Introduction

to Philippine
Birds
Outline
Introduction
• What are birds?
• Characteristics of Birds
• Topography
Summary of Aves Diversity in the Philippines
• Taxonomy
Identification
• Some Representatives
• Distinguishing features
Ecology and Habitats of Birds

Importance of Birds
Introduction

What are birds?

➢ group of warm-blooded vertebrates - Class Aves
➢ have feathers and beaks
➢ feathers are lightweight cover and airtoil
(remiges)
➢ well adapted for flight -- reduced weight
➢ fused bones (skeleton)
➢ toothless bill Unique anatomical
➢ breast muscles features
➢ syrinx
➢ Oviparity and Nesting behavior --- Monogamy
➢ Endothermy and High Metabolism (air sacs)
General Characteristics of Class AVES
General Characteristics of Class AVES
General Characteristics of Class AVES
Ornithology
The study of birds, their biology and habits,
habitats and evolution and a multitude of
other aspects of birds, has a long tradition
within the discipline of zoology.

Brief History
➢Before Darwin’s Time: Leisure / pastime
➢ Darwin’s Time and Later:
• Early evolutionary Theory
• Environmental Conservation and Management
 Avian Topography
▪ External parts of a bird –
mapping regions of avian body
and notable features (crest)
▪Distinct characters indicative
of its name – blue-naped,
white-bellied, blue-rumped,
black-necked, red-breasted,
red-crowned
 Avian Topography

▪Lores – is the area

between the eye
and beak whilst the
ear coverts (also
known as
auriculars) are the
feathers covering
the ear opening

Artwork by Tim Wootton

 Avian Topography
WINGS
▪The Scapulars are the feathers of the
shoulder region and can be moved to
cover or reveal the feathers below.
▪Tertials are the feathers closest to the
body, Secondaries are flight feathers but
not the main ones, Primaries are the main
flight feathers.
▪Coverts cover the secondaries and
primaries when the wing is closed.

Artwork by Tim Wootton

 Avian Topography

▪alula (or bastard wing) which is a small group

of feathers which act to prevent the bird's
wing from stalling
▪ Speculum which is formed from the colour
pattern of the secondaries, this is most
important for identifying flying ducks
Avian body form
Size and shape
• Long or short neck, long or short legs
• Sparrow-like or Thrush-like or Crow-like
• Pigeon-like or Chicken-like or Duck-like
• Reference point for comparative size
• Distinct avian groups - Swifts, Hawks,
@Lake Mainit
Kingfishers, Parrots, Rails, Terns, Plovers
 Body Shape
Size
Plumage Patterns Contour feathers attach to
the skin in regular tracts and
• Stiff flight feathers (remiges & retrices) define the outer surface of the
body.

Contour feathers that cover the body have a

basal calamus that is encased in a follicle in
the skin. This gives rise to a central rachis and
two opposite, lateral loose vanes that form a
flat feather. The vanes of flight
feathers (below) are usually asymmetrical,
those of contour feathers are symmetrical
and their barbs do not interlock.
Plumage Patterns
Semiplume feathers are insulative and
help water birds float.
Filoplume feathers are found around
the tail and flight feathers. They are
thought to be used to sense when the
flight feathers need to be maintained.
Bristle feathers are found around the
eyes, nostrils, and sometimes the mouth,
and help protect those sensitive areas.
Downy feathers are good for warmth.
 Plumage Patterns
Streaked
reed warbler
• Plumage patterns –
Striated heron
pied, streaked, hooded,
barred, silvery, striated,
spotted, banded,
masked, bibbed,
ringed, browed, winged Spotted wood kingfisher

Silvery kingfisher Black-bibbed Cuckooshrike

Hooded cranes
 • Plumage colors –
pigment or structural

Birds can manufacture melanins but must obtain carotenoids in

the diet.
Structure of the feather can provide iridescence–Blues, greens,
purples, reds
Minute structures on the surface scatter or reflect particular
wavelengths of light
Blues and white are usually structural
Green may be structural or pigment or both
Juvenile and
Adult, Winter
and Summer
Color of Soft Parts
•Natural colors – buff, rufous, citrine,
ashy, cinnamon, slaty, olive, scarlet,
sooty
•Structural colors – glossy and metallic
•Soft parts and other unique features:
Wattles, comb, eye-ring
(circumorbital), gular skin, cere, bare
skin on head
•Color of soft parts – bill, tarsus and iris
 Black-tailed gull
Gulls and ducks

Masked boobies
Cormorants, boobies

Types of
Plovers, shorebirds
Little Ringed Plover Feet
1. Palmate – all 3 front toes webbed, hind toe unwebbed
2. Semipalmate – half webbed, anterior toes joined by small
webbing
3. Totipalmate – all 4 toes webbed
4. Lobate – toes covered in lobes
Grebes Little Grebe
5. Raptorial – toes muscular and heavily clawed (talon)
Raptorial – toes
muscular and
heavily clawed
(talon)

https://www.beautyofbirds.com/philippinebirdsofprey.html
Functions of feet
 Woodpecker

Toe Arrangements
Trogon

Swift

https://kidwings.com/project/bird-feet/

Kingfisher
Distinguising
Features in
tarsus
Shape of Bill
▪ Bill Decurved or Recurved
▪ Hookbill or Softbill (pointed or
conical)
▪ Spatulate, Probe, Tweezer, Seed-
cracker
▪ Bill shape indicative of feeding
behavior
 Beak adaptations
Sifting Husking Seed cracking Spearing

Casque
Probing, hammering
Probing Meat tearing
Tail Shape
▪Tail shape for useful
flight or for display
▪ Square, round, notched,
tapered, pointed
▪ Racquet-tail, graduated,
elongated central
Streamer
Tail Features
Racquet

Loose webbing

Forked

Needle tail
Wing shape and Flight
▪ Broad and round OR narrow and pointed
▪ Slotted for soaring OR long for gliding
▪Wings barred, spotted, blotched, banded
▪ Soaring thermals, dynamic soaring waves,
▪ Straight flapping flight or undulating pattern
▪ Silent or noisy, short burst or sustained
▪ Sweeping flight pattern, sallying/ fly-catching
Size, Wing and Tail Shape defines some
Falconidae
Distinguishing Features
▪Metallic band of speculum on ducks
▪ Casque on hornbills
▪ Operculum on pigeons and doves
▪ Tarsal spur on pheasants and junglefowl
▪ Elongated toes on jacanas
▪ Gular pouch on pelicans and frigatebirds tubular nose

▪ Facial disk on owls

▪Tube-nose on shearwaters and petrels
Sexual dimorphism
▪ Most monogamous birds are sexually
monomorphic – sexes look alike
▪Some birds are sexually dimorphic – sexes look
different, often are polygamous
▪ Generally, males more colorful and females have
drab coloration – sunbirds, pheasants
▪ Some females are colorful – painted-snipe
▪ For raptors, females are large than males
Calls and Songs
▪ Unique vocalizations indicative of species
▪ Familiarity be used for field identification
▪ Call – single notes, short and repetitive
▪ Alarm or threat call, flight call, territorial
▪ Song – elaborate notes and melodious
▪ For courtship and display, show fitness
▪ Calls vary with island populations – dialect
Trophic & Feeding guilds
▪ Frugivore or Nectarivore or Graminivore Graminivore

▪ Piscivore or Insectivore or Vermivore

▪ Bark-gleaning or Foliage-gleaning
Nectarivore
▪ Sweeper or Sallier, Probing or Stabbing
▪ Arboreal or Terrestrial or Aquatic
▪ Canopy or Understorey or Forest floor
▪ Omnivore as mixed insectivore-frugivore
▪ Arboreal insectivore-frugivore (AIF)
Nests and Nesting
▪ Open cup-nest or Cavity-nester
▪ Primary cavity-nester (woodpeckers)
▪ Secondary cavity-nester (parrots, owls)
▪ Elaborate penduline purse nest (sunbirds)
▪ Simple pile of twigs (pigeons), heronry
▪ Woven cup-shaped nest (flycatchers)
▪ Folded leaves stitched together (tailorbird)
▪ No nest, brood parasitism (cuckoos)
 Residency Status
▪ Resident (sedentary) or Migratory
▪ Endemic to Philippines
▪ Endemic to Faunal region or EBA
▪ Island endemic or Mountain endemic
▪ Near endemic - Philippines & some islands
▪ Non-endemic resident with endemic race
▪ Non-endemic resident, race occur beyond
▪ Restricted-range species (<50,000 sq km)
Migratory birds
▪ Some birds breed on temperate regions – Summer breeding grounds
(165 species)
▪ Migrate south to tropics to evade scarcity of food in winter – Winter
feeding grounds
▪ Winter migrant – regular visitor
▪ Passage visitor (thru Asian flyway)
▪ Accidental Vagrant (noted once or twice)
▪ Most shorebirds, waders and waterfowl
▪ Some raptors, passerines, owls, cuckoos
https://ebonph.wordpress.com/2013/06/02/philippines-as-a-migratory-flyway/
 Published on January
13, 2019
by Mikael Angelo
Francisco

https://www.flipscience.ph/nature/migratory-bird-curlew-bataan/
Montane and lowland forms
▪ Tall mountain massifs and volcanic peaks offer distinct montane and
lowland forests
▪ Montane forests occur above 1,000 masl
▪ Birds restricted to lowland rainforests – hornbills, bleeding hearts,
babblers
▪ Birds restricted to montane forest – bullfinch, lorikeet, shortwing,
island thrush
▪Montane and lowland congeneric species – scops-owls,
white-eyes, whistlers
Phases and Races
▪ Color phases – black and white forms of same species – reef
egret, hawk-eagle
▪ Geographic variation among island and mountain populations of
a single species
▪ Vary in size or color from nominate form
▪ Monotypic Vs. Polytypic
▪ Colasisi has 10 races or subspecies
▪ Philippine Cockatoo uniform on all islands
 Summary of Aves Diversity in the Philippines

Avian taxonomy
▪ Non-passerines and Passerines (songbirds)
▪ 29 avian families in Order Passeriformes
50 families in 18 orders (Kennedy et al., 2000)
▪ Peters et al., 1985 based on morphology
▪ Sibley & Monroe 1991 on biochemical
▪ Babblers, Warblers, Flycatchers and Creepers combined into
Muscicapidae
▪ Hornbills as separate Order Bucerotiformes
 Water birds – shorebirds and wading birds
1. Order Procellariiformes
Tube-noses, Gulls, Terns,
Petrels and Shearwater
• Wedge-tailed Shearwater
Olango Bird Sanctuary
(Procellariidae)

Lake Mainit
2. Order Pelecaniformes
• Brown Booby (Sulidae)
• Spot-billed Pelican
(Pelicanidae)
Water birds – shorebirds and wading birds
Water birds – shorebirds and wading birds
Land birds
Land birds
Land birds
Land birds
Land birds
Land birds
Land birds
Land birds
Land birds
Land birds
Land birds
Problems with Identification
➢ Similar species – search for distinguishing features, comparable size
or unique behavior
➢ Cryptic birds – always hidden and hard to see
➢ Congeners – closely related, in same genus
➢ Island and Mountain variations – races may show striking
differences in color and call (dialect)
➢ Winter plumage – migratory birds in between molts
➢ Estimation of size – difficulty in observing distance
➢ Similarities of calls – mimics or consistent in group
 Ecology and Habitats of Birds

What is the habitat of birds?

A habitat includes all four necessities for a bird's survival: food, water, shelter, and
nesting areas. These features can vary greatly between different types of habitats,
however, which impacts which birds find which habitats useful.
•Food: grains, seeds, fruits, nuts, nectar-producing flowers, and prey such as insects,
fish, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and other birds
•Water: any source available for drinking or bathing, including rivers, swamps, lakes,
streams, bays, estuaries, marshes, and oceans
•Shelter: coniferous or deciduous trees, shrubbery, caves or rock niches, overhanging
banks, brush piles, or snags
•Nesting sites: hollow trees or snags, vegetation to support nests, burrows, nesting
boxes, birdhouses, and suitable nesting material (improvised nest box).
 Ecology and Habitats of Birds

What is the habitat of birds?

Non-migratory birds occupy the same habitat year-round but
may adjust their behavior to suit different seasons, such as
changing their diet to the most abundant food sources
throughout the year.
Migratory birds change habitats seasonally, perhaps switching
between two quite different types of habitats that may be
hundreds or thousands of miles apart, or else seeking out
similar habitats that meet their needs in different locations at
different times of the year.
 Types of Habitats for Birds
Forests: includes boreal regions, temperate woodlands, and tropical jungles
Grasslands: includes meadows, prairies, plains, and scrub regions
Deserts: with varying degrees of aridity and drought-tolerant vegetation
Wetlands: includes marshes, bogs, and swamps
Tundra: circumpolar regions with light and temperature extremes
Oceans: pelagic zones that include offshore islands and aquatic regions
Urban and suburban: regions associated with humans, including major cities.
How Habitat Loss Affects Birds
▪ Agricultural use, including clearing habitats for fields or grazing
livestock
▪Logging and forest harvesting that removes mature vegetation
▪Expansion of urban areas for housing, industry, or similar
developments
▪Implementing dams, canals, locks, or other structures that alter
waterways
▪Infrastructure development that fractures habitats, such as
roads, electrical lines, wind turbines, or similar structures
How Habitat Loss Affects Birds
▪ Habitats are also gravely damaged by polluting activities, such as oil
spills or pesticide and herbicide runoff. Natural disasters can damage
habitats as well, such as a fire destroying mature forests, flooding changing
the water composition of coastal swamps, or a landslide changing the
structure of a hill or valley.
▪Birds can adapt to habitat changes over time and may shift their ranges to
more suitable locations. In some cases, habitat changes can even be
beneficial, encouraging the growth of younger plants that may support
different bird species. Rapid changes, such as caused by human actions,
can have drastic consequences, however, and bird populations may plummet
if their habitat is no longer suitable or there are no other locations to which
they can relocate.
 Importance of Birds

Birds as bio-indicators
Birds are very useful (although still imperfect) indicators of species richness and
endemism patterns.
Bird Species Diversity (BSD) is useful representation for overall biodiversity and
basis for evaluation. BSD is inversely proportional to altitude.
◦ Levels of endemism – composition of endemics
◦ Keystone species – indicators of change
◦ Threatened Island Endemics – inherent rarity
◦ Intolerant forest dependent– present/absent
◦ Restricted-range species – limited distribution
Changes in bird populations can also provide a useful indication of broad
environmental change. The expense of comprehensively assessing biodiversity is
enormous.
Summary
Bird Topography
Bill, Feathers, Wings, Tail, Feet/Toe Arrangement
Characteristics
The Basics of Bird Identification
Basic Ecology
References
• Stavenga, D. G., Tinbergen, J., Leertouwer, H. L., & Wilts, B. D. (2011). Kingfisher feathers–colouration by pigments, spongy
nanostructures and thin films. Journal of Experimental Biology, 214(23), 3960-3967.
• Avian Report. (2021). “A Guide to Bird Feathers”. Online. Retrieved on April 12, 2021.
• Biology EduCare. (2021). “Aves: Characteristics, Classification and Examples”. Online. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
• Edwards, Scott V. and John Harshman. 2013. Passeriformes. Perching Birds, Passerine Birds. Version 06 February 2013
(under construction). http://tolweb.org/Passeriformes/15868/2013.02.06 in The Tree of Life Web Project,
http://tolweb.org/
• Kennedy, R., Gonzales, P. C., Dickinson, E., Miranda Jr, H. C., & Fisher, T. H. (2000). A guide to the birds of the Philippines.
Oxford University Press.
• Lepage, Denis. "Checklist of birds of the Philippines". Bird Checklists of the World. Avibase. Retrieved April 12, 2021).
• Mary Curry. The Basics of Bird Identification: Bird Topography.
• https://www.environmentalscience.org/ornithology
• https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Topography
• https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/308-feathers-and-flight
• https://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/glossary.php
• https://birdsofseabrook.app.clemson.edu/topics/feather_structure.html
• https://www.birdwatchingblog.us/american-birds/bitterns-herons-and-allies-family-ardeidae.html
• https://alithographica.tumblr.com/post/642316342427549696/more-creature-design-unlike-with-wings-and-beaks