Irfanul Arifin 3425072027

Esti Syaria’ti 3425072029

Dita Monalisa 3425072033
Arini 3425072051
ORNITOLOGI
UNIVERSITAS NEGERI JAKARTA
 From anatomical, physiological, and
behavioral standpoints birds are
intimately tied to their environments.

 The interactions between birds and

their natural surroundings-the
physical and biological aspects of
their environment-constitute their
ecology
 Habitats and Niches
 As with all organism, the habitats of birds contain both
living and non-living components.
 The non-living or abiotic component consists of
sunlight, water, and soil. These, in turn, make posssible
the growth of green plants, which birds use either
directly or indirectly for food and cover or as a source
of nesting materials.
 Not only are plants important to birds as food items at
different trophic levels, but also because they produce
a certain overall “quality”. This quality can be
understood better if we examine each aspect of it
separately.
 The principal qualitative characteristics
of any habitat are stratification,
sociability, vitality, and periodicity.
 Stratification refers to the arrangement of organisms, especially
plants, in a particular habitat.
 At various times in their lives, like other organism, birds are
spaced fairly uniformly as individuals, in clumps, or in colonies.
This ecological phenomenon is termed sosiability.
 The vitality of the habitat refers to the overall biotic potential it
has for reproducing itself; the seasonal changes are referred to,
collectively, as the periodicity of the habitat. Both help
determine the nature of a bird’s habitat. It is important to
realize, that within each habitat are numerous microhabitats,
each of which may harbor a colony, a single family, or perhaps
only an individual bird.
 Birds may be categorized by feeding
level that they occupy in relation to their
utilization of green plant for food,
example:
 The herbivorous cedar waxwing is a first feeding
(tropic)level organism since it eats plant directly
 Warblers are mostly insect-eathers feeding at the
second trophic level
 Hawks and owl feed at the third trophic level, since
they eat mice that have eaten plant-eating insects.
 Cedar waxwing

hawks

warbler
 Allen (1961) divides birds of the
woodlands, primarily on the basis
of nest sites, into

1. Birds of the forest floor

2.Birds of the undergrowth
3.Birds of the lower branches
4.Birds of the trunks and hollow
branches
5.Birds of the higher branches and
treetops.
A similar horizontal spacing is seen
in aquatic habitats :

 Ducks and coots build nests on or

just above the water surface.

ducks coots
 Least bitterns and red-winged
Blackbirds utilize the cattails and
reeds (sometimes several feet about
the water’s surface) for nest
attachment

Red-winged
Least bitterns
 When dead trees are available in
such habitat, their upper branches
may be occupied by Great Blue
Herons, Ospreys, and even Bald
Eagles.

Great Blue Ospreys Bald Eagle

Herons
Sociability…
 Likestratafication, bird sociability is quite variable. The
nearness of nesting Herring and Ring-billed Gulls,
where the nearest neighbour may be only inches away,
allows for greater protection from predators than if
their nest were widely spaced;on the other hand, such
species generally spread out more when they
feed;hence they more effectively utilize the feeding
space by covering a greater area.
A tropical cloud forest in
costa rica
The Kirtland’s Warbler, a spesies
nesting only in Michigan, utilizes a
relatively dry and homogenous plant
Succession
 One feature of all natural habitats is
an orderly growth pattern, termed
succession.

 Such growth, whether in terrestrial or

aquatic habitats, involves progressive
change in the number and kinds of
species present and an accompanying
accumulation of organic matter.
Begins at a relatively inorganic, If primary succession is
primitive plant level and, as more interrupted or if a climax
complex plants and animal replace community already has been
more simple ones, culminates in the established and is then
climax community, which is the disrupted.
ultimate community of organism
possible under the existing climatic
conditions

Occurs in an area, the result is the same –

the establishment of the ultimate
mature community that can maintain
itself indefinitely as long as the climatic
conditions do not change drastically.
Succession (Continue….)

 In each successional sequence (a sere) there

are a number of fairly well-marked stage
(seral stages) that lead to the climax
community, and in each stage there are
change in bird life.
 1. The Seral Field Community
 2. The Seral Old Field
 3. The Seral Shrub Stage
 4. The Tree Stage
 A similar community progression occurs in aquatic
habitats but with aquatic-adapted organism.
 A typical progression in such habitats might begin with
aquatic birds such as grebes or black terns that build
floating nest.
 As aquatic vegetation develops and cattails and reeds
become established, Red-winged blackbirds, Long-billed
Marsh Wrens, American and Least Bitterns will begin to
nest in the area and replace the former species that
required more open water.
 As cattails give way to woody aquatic
vegetation these birds are replaced by species
that nest in this vegetation, such as Yellow
Warblers and Common Yellowthroats.

 Eventually, as more and more vegetation

creates more organic material and dryer
condition, the tree stages and their
accompanying avifauna become the ultimate
climax community.
nest of Least Bitterns
nest of yellow
warblers
Floating nest Grebes
in cattails
Bird Population
 Habitat vary greatly in diversity and density of bird life.
 Bird population are ascertained by inventories and censuses.
1. Inventories is to evaluated population changes from year to year.
2. Census is to evaluate the status of various species for
management purpose. Census also enable ornithologists to
estimate population over large areas.
Bird Population (continue)

 Bird numbers fluctuated are caused by unknown

reasons and obvious causes.
For examples:
 Man’s activities it can caused the bird
population have declined or increased.
 Change of habitat
 Season
Rookery birds in the southeast:
declinedsuccession of dry breeding seasons.
recovered ` after a rainy season.
Duck have declined due to drought and drainage
prairie marsh lands.
Data up to 2006 for the UK are presented in the national indicator

(a) Population index of farmland birds between 1992 and 2005

UK and selected countriesv
b. Percentage of known bird species threatened, 2004
UK and selected countries
Data up to 2006 for the UK are presented in the
national indicator

 Between 1992 and 2005 the farmland bird population index declined
for all the selected countries. During this period the UK farmland bird
population index declined by 14 per cent. This was the fourth lowest
decrease after the Sweden, Belgium and Denmark.
 Between 1999 and 2005, the UK farmland bird population index
declined by 4.4 per cent. Six other of the seven selected countries also
experienced a decline. The highest decrease was in Denmark where
there was a 28 per cent reduction.
 In 2004 15 per cent of known bird species in the UK were classified as
endangered. This was the seventh lowest of the 13 selected countries.
The highest percentage was in Belgium, where 28 per cent of known
bird species were classified as endangered, and the lowest was Norway
where this figure was 8 per cent.
ANATOMICAL ADAPTATION

Ardea herodias
 1. skull

Skeletal System 2. cervical vertebrae

3. furcula
4. coracoid
5. uncinate processes of ribs
6. keel
7. patella
8. tarsometatarsus
9. digits
10. tibia (tibiotarsus)
11. fibia (tibiotarsus)
12. femur
13. ischium (innominate)
14. pubis (innominate)
15. illium (innominate)
16. caudal vertebrae
17. pygostyle
18. synsacrum
19. scapula
20. lumbar vertebrae
21. humerus
22. ulna
23. radius
24. carpus
25. metacarpus
26. digits
27. alula
Muscular System
 Most birds have approximately 175 different
muscles, mainly controlling the wings, skin, and
legs. The largest muscles in the bird are the
pectorals, or the breast muscles, which control
the wings and make up about 15 - 25% of a
flighted bird’s body weight. They provide the
powerful wing stroke essential for flight. The
muscle ventral (underneath) to the pectorals is
the supracoracoideus. It raises the wing
between wingbeats. The supracoracoideus and
the pectorals together make up about 25 – 35%
of the bird's full body weight.
Picture. Skull of wing a Bird
• The skin muscles help a bird in its flight by
adjusting the feathers, which are attached
to the skin muscle and help the bird in its
flight manuvers.

• There are only a few muscles in the trunk

and the tail, but they are very strong and
are essential for the bird. The pygostyle
controls all the movement in the tail and
controls the feathers in the tail. This gives
the tail a larger surface area which helps
keep the bird in the air.
Head

Picture. Skull of Head a Bird

Scales
 The scales of birds are composed of the
same keratin as beaks, claws, and spurs.
They are found mainly on the toes and
metatarsus, but may be found further up
on the ankle in some birds. Most bird
scales do not overlap significantly,
except in the cases of kingfishers and
woodpeckers. The scales of birds are
thought to be homologous to those of
reptiles.
Picture. Kingfiisher Picture. Woodpecker
The internal and external structures of
terrestrial species reflect environment
adaptations.
The common
Redpoll in Alaska has
evolved a croplike
diverticulum that
permits greater food
storage for the longer
Arctic nights, and, like
other northern forms,
has a dense plumage
and thick layers of Picture. Carduelis sp.
insulating fat that
reduce heat loss.
Ptarmigans have feathered toes that serve
the same function.
Unlike penguins in the northern parts of
their range, the Adelie Penguins in the
Antarctic has nostril covered with
feathers that permit inhaling colder air.
Even the color of plumages (e.g., white in
ptarmigans during winter) and body size (e.g.,
larger in subspecies of more northern Fox
Sparrows) are reflections of evolutionary
adjustments to environmental pressures.

Picture. Fox Sparrow

Picture. Ptarmigans
PHYSIOLOGICAL
ADAPTATION
 Paralleling anatomical adaptations have
been physiological adjustments that
enable birds to succeed in variety of
habitats. Although every aspect of a
bird’s physiology reflects this to some
extent, there are several exceptional
adaptations that illustrate how
physiology and environment are closely
interrelated.
 In young alticial species
(e.g., all Passeriforms)
temperature regulation is partly
developed at hatching. After
being exposed to a controlled
100C environment for 1 hour, a
one day, a one-day-old Eastern
Phoebe has a body tempera-
ture of only 1 or 20C above the
ambient temperature. At this
body temperature its heart
rate, blood flow, and breathing
rate decrease until they are
barely perceptible.

Picture. Passeriforms
After 10 days of age,
however, the young
birds maintain a fairly
constant body
temperature
(comparable to adults),
even when exposed for
one hour or more to low
ambient temperatures.
Picture. Acanthisitta chloris
In some species, however, distribution is more
directly related to bird’s physiological
requirements. It is well known, for example,
that certain Galliform birds are physiologically
dependent on specific soil types; the Ring-
necked Pheasant apparently requires calcium-
enriched soils, and the Gray Partridge limestone
soils.
Galliform

Ring-necked Gray Partridge

Another physiological adaptation involves the
relationship between daylight periods and
metabolic activities. The Day-night light cycle
(circadian rhythm) of Chaffinches can be altered
in captivity simply by exposing them to different
periods of light (Aschoff, 1965). In fact,
increasing the intensity of light caused a
shortening of diurnal metabolically active
period. Also, there is an accumulative effect on
a bird’s physiology when photoperiods are
lengthened.

Picture. Chaffinches
Circulatory System

 Birds have a four-chambered heart, in common with

humans, most mammals, and some reptiles (namely
the crocodilia). This adaptation allows for efficient
nutrient and oxygen transport throughout the body,
providing birds with energy to fly and maintain high
levels of activity. A Ruby-throated Hummingbird's
heart beats up to 1200 times per minute (about 20
beats per second).
HUMMINGBIRD
BEHAVIORAL ADAPTATIONS

Black Vulture
 Success of birds in any habitat is
attributable not only to proper
anatomical and physiological
adaptations; of equal importance are
those patterns of behavior that have
evolved to enable birds to find food,
acquire a mate, reproduce, and avoid
predators or avoid being destroyed by
the harsh conditions that sometimes
occur in their world.
• Although an
amazing variety of
feeding technique
have been evolved,
sometimes behavior
intended for
securing food
becomes
nonadaptive. Black
Vultures are
Black Vulture
gregarious feeders,
seldom feeding
alone.
 Drinking Behavior
 Most birds are unable to swallow
by the "sucking" or "pumping"
action of peristalsis in their
esophagus (as humans do), and
drink by repeatedly raising their
heads after filling their mouths to
allow the liquid to flow by gravity,
a method usually described as
"sipping" or "tipping up".
 1. The Seral Field
Community
 Grasshopper and
Vesper Sparrows are
common in terestrial
communities during the
early herbaceous plant
stages.  Vesper Sparrows

 They nest either on the

ground or only a few
inches from it.

 Grasshoper Sparrows (Ammodramus

savannarum)
 2. The Seral Old Field
 As the low herbaceous vegetation dies, it produces more
organic matter in soil and soil becomes more moist.
 This leads to the establishment of taller, more complicated
field plants, and at this stage the Field Sparrow becomes more
numerous, the Grasshoppers Sparrow less so.
 Possibly new species may enter this area, such as :

meadowlarks bobolinks
 3. The Seral Shrub Stage
 With further increase in organic matter and moisture, the
seral field stage is replaced by a seral shrub stage.

 In this stage the Grasshopper and Vesper Sparrows usually

disappear, the Meadowlark and Bobolinks may also dissapear
or decrease considerably, and Towhees & Song Sparrows may
move into the area.

 There still may be a few Field Sparrows but along with Song,
Grasshopper Sparrows and Towhees, they disappear from the
area at the end of this growth period, as the seral shrub
community is replaced by mixed species of trees.
Towhees
 4. The Tree Stage

 During the early tree stage there still will

be numerous shrubs as an understory.

 Bird typical of this stage are the Ruffed

Grouse, Gray Catbirds, Brown Trashers and
American Robin, all using the trees
invading area.
 B

A
 Ultimately, of course, the shrub community and its
avifauna will be vastly reduced as the climax-
community trees create increasing amounts of shade.

 In this final stage, dominated only a few dominant tree

species, the community and its bird life (Veeries and
Wood Trushes, for exampel, in the eastern beech-maple
climax forest) become somewhat stabilized.