ANIMAL RESEARCH: PART 2 - ADAPTATIONS

Student’s first and last name: Jayden Charter

Science period: 2
Common name of animal: Sunbittern

Answer at least 5 questions:

1. Describe in detail how your animal’s senses are adapted for

survival.
A sunbitterns main senses are its eyesight and hearing. Sunbitterns
eyesight is far more superior than humans. They can see great in
black-and-white and in color. This is because they have more dense
rods and cones packed on it’s retina. Their hearing is good too. The
ear is shaped like a funnel to focus on sound. Also they are very
sensitive to high pitched sounds.1

2. Describe in detail how your animal is adapted for moving

through its environment.
The sunbittern environment is a rainforest with very thick trees. The
sunbittern body blends in very well because it is brown and it is
small. It moves quietly through the forest. When nesting the
sunbittern builds its nest out of twigs, mud, and moss and that
camouflages their nests very good.2

3. Describe in detail how your animal is adapted for obtaining and

digesting food in its environment.

1"SunBittern - FactSheets Wiki - Chicago Zoological Society." 8 Feb. 2017,

https://maingate.czs.org/factsheets/moin.cgi/SunBittern. Accessed 16 Feb. 2018.
2"Sunbittern | Smithsonian's National Zoo." https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/sunbittern. Accessed 19 Feb.
2018.
The sunbittern gets food by waiting patiently by the water then
when it sees its prey it lunges with a rapid thrust and grabs its prey.
It sometimes walks in the water but I don’t think it can swim.3

4. Describe in detail how your animal is adapted for competition for

resources within its environment.
(keep in mind that your animal competes with its own species as well as with other
species)
The sunbittern uses its long beak to hunt for food and also moves
quietly as it stalks its prey. Sunbitterns are known for their defensive
posture which scares away any competition or predators. The
sunbittern will more likely be able to catch its prey because of its
stealth rather than any other competition.4

5. Describe in detail how your animal is adapted to be protected

from biotic and abiotic factors
in its environment. The sunbittern spreads its wings apart and
shows chestnut and orange feathers and it also has a low hissing
sound that warns predators that the sunbittern is feeling threatened.
It also has shows a big eye design when it spreads its tail and that
is used to scare away predators. 5

6. Describe in detail how your animal is adapted for maintaining

homeostasis.
(homeostasis can be maintained by your animal’s physical features or behaviors)

7. Describe in detail how a particular body system of your animal is

uniquely adapted for survival.

3"Behavior - Neotropical Birds - Cornell University." https://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/Species-

Account/nb/species/sunbit1/behavior. Accessed 16 Feb. 2018.
4"Sunbittern : Dallas World Aquarium." https://www.dwazoo.com/animal/sunbittern/. Accessed 19 Feb. 2018.
5"Sunbittern- SeaWorld.org." https://seaworld.org/Animal-
Info/Animal-Bytes/Birds/Sunbittern. Accessed 16 Feb. 2018.