Birds of Canada Notes
1.
a. Ospreys and Great Horned Owls both have 3 front toes and 1 back toes with large, curved claws. Also, they both have a hooked beak. One difference is that the Great Horned owl has large, forward-looking eyes, making it ideal to hunt at night in forests. The osprey, on the other hand is ideal for catching fish near water during the day.
b. Both the purple martin and woodpecker have eyes on the side of their heads. However, the beaks and talons of these birds are different. A woodpecker would be more suited in an area full of trees that it can use its chisel-shaped beak for breaking into trees. A purple martin on the other hand would be more suited for a habitat where there are insects in the air to catch and eat using its short, pointed, trap-like beak.
c. The great blue heron and the common snipe both have spear-shaped beaks for spearing fish. However, the common snipe’s feet are suited more for perching on branches while the great blue heron’s feet are more suited for wading or walking on mud/sand.
2. These birds may not have needed wings for their survival, relying on running to survive instead.
3. Hollow bones give birds the ability to fly because if their bones were solid, they would be too heavy for flight.
4. Hummingbirds have wings that allow them to hover over flowers so it is easier for them to probe them for nectar.
5. Birds that have to occupy highly specific niches would have that much difficulty adapting to environmental change because environmental changes occur over time and adaptions in birds occur over time as well. As long as there isn’t a major environmental change from natural disasters, the birds should be safe.
6. Birds may require more than one habitat because if a certain predator is very common in one habitat, the bird will need another habitat to relocate to to avoid being killed.
7. Certain birds are endangered because in parts of the world, there are birds that have very successful adaptations that
a. Ospreys and Great Horned Owls both have 3 front toes and 1 back toes with large, curved claws. Also, they both have a hooked beak. One difference is that the Great Horned owl has large, forward-looking eyes, making it ideal to hunt at night in forests. The osprey, on the other hand is ideal for catching fish near water during the day.
b. Both the purple martin and woodpecker have eyes on the side of their heads. However, the beaks and talons of these birds are different. A woodpecker would be more suited in an area full of trees that it can use its chisel-shaped beak for breaking into trees. A purple martin on the other hand would be more suited for a habitat where there are insects in the air to catch and eat using its short, pointed, trap-like beak.
c. The great blue heron and the common snipe both have spear-shaped beaks for spearing fish. However, the common snipe’s feet are suited more for perching on branches while the great blue heron’s feet are more suited for wading or walking on mud/sand.
2. These birds may not have needed wings for their survival, relying on running to survive instead.
3. Hollow bones give birds the ability to fly because if their bones were solid, they would be too heavy for flight.
4. Hummingbirds have wings that allow them to hover over flowers so it is easier for them to probe them for nectar.
5. Birds that have to occupy highly specific niches would have that much difficulty adapting to environmental change because environmental changes occur over time and adaptions in birds occur over time as well. As long as there isn’t a major environmental change from natural disasters, the birds should be safe.
6. Birds may require more than one habitat because if a certain predator is very common in one habitat, the bird will need another habitat to relocate to to avoid being killed.
7. Certain birds are endangered because in parts of the world, there are birds that have very successful adaptations that