, just wings, there is a lot of learning.

The complexity of bird wing structure is no less than that of bird itself. If the feather structure of birds' wings can skillfully use aerodynamic principles, when they are fanned up and down or lifted up and down, they can use the principle of reaction to push the air forward; Feather structure is reasonable, which can effectively reduce the air resistance encountered in flight, and some can also eliminate vibration and noise. There are great differences in the wings of different kinds of birds, so that just the differences in wings have created many excellent and ordinary "pilots"

Some national second-class protected animals, male weight 14 kg or more, body length 120 cm, wingspan 240 cm.

For another example, the frigate bird with a wingspan of 2.3 meters usually flies in the coastal 160 km sea area and is a first-class protected animal in China.

After reading the previous content, some people may ask, can you fly by wings alone? No, it is their special bones that send birds into the blue sky. Bird bone is an excellent "lightweight material", which is hollow and light. According to analysis, bird bones only account for 5% ~ 6% of bird weight; The human skeleton accounts for 18% of the body weight. Because the bones are light, the wings are very easy to drive, and there are many airbags connecting the lungs in the bird, which is very beneficial to lose weight and increase buoyancy.

These superior conditions undoubtedly give birds the skills to fly and enable them to display their skills in another living space. However, I think there may be other reasons why birds can fly in the blue sky, but humans have not discovered it yet.

From the understanding of birds' abilities, it can be seen that exploring birds' abilities will help mankind to open up new fields.